The film "1984" (1984), based on George Orwell's book, is an intriguing film. For the occasion, I deliberately chose to start filming in April 1984, and rushed to release it in October.
However, Paul Schofield, who was originally scheduled to play the villain O'Brien, was unable to play because he broke his leg, and asked Marlon Brando again. As a result, Brando's agent offered $1 million, so the poor crew had to find another candidate. As a result, it was delayed for a long time, and O'Brien had not been filmed for a while, so his role had to be cut again and again.
Even so, the producers still hoped to find a superstar with the same level as the first two candidates to play, and finally found Richard Burton.
He read the script and indicated that he could act, so he flew to Europe from Haiti to play with John Hurt, who was also a British alcoholic. John Hurt played the protagonist Winston, and admired and admired O'Brien, the head of the thought police he played. . At this time, Burton certainly did not think that this would be his last film, his posthumous work.
The filming of this classic "2+2=?" scene took a lot of trouble. Because Burton was in the last two months of his life, he was too sick to lift his arm by himself.
The director finally came up with a solution, which was to hire a group actor to hide behind him, grab his arm from behind to help him raise his hand and ask John Hurt, "How many fingers are these".
It's really a dead horse as a living horse doctor, you can't just find a substitute. His frozen shoulder is very serious, and it is very painful to forcefully erect his arm in this way, but he still has to continue acting without changing his face. I have to say that it is not easy for anyone to make money. His hand is clearly shaking uncontrollably in the close-up.
Here is the classic dialogue from O'Brien when he tortured Winston in the original book: "Do you remember," he continued, "that you wrote in your diary: 'Freedom is the freedom to say two plus two equals four'?" Remember," Winston said. O'Brien raised his left hand, the back of it towards Winston, the thumb tucked behind and the four fingers outstretched. "How many fingers did I lift, Winston?" "Four." "If the party says not four but five—then how many do you say?" "Four." A sharp pain. The needle on the meter turned to fifty-five. Winston was dripping with sweat. The air in and out of his lungs caused a loud groan that even clenched his teeth couldn't hold back. O'Brien looked at him, four fingers still sticking out. He pulled the lever back. However, the pain was only slightly relieved. "How many fingers, Winston?" "Four." The hand reached sixty.
"How many fingers, Winston?" "Four! Four! What can I say? Four!" The needle must have risen again, but he didn't look at it. All he saw was the rough, stern face and four fingers. The four fingers were like four pillars before his eyes, thick and fuzzy, as if they were about to shake, but there was no doubt that they were four. "How many fingers, Winston?" "Four! Stop, stop! How can you go on like this? Four! Four!" "How many fingers, Winston?" "Five! Five Five!" "No, Winston, that's useless. You're lying. You still think it's four, how much?" "Four! Five! Four! You say as many as you like. Just stop now and stop teaching me pain!" He sat up abruptly, O'Brien's arms around his shoulders. He probably passed out for a second or two. The straps that bound his body loosened. He felt so cold that he couldn't help shivering, his teeth chattered, and tears rolled down his cheeks. He held O'Brien like a child, and the thick arms around his shoulders made him feel surprisingly comfortable. He felt that O'Brien was his protector, that the pain was foreign, that it came from another source, and that only O'Brien could save him from it. "You're a slow learner, Winston," said O'Brien mildly.
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