O'Brien (Nineteen Eighty-Four) O'Brien (Nineteen Eighty-Four) O'Brien (known as O'Connor in the 1956 film adaptation of the novel) is a fictional character and the main antagonist in George Orwell's novel "Nineteen Eighty-Four". The protagonist Winston Smith, living in a dystopian society governed by the Party, feels strangely drawn to Inner Party member O'Brien. Orwell never reveals O'Brien's first name. O'Brien is a member of the Inner Party and, like Winston Smith, works in the Ministry of Truth. There, he holds an administrative position that is so distant that Winston has only a vague idea of its nature. Winston suspects that O'Brien secretly opposes
Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984 film) same year. An epigraph in the closing credits claims that the "Nineteen Eighty-Four" was shot during the very months and in the very locales when and where Orwell's novel was set. Upon its U.S. premiere, Vincent Canby said the film was "admirable, bleakly beautiful", though "not an easy film to watch". Roger Ebert awarded the film 3.5/4 stars, writing that it "penetrates much more deeply into the novel's heart of darkness" than previous adaptations, and describing Hurt as "the perfect Winston Smith." Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film an 80% "fresh" rating, based on 21 reviews, with an