ITA 2007

A text familiar to many, George Orwell’s classic satire has cropped up on school reading lists ever since the year of its creation. Few readers can fail to be touched by the tragedy within, by its wonderful synthesis of unthreatening symbolism and incisive criticism. This familiarity is convenient since, as an adaptation, “Animal Farm” spends too little time on the details of time and place. Instead, directors Joy Batchelor and John Halas thrust us directly into the depression that is Manor Farm, briefly explaining the situation with pictures and narration by Gordon Heath. (...) Sadly, Batchelor and Halas make it vital to have read Orwell’s biting satire on Soviet history before viewing “Animal Farm”, just to know what’s been left out. As it is, the film grasps the superficial aspects of Orwell’s allegoric fable without his deeper message. In missing so badly, we’re left with an impressive attempt that never matches up to its birthright.

Texto II

Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely – and this is vividly and eloquently proved in Orwell’s short novel. “Animal Farm” is a simple fable of great symbolic value, and as Orwell himself explained: “It is the history of a revolution that went wrong”. The novel can be seen as the historical analysis of the causes of the failure of communism, or as a mere fairy-tale; in any case it tells a good story that aims to prove that human nature and diversity prevent people from being equal and happy, or at least equally happy. (...) In “Animal Farm”, Orwell describes how power turned the pigs from simple “comrades” to ruthless dictators who managed to walk on two legs, and carry whips. The story may be seen as an analysis of the Soviet regime, or as a warning against political power games of an absolute nature and totalitarianism in general. For this reason, the story ends with a hair-raising warning to all humankind: “The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again: but already it was impossible to say which was which”.

Texto III

When the farm’s prize-winning pig, Old Major, calls a meeting of all the animals of Manor Farm, he tells them that he has had a dream in which mankind is gone, and animals are free to live in peace and harmony. (...). When Old Major dies, (...) Snowball and Napoleon assume command, and turn his dream into a full-fledged philosophy. One night, the starved animals suddenly revolt and drive the farmer Mr. Jones, his wife, and his pet raven off the farm and take control. The farm is renamed “Animal Farm” as the animals work towards a future utopia. The Seven Commandments of the new philosophy of Animalism are written on the wall of a barn for all to read, the seventh and most important of which is that “all animals are equal” (...). Many years pass, and the pigs learn to walk upright, carry whips, and wear clothes. The Seven Commandments are reduced to a single phrase: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.” Napoleon holds a dinner party for the pigs, and the humans of the area (in the adjacent Foxwood Farm run by Mr. Pilkington), who congratulate Napoleon on having the most hard working animals in the country on the least feed. Napoleon announces his alliance with the humans against the labouring classes of both “worlds”. The animals discover this when they overhear Napoleon’s conversations and finally realize that a change has come over the ruling pigs. During a poker match, an argument breaks out between Napoleon and Mr. Pilkington when they both play an Ace of Spades, and the animals realizehow they cannot tell the difference between the pigs and the humans.

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