...some fables should be left on the written page; they lose something in their translation to the screen.
The first screen adaptation of George Orwell's political fable to reach the screen was in 1955, an animated version that tended to diminish the author's brutally hard-edged satire of totalitarian governments. I guess they figured that since "Animal Farm" was about talking animals, they'd make it into a cartoon and change the ending. Now, with advancements in computer graphics and animatronics, plus the success of the "Babe" movies, we have a more convincing account using mostly real-looking animals and sticking a little closer to the plot. It's an improvement, but it's not what most fans of the book were probably hoping for.
You all remember the story. It's commonly taught in high school and, ill-advisedly, in lower grades. The lesson warns against the dangers of complacency and failing to think for oneself. The story of Animalism is a thinly disguised account of the rise of Russian Communism, here serving as a metaphor for all such dictatorships that promise one thing but deliver another. It begins on Manor Farm, run by a lazy, alcoholic farmer named Jones. One night an elderly boar, Old Major, calls a meeting of the animals to tell them his vision of a perfect world. He explains that Man is at the root of all their troubles and that only by overthrowing Man and working for themselves will they achieve true equality and happiness.
He dies, but his words live on; and before long the animals overthrow their master, oust him from the farm, and assume control. Then all goes well until two of the animal leaders, the pigs Snowball and Napoleon, get over-ambitious. Eventually, Napoleon chases Snowball away and assumes the role of absolute dictator, essentially taking over where Farmer Jones left off, leaving the rest of the animals in worse condition than they were in before the rebellion.
It is symbolic, of course. Manor Farm is Russia; its change to Animal Farm is the U.S.S.R. Farmer Jones (Pete Postlethwaite) is Czar Nicholas; Old Major (voiced by Peter Ustinov) is Karl Marx, looking and sounding, however, more like Winston Churchill; Snowball (Kelsey Grammer) is Leon Trotsky; Napoleon (Patrick Stewart) is Joseph Stalin. The powerful but slow-witted horse Boxer (Paul Schofield) represents the working class; the fast-talking pig Squealer (Ian Holm) the propaganda ministers of the world; the ribbon-loving horse Mollie (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) the defectors. And so on. The story is told in flashback by the dog, Jessie (Julia Ormond), who, in the movie at least, is the only animal who has an inkling of what's truly going on. Jim Henson's Creature Shop provided the animatronics and special effects, although they are not up the standards of the "Babe" films.
Most of the story line follows Orwell's account, and for this reason I can marginally recommend the film. But, the deviations are annoying. Why are Hollywood filmmakers so full of themselves that they think they can seriously improve upon a literary classic? I can understand directors and screenwriters trimming a novel to fit a two-hour time slot, but I get perturbed when they think they know more than a book's author and start changing whole scenes. Think of Demi Moore's comments about "The Scarlet Letter" a few years back: "We wanted to update it for the nineties. Besides, who reads it anymore, anyway?" Uh, like, how about half a million high school kids a year, among others.
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[release]3575[/release]