There are few films which are made with a certain context in
mind and don’t necessarily make sense when not viewed from that same
perspective. Few films like Animal Farm are made as a reflection of a political
scenario and while they have a storyline of their own, to understand the truth
in them it is important to realise the context in which the film is made and
how it is relative in real life.
When an aged hog named Major calls for a meeting with all
the animals on Manor Farm, he reveals his vision for the animals to revolt
against the owner Mr Jones for crimes committed against the animals. Major believes
the dismal state of the animals should not be taken lightly and the only way to
get what they truly deserve is if every animal unites to overthrow the
oppressive humans. Major succumbs to his age the same night but the animals pay
heed to his message and claim the farm for themselves the very next day by
chasing Jones off the property and renaming the farm ‘Animal Farm’. Being the
smartest of the lot, the pigs organise the codes to live by for all the animals
on the farm and teach them the importance of education and hard work. The pig
named Snowball takes it upon himself to make sure all the animals are taken
care of but his efforts go in vain as another pig named Napoleon chooses to
ignore the plights of his comrades and ultimately teaches the rest of the
animals the bitter truth that all animals are equal, but some animals are more
equal than others.
The film was directed by Joy Batchelor and John Halas and
released in the year 1954. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name
written by George Orwell. While most of the plot in the film is closely based
on that of the novel, a few liberties have been taken with the screen version
which differentiate from the original storyline. The story is an allegory of
the political situation which existed in one particular nation in the 1940s and
predicts what was likely to happen in the near future from the time of the
novel being written.
The animation style is typical of that used in animated
films in the 1950s. The major visible difference is in the colour tones which
are used for the film. The colours are dull since it takes on a serious topic
as opposed to other animated films which were light-hearted movies. This
clearly demarcated that the film wasn’t naturally targeted towards children but
was an animated film meant to be watched by adult audiences. The dull colour tones
reflect the grave situation of the characters in the film since their lives are
depressed and sombre at every turn.
The film takes a fair amount of time to establish the storyline
but then tends to speed up towards the later stages of the plot. Unfortunately,
not enough time is given to explain the plot in detail as the film progresses
and the concluding stages are rushed into. The thoughts of the characters do
not come across clearly because of lack of adequate dialogues or expressions.
The narration does the job of explaining the internal monologues of the
characters which is unfortunate since it is the easiest way to showcase a
character’s emotions but not the best. The film clearly comes across as a
propaganda film since the negative characters are painted in a bad light from
the start without much explanation to their actions.
There is much to be desired with this film. While the
storyline is adapted from a very good novel, the film does not manage to do it
justice.
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