Fahrenheit 451

After reading several whinny comments about how the movie is so different from the book I just had to add my two cents. Hello people! These are two different mediums here, like comparing Katherine Hepburn to Audrey Hepburn. They are two different entities which stand alone on their own merits.

I read the book years and years ago, and frankly, I don't remember much about it. I'd seen the movie in years past, and it never knocked my socks off. But upon viewing it last night, I have to say I found myself thoroughly engrossed in it. The scene in the monorail where all the passengers are trying to stimulate themselves through their sense of touch is quite moving. As is the neighbor who declares, "They aren't like us, are they?"

It's never going to be a movie in which you want to see over and over again (like the fluffy Wizard of Oz, again a book that is totally different from the movie, where are the complaining people now?) but it's a movie that should be seen. I also wonder how many people will complain when the new version comes out? I can hear them now, "The first movie was so much better!"

Ray Bradbury's disturbing vision of a possible future comes vividly alive in this film adaption of Fahrenheit 451. Reading for pleasure is now banned although I imagine you must have a certain degree of literacy to read food can labels and directions to operate all kinds of machinery. But read for enjoyment or for education about the world beyond the small space of earth you frequent, that's a big no-no in this future America.

Oskar Werner stars in Fahrenheit 451, he plays a fireman who have a different function in this society. Buildings and such are now fireproof so fireman have become the enforcers of the ban against books. They seek and burn books in whatever quantities they find. A good job in a police state, but not a good one if you have an inquiring mind such as Werner has.

Julie Christie plays two roles, Werner's pleasure driven wife and a schoolteacher whose unorthodox for that society's teaching methods have brought her under scrutiny. She does a good job in both characterizations.

Bradbury's themes are grounded in reality. Looking at American history it was a crime in many slave holding states to educate a slave. Let them be happy in their ignorance and they might not get ideas about a better life and won't rebel.

But this is a society that's beyond that kind of formal slavery so the answer is the old Roman one of bread&circuses. The circus in this case is television which has evolved into an interactive medium. The vast wasteland that Newton Minow characterized television as back in the day has gone beyond anything Minow was having visions about. Entertainment has really dumbed down and the circuses aren't too far from what used to entertain the Romans.

In the supporting cast you will remember Cyril Cusack as the fire brigade captain who functions as the spokesman for this new world and Bee Duffring as the book lady who martyrs herself for knowledge in an unforgettable scene.

The ending is not Bradbury's, but one written by director Francois Truffaut. It is very much however in the spirit of the novel and a tribute to mankind's unquenchable thirst for knowledge. Don't miss Fahrenheit 451 when broadcast.

In a future where books have been outlawed, firemen are paid to burn books instead of put fires out. However, one fireman realizes that what he is doing is wrong and decides to go against the degenerate society he lives in.

I have read reviews of this movie calling it "boring" and "outdated," and frankly I am amazed by how ignorant some people can be. Calling "Fahrenheit 451" outdated simply because the set designs look old and because there are no flashy computer effects shows that you have completely missed the point. The people who made this were not trying to give you a spectacle, they were trying to give you a message - a message that is even more important today than it was when this movie came out.

"Fahrenheit 451" is a fine adaptation of Ray Bradbury's classic novel about censorship. The movie changes many of the book's events, but the spirit of the book is preserved. The cinematography is truly great and the score is quite powerful. The acting is also great. Oskar Werner is right on the money as Montag the fireman. Julie Christie is wonderful playing dual roles as yin and yang: Montag's zombie-like wife, Linda, and Montag's friend, the young and energetic Clarisse. Cyril Cusack is also memorable as the evil Fire Captain Beatty - he isn't a cartoon villain, but a very realistic and human character.

You may think that "Fahrenheit 451" delivers an irrelevant message. You may think that book burning is a thing of the past, a relic of Nazi Germany and Communist Russia. Look around you - book burning happens every day! How do you feel about people trying to ban "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" because the word "nigger" is used in it? How about whole sections of "Doctor Dolittle" being rewritten so that they are politically correct? Did you know that school textbooks may not make any mention of Mount Rushmore because it is offensive to a certain Indian tribe? Meanwhile, we are watching our giant-screen TVs and listening to our Walkmans (two inventions that were predicted by Bradbury). We are constantly "plugged in" and never take any time to just sit and think. Look around you - Ray Bradbury's story is coming true. I advise you to watch this movie, and to read the book. (Read the book first. You will appreciate the film more.)

I hear that a remake is in the works. No doubt it will be filled with gaudy special effects and silly Hollywood cliches. I guess I should hold off judgment until I actually see it, but I doubt that it will contain any of the genius that can be found in this sadly underrated gem. It will be interesting to see what they do with the mechanical hound, though....

Perhaps one of the greatest science fiction writers of all time is Ray Bradbury. He was able to look at so many different fantastical things from so many different fantastical angles. Many credit his novel Fahrenheit 451 has his greatest work. It is a book that depicts a future where learning is oppressed and conformity is expected. Government rules with no one ever questioning it. The masses are swayed by what the government wants them to see through television and pills. This adaptation of Bradbury's novel by French auteur Francois Truffault is effective in retaining the heart of Bradbury's work. Oskar Werner plays Guy Montag, a fireman who burns books rather than puts fires out. He is an expert in his field. He can find all the neat, out-of-the-way places people hide their books like in toasters or behind TV picture tubes. Books are outlawed as seen as corrupting forces in society. Only picture books are allowed. Montag goes on with his mundane life with his wife who is always watching television. The status of one is determined by how many TVs you have in the house. Montag doesn't like TV and has an undeniable quench for something more. Anyway, he meets a neighbor like him in spirit and soon decides to start reading. I loved this film because its message is so very clear today and so scary as we live in a society very different from Montag's yet not so far away. TV dominates our lives to some degree. Most of our news comes from it. Much of our bias comes from it. It is definitely a defining instrument in our lives whether or not we wish to admit it. Reading some argue is in a massive decline and our standards as a society certainly have much lower expectations as to what people should know. If you doubt this, just look at a show from the 1960s(even a show like Bewitched or Gilligan's Island) and compare the vocabulary to something made for a similarly aged viewing audience. We dumb down everything. Anyway enough sermonizing, Farenheit 451 will get your mind thinking. Truffault creates plenty of suspense and a wonderfully eerie new future. His use of color in particular really impressed me. It is of course the 60s, but he makes his world look very different. The acting is very good. Werner gives a more than competent performance as a man troubled with a life he finds to be false. Julie Christie excels playing BOTH Werner's wife and the neighbor girl that inspires him to find the true self. I also enjoyed a rare turn by crusty Cyril Cusak! This is indeed an underrated science fiction film and more importantly a film that should be explored as we move closer and closer to that society it showcases. Fortunately for all of us here, we understand the power, the joy, the fulfillment that reading and writing bring us each day. One last note(or two): this was Truffault's first film in English(may be his only one?) and the ending was wonderfully done!

This is a thought-provoking and poignant story happens in an oppressive and odd far world , a strange and terrifyingly mechanised society . It describes future Earth civilization with television a universal father-figure poring out messages , there a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task . This is the best adaptation of a Ray Bradbury book to hit the big screen , furthermore quite faithful to the tone of the story. It deals with a fire fighter named Montag ( Oscar Werner ) works in the line of duty as responsible for the destruction of materials , but he begins to question about the necessity of his job . Guy Montag is a veteran fireman who is much respected by his superiors (Cyril Cusack) from fire department and is in line for a promotion . Montag doesn't wonder what he does or why he does it until he deals with Clarisse ( Julie Christie in double role also as Montag's wife ). As his doubts enhance , he starts to rob some books he is about to burn . But a work's companion named Fabian (Anton Driffing) suspects about his hidden activity .

It's an intriguing type of story with Science-Fiction leanings and stretching rather far for some of the plot points . This cerebral picture is full of cinematic and literary references as Charles Dickens-David Copperfield- , Robert Stevenson , James Joyce and many others . The interesting story , generally slow-moving , mingles the genres of Dystopian science fiction and suspense film . It contains an intelligent and surprising ending , Truffaut's own invention , with the rebels wandering in idyllic exile by the edge of a glittering icy lake . Although set far in the future , there are no great special effects or elaborate sets ; despite , the movie was filmed in real locations by prestigious cameraman Nicolas Roeg , subsequently filmmaker , in Danebury Avenue, Roehampton, London, England, UK (opening sequence, block of flats) ,Linkway, Edgcumbe Park, Crowthorne, Berkshire, England, UK(Montagu's bungalow)Black Park, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, (Monorail),Fortismere Secondary School, Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, UK and Loiret, France , though most scenes were shot in Pinewood Studios . It is colorfully photographed in bright and gleaming red . Suspenseful and thrilling musical score by the classic Bernard Herrmann , Alfred Hitchcock's usual . The flick is stunningly directed by Francois Truffaut , in his fist English-language movie treating the subject of literature and tyranny with a intelligence and dignity not found in other films . This is one of the best of his suspense movies along with ¨ La Sirene du Missisipi ¨ and ¨Shoot the piano player¨. Rating : Very good , above average and well worth watching .

L