1984 (1956 film) 1984 (1956 film) 1984 is a 1956 British black-and-white science fiction film, based on the novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four" by George Orwell, depicting a totalitarian future society. This is the first cinema rendition of the story, directed by Michael Anderson and starring Edmond O'Brien as protagonist Winston Smith, and featuring Donald Pleasence, Jan Sterling, and Michael Redgrave. The character O'Brien, the antagonist, was renamed "O'Connor", due to the shared surname of the actor Edmond O'Brien. The film was distributed in 1956 on a double bill with another British sci-fi film, "The Gamma People". After the customary distributor agreement expired, the film
Tragic hero genres follow the archetype of the tragic hero. Examples of such characters include Anakin Skywalker from George Lucas' "Star Wars" films, Okonkwo from Nigerian author Chinua Achebe's novel "Things Fall Apart", Arthas Menethil from the video game franchise "Warcraft", and Stannis Baratheon from George R. R. Martin's novel series "A Song of Ice and Fire" and the HBO television series adaptation "Game of Thrones". Some film historians regard Michael Corleone of "The Godfather" a tragic hero, although using traditional literary conventions, the character would more closely fit the role of villain, not tragic hero. Tragic hero A tragic hero is