Product: Animal Farm
Rating: 5.0
ANIMATED BUT STILL A HARD-HITTING PROPHETIC PARABLE
ANIMATED BUT STILL A HARD HITTING PROPHETIC PARABLE ABOUT THE HUMAN CONDITION ---IN A NUTSHELL:I have just enjoyed "Animal Farm", the animated feature, for the first time and I was truly impressed. Its stark animated realism, augmented by its dispassionate style of narration, gave the film a sense of inevitability which added to its weight as a 20th century parable, created from the famous work by George Orwell.WHERE THE FILM GOES: "ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL, BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS!"As most people point out, it is a slightly simplified and more upbeat [in the finale] rendering of Orwell's original literary work, but it is still rather hard-hitting and prophetic. Nevertheless, the personifications of farm animals turned into historic figures like Napoleon the Pig are startling depictions, and mirrored much of what happened in the 20th century, concluding with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989.LESSON: ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY?!Neatly depicted are the "Commandmants" which, as the ruling pigs evolve and change hands, begin to be broken by simply revising them to suit the needs of the MORE EQUAL ANIMALS. Ultimately, the reasons for the original revolution -- a desperate need to end the horrible conditions that were brought about by the exploitation of the many by the few -- repeated in the stunning finale. The results are rather predictable, but maybe they weren't when Orwell wrote the book. In any event, it seems to be a parable which needs to be brought frequently to our attention as humans, not just to the animals that are more or less equal to their neighbors in the barnyard.ABOUT THE DVD:I have the DVD pictured and described on this site. It is a remastered, 73 minute, color, animated feature produced by "Digiview" which looks and sounds quite exceptonal for a 51-year-old film. These films, which often sell for a little as $1. new and remastered on DVD, are excellent values that belie their true worth.