Fahrenheit 451
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Movie Reviews of Fahrenheit 451
Movie Review: An inspiring tale of hope!
Summary: 5 Stars
Don't touch me, reader!
In this film, Montag, is an up and comer at the local fire-station where books are burned. He has a beautiful wife and a promotion coming up. But he starts to read books and his life falls apart! He becomes anti-social, ruins his marriage, and ruins his career! In this movie there are people that memorize books in order to keep them alive even after they're burned. If I was going to do this I would be sure to memorize the book this was written as to make sure man remembers how dangerous they are! This movie then makes its most important point: all books contradict themselves therefore none of them can be right!
I hate to read so the idea of a world without books is quite intriguing. Let's face it, books are obsolete now anyways. We have pictures and sound and colours! More colours than you can shake a stick at. We have 8 news networks that give us the news! We have movies and TV. Case in point, this movie! It would take hours and hours spread out over days to read this book, but I finished this movie in an hour and a half! It's the same story so tell me in which way the book would trump the movie? If film is so much more efficient than books, why do we still have them? Efficiency is what our society is about.
Think about it, a book is just words on a page. We don't get to see any of the places or people they contain.
People often equate literacy with intelligence which is mad. If a person watches a documentary about the Roman Empire they will learn all about it in an hour or two. Have you ever seen the book, The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire? It's thousands of pages spread out over several books! It would take years to finish it. Therefore, it will take a reader years to learn about Rome while a non-reader will know all about it in a couple hours. Let's say it takes the reader 2 years to read about Rome, the non-reader can watch a documentary a day after work or school and learn about 730 subjects by the time the reader has finished with Rome!!!!!!!! Therefore a watcher is exponentially more intelligent than a reader.
The argument this movie makes about books is quite intriguing especially considering our age of terrorism. People read books and they put bad thoughts into their heads; many people have been killed because of certain books, why shouldn't we burn them? There have been so many books that have caused problems throughout the ages, if we could burn every copy of them the world will be safer, more peaceful place! There are fairy stories meant to stir up hatred towards science, and as for science books, they are wonderful, but obsolete now that we have the Discovery channel. There are Novels which are lies, they are filled with people and places that never existed, or things that never happened in places that do exist.
People read books and get depressed; they miss out on time that could be spent with their friends, or at social activities. If you read books and don't watch TV you will be a social misfit. You won't have anything to talk about because you will not know who won American Idol, or who got kicked off the island. TV gives you news as it is happening; newspapers give you the news after it's happened. Therefore, newspapers are obsolete by the time they are printed. I'm not saying books were always bad, they're just obsolete now. Why use ancient technology like the written word? We wouldn't use records now that there are CDs, or VHS tapes now that we have DVD would we?
I think the fact that the author wrote this as a book first and then had the movie made was a stroke of genius. It merely proves the point he was trying to make, moving pictures are vastly superior to words on a page.
Books are about the past, what's already happened. Moving pictures are about the present the future, what we will become not what we have been.
Habent sua fata libelli.
Movie Review: Flowers of Fire
Summary: 5 Stars
It's curious that a director who spent so much of his early career railing against the tyranny of the literary tradition in French cinema should spend so much of his career either adapting novels or filling his films with techniques from and references to literature at every turn, so his attraction to Ray Bradbury's fable isn't that surprising. What is surprising is that in many ways it's his most purely cinematic film, discarding his usual over-reliance on voice-over to carry underwritten scenes for more purely cinematic forms of interpretation. Even the readings from the forbidden books are kept to a minimum: the obsession is in Montag's behavior, not the words he speaks.
Truffaut's playfulness is all over the material, from casting an actor who forbade his children to watch TV or go to the cinema as the fire chief (Cyril Cusack in the film's standout performance) to dramatically masking off half the screen and heightening the dramatic music for what turns out to be a less than dramatic moment in a search - and that's without the inclusion of Cahiers du Cinema among the burning books or mentioning Anton Diffring's brief moment in drag. But then this is an absurdist world, where firemen slide up poles and start fires and where fascism is accepted in that way it always is when gradually introduced because of people's innate ability to adapt to their circumstances, no matter how absurd or restricting.
It improves on Bradbury's novel by losing some of the more distancing sci-fi devices such as the fortune telling dog, and setting it's future in a soulless post-war New Town environment that is close enough to the real look of the time to add to the credibility. Much of what there is in the film isn't that far from reality, with plasma wall screens offering inept interactive' TV (even down to pressing the red button) becoming status symbols, and betrayal increasingly encouraged as an everyday, socially acceptable act. Indeed, the world it presents, where people touch themselves, not each other, and where conflicting ideas are discouraged because they just make people unhappy, seems all too contemporary. Only what is possibly the single worst special effect in film history (those laughable flying policeman on all-too visible wires), the film's one ill-judged excursion into optical effects, sticks out like a sore thumb.
Despite the huge problems between Oskar Werner (who wanted to play Montag with a wink and a smile) and Truffaut (who ended the shoot directing through an intermediary, using body doubles and having to cut Werner's takes shortly before he smiled!), Montag seems a credible protagonist, an empty vessel who suddenly has his horizons violently opened. Even the accent seems strangely right: not so much the idea of a German playing a fascist book burner (indeed, Diffring's German accent is dubbed here), but the way it seems to compliment the formal language of the piece. Even Julie Christie's blandness and sporadic awkward enthusiasm work well enough in this environment for her almost to seem to give a perform for once.
Throw in Bernard Herrmann's remarkably beautiful, sparingly used score, never more effective than in the final sequences that are almost magically complimented by the happy accident of a totally unexpected snowfall, and the result is a surprisingly moving piece about fundamentally shallow people. And it is a very comforting thought that, if behind every book is a man (or woman), then somewhere there is a man or woman who will keep every book alive despite all efforts to destroy it.
Universal's DVD is one of the very best on the market: the audio commentary is occassionally unsatisfying, but any gaps are more than filled in by the excellent 45-minute documentary, interview with Ray Bradbury, featurette on Herrmann's score, alternate title sequence, stills and poster gallery and trailer. Highly recommended.
Movie Review: Flame Wars
Summary: 5 Stars
This film first appeared in theaters in 1966. The Vietnam War was just getting under way, and the Pentagon was beefing up its disinformation campaign that was later documented in David Halberstam's book The Best and the Brightest. The film was based on a novel by Ray Bradbury, first published in 1953, when the hysterical Red Scares of McCarthyism were near their peak.
Bradbury's writing was originally published in the second issue of Galaxy Science Fiction magazine. In an interview on the DVD, Bradbury claims that Fahrenheit 451 was his only work of science fiction.
That the "New Wave" director, Francois Truffaut agreed to direct the film was unusual. Bradbury was already an established writer, who probably wanted some artistic control and Truffaut was promoting the auteur theory of film in which the director has absolute artistic control.
The friction had a couple of effects on the film. Truffaut, eager to begin filming wrote the screenplay before fully mastering English. Even Truffaut was disappointed in the end with the stiff, flat dialog. For Truffaut, Fahrenheit 451 was his first, and last, English-language film. This may have contributed to the flatness of the characters. Some reviewers made an asset out of the stiffness by saying that the characters, deprived of serious thinking, and of books, and addled by drugs, were themselves, in fact, flat, soulless creatures. Bradbury had little say on the final screenplay.
The central character, Guy Montag, (Oskar Werner) is a "fireman." In this disturbing vision of the future, firemen burn books. Books are all but banned by the government because they have "conflicting ideas" in them. Those ideas can make people feel bad. It is the government's job to keep people happy, with drugs, large-screen television, and other entertainment. Does anyone still remember the term "Happy Talk News? Let's keep it positive.
The novel played on the concerns of the time when it was written. Censorship and suppression of thought, mainly through intimidation, was being exercised in the United States. The intimidation was being done by radio and newspaper columnists, who supported McCarthy. The book burnings by Nazis, which started in Germany in 1933 and continued until the end of World War II, were still in living memory. And the world was still reeling from the horrible pictures of the explosions of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as well as implications of the mass production of nuclear weapons.
By the time the film appeared, America was more concerned with race riots. So, burning was a viscerally powerful theme. Lost on most viewers in 1966 was the detail that among the burned books was the film journal Cahiers du Cinema for which Truffaut wrote, and that on the magazine's cover was a picture from the film Breathless, written by Truffaut. Also among the burned books: The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451, both written by Bradbury.
Truffaut, however, contributed much to the uniqueness of the film as a work of art separate from the book. From the opening credits, which were spoken and not displayed on the screen, to the ending, in which the exiles who have devoted their lives to memorizing books recite their books while walking blissfully in the snow, Truffaut's genius is there. Also a stroke of genius was the casting of Julie Christie as Monag's drug-addled wife, and as the more compassionate and interested Clarisse, who seduces him into reading and thinking.
Like Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451, describes a hedonist world, where the people need not think. I'll have my Valium now. And I have cable, so there must be something to watch. Maybe a rerun of Jerry Springer.
Movie Review: Truffaut Goes English
Summary: 5 Stars
Fahrenheit 451 is a futuristic film about a society that is forbidden to read books. The government controls all that the people hear or see. Montag (Oskar Werner) is a fireman. In this time, firemen do not put out fires. They burn the contraband books.
On the way home he meets Claris (Julie Christie). Claris is a free spirit. She questions everything. One way you can tell this is by her home. It is a free standing Victorian home.
Montag's home is part of a block of identical attached homes. He is married to Linda (Julie Christie in a dual role). She is the model of the perfect wife whose emotions are regulated by pills.
Claris makes Montag start to question his job and he sneaks a book home (David Copperfield). After reading it he is hooked and starts to bring more books home. This makes him more dissatisfied with the status quo. He becomes bolder and bolder until he disrupts Linda's party with reading a book to the ladies.
Claris' home is raided but she escapes. Montag finds Claris and she tells him that she is going to live with the book people. Linda denounces Montag and he is forced to burn his own collection. Montag uses the fire to escape.
This was famed French director Francois Truffaut's only English language film and his first color film. This is the only film not to have any printed credits, they are spoken. (Apocalypse Now in its roadshow release had no screen credits except the title but the credits printed and handed out.)
The novel comes from a time when many people felt that we being dehumanized. Other famous books in this vain are Brave New World and Nineteen Eighty Four. The interesting thing is Truffaut's imagery of the people becoming self involved and finding their only satisfaction from self gratification.
This film adaptation is excellent. Although it set in the future, Tony Walton's production design infuses futuristic and retro looks brilliantly. And future new wave director Nicholas Roeg creates a surreal look with his cinematography. Finally, Bernard Herrman's score is very evocative of the repressed mood of the society.
DVD EXTRAS:
Commentary by Julie Christie
The Novel: A Discussion with Author Ray Bradbury - 11 minute interview with the author about the genesis of the book - it actually was originally published in Playboy.
The Making of Fahrenheit 451 - A 44 minute documentary about the film with Truffaut scholar Annette Insdorf, producer Louis Allen, author Bradbury, editor Tom Noble. One of the things that were discussed was Hitchcock's influence on Truffaut during this time.
The Music of Fahrenheit 451 - A 16 minute documentary about Bernard Herrman's score with Hermann biographer Steven C Smith, producer Allen, author Bradbury, Truffaut scholar Annette Insdorf and editor Noble. This is a very interesting look at a great film composer.
Original Title Sequence of Feature - Originally the film credits were read by the actress who played the television presenter.
Poster Gallery - A 5 minute poster and photograph gallery with Bernard Herman score. I generally do not look at these but the music is great.
Movie Review: Very good story. I enjoyed it.
Summary: 5 Stars
What if
you
had
no
right
to
read?
Fahrenheit 451 takes place in the not-too-distant future where books are completely forbidden. Based on the novel by Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 is about choice. Each choice made by the characters could destroy society.
We first see a man who hears sirens. And during the sirens, the phone rings and a woman's voice tells him to get out of his apartment and to run far, far away. He does and when we explore his apartment we discover the cause of this man's trouble: books. Everywhere there is a hiding place, there is a book. A team of "firemen" (note: they aren't called "fire fighters" becuase in the future, fires are started by them and the idea of fighting a fire is absurd.) take all the books to the parking lot and burn them. Their badges say "Fahrenheit 451" becuase that is the tempature used to burn books. We focus on a man: Montag. He and his wife live "happily" in their home next to his "friend" Clarisse (both women are played by Julie Christie). One day, Clarisse asks him if he had ever read the books he's burned. Simply put: no. But that strikes an interest in him. He takes a book: David Copperfield and starts to read it. His wife and friends worry and one of them begins to cry after he reads a passage. Her reason: she doesn't like those feelings anymore. It appears that books offend and dehumanize rather than bring goodness and brilliance into the world. In order to make everyone happy they burn books so no one feels sad and people don't become shut-ins because what they read is so facinating. When Montag's secret comes out, he becomes a fugitive and must make a decision: give up books or his life.
Fahrenheit 451 is a classic that everyone should read (ironically, it was a novel) and see. (If you didn't see this version, don't worry: a remake is due in 2004/2005) The idea that no one could read the printed word is surprisingly realistic in the sense that readers are treated as common outlaws. The film makes sense and uses the fact that no one can read to it's advantage: the opening credits are read aloud instead of written out. Cartoons have no captions and life has no meaning.
RECCOMENDED TO FANS OF:
Ninteen Eighty Four (1984)
The Running Man (1987)
Pleasantville (1998)
CAST
Oskar Werner...Guy Montag
Julie Christie.....Clarisse/Linda Montag
Cyril Cusack......The Captain
Anton Diffring....Fabian/Headmistress
THE MOVIE: 4/4
THE PICTURE QUALITY: 8/10. 1.85:1 Anamorphic widescreen. Clean except for some scenes (the opening scenes for example) where there are some noticable specs and dirt. Other than that, it's A-OK.
THE AUDIO QUALITY: 5.5/10. This is where the disc looses credit. Presented in 2.0 Mono, it was extreamly hard to hear so I found myself turning the audio all the way up then being startled when I switch from dvd to vcr because the volume is so loud.
THE SPECIAL FEATURES:
-The Novel: A Discussion with Author Ray Bradbury featurette
-The Making of Fahrenheit 541 featurette
-Commentary with Julie Christie
-The Music of Fahrenheit 541 featurette
-Original opening sequence
-Photo gallery
-Trailer
-Reccomendations
SUBTITLES: English, Spanish and French