There's at least two versions of this film. The original version was banned in Britain, for being too disturbing (so I'm told). For the theme of the plot, not for what you see on the screen (it was considered too thought-provoking about how governments really treat the population, and an all-too-worrying prediction of the future). The remake has a few gruesome torture scenes, but it's more a case of the person being treated horribly, than what's actually done to them. Although some people may find the scene intolerable. And you do see some revolting things done to Winston.
It deals with a society that it is ruled tyrannically by their goverment. It repeatedly changes documented history to suit it's preferred version, and bans people from keeping records, brutally punishing those who remember things differently.
This is the story where the term “big brother is watching you” comes from. It refers to how everybody is subjected to video surveillance, everywhere. Where they work, in the streets, every room of their house… And that's how Winston gets caught writing a diary.
It's a gloomy prediction of the future (the title refers to the date that the author predicted things might turn out this way), with there being no hope. Everything looks very bleak and rundown, and it has a look that you might expect of a city that's just been through a depression or world war.