Fahrenheit 451
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Movie Reviews of Fahrenheit 451
Movie Review: Satirical Parable on Bradbury's work
Summary: 4 Stars
Although this film did not have the same serious tone of the novel, it still worked on many levels. For one, the film's depiction of a futuristic society, in which all individuality seems to be lost and societal change is frowned upon, seems to illustrate the relevance of a need for change.
The movie works as a satirical parable on censorship, yet with the same qualities as Orwell's 1984. The whole idea that books and literature are obsolete nonsense, and that firemen are only there to start fires with these books (rather than putting them out), demonstrates the backwardness of this society. Much like Winston in Orwell's novel, Montag seems to emerge from his stupor in life-in job, family and ideals-to question the way society is run. Winston's secret journal entries are parallel with Montag's need to secretly read and gain information. Just like Winston tries to defy Big Brother, Montag tries to defy the Book Police.
Montag, who works as a fireman, only begins to change after meeting Clarisse, a 17 year old girl who questions Montag about his job of burning books. She lives next door to him, and does not understand how he can continually do a job without questioning the ethics of it. Montag's transformation comes not only in the form of reading, but his home life as well. His wife, Linda, has an obsession with watching television and has no ability to communicate with him on a deeper level. At one point, after she confronts him after catching him reading a book and tells him she wants the book out of her house, he says "You spent your whole life in front of the family on the wall. The books are MY family."
As Montag drifts further away from the role of fireman, it gets harder and harder for him to burn the books and perform his job. His boss begins to notice a change, and eventually tries to force Montag to burn his own books. He and his boss are opposites however: at one point his boss discovers a secret library and, after telling him that all the books there are rubbish, states emphatically "The only way to be happy is for everyone to be equal." By this time, Montag has discovered that people need to be individuals and seek knowledge to feel meaningful.
The film does not try to take itself too seriously however, and it really is a satire in many instances. The books that are commonly called trash in the film are by some of the most heralded authors in history: Dickens, Cervantes, Aristotle, etc. At one point, during a book search, Montag's boss spots a baby with a book in his stroller, and takes it away from him and wags his finger at the young baby, as if the infant had a choice in reading.
More neat aspects of the DVD are the extras, particularly the commentary with Ray Bradbury. In this commentary, Bradbury gives a little bit of background about himself, such as how he got started writing and where he grew up, and then launches into ideas behind the story Fahrenheit 451. From watching this part, it certainly appears as though Bradbury was in full support of this movie, even if his story was altered a little.
Overall, this is a great DVD to check out!
Movie Review: "What if you had no right to read?"
Summary: 4 Stars
Fahrenheit 451 is a strange film, hard to describe. No other director could or would have interpreted the classic Bradbury novel in the same bizarre, fascinating manner as Francois Truffaut. It's a book, and a film, about freedom, choices, individuality, and intellectual repression in a future where books are forbidden; where Firemen are men who start fires...fires in which they burn books.
It was also the first color film directed by Truffaut. Although he by all accounts was not happy about making a color film and found it a bit unsettling, color is used to great effect here; sparingly, except for the extreme shade of red that is seen throughout.
"Fahrenheit 451" is supposed to be the temperature at which book paper catches fire, as the protagonist Guy Montag (Oskar Werner) explains in a scene at the beginning. Guy is a Fireman who seems happy enough with his life until he is approached by a young woman named Clarisse (Julie Christie) on his way home from work one day. She starts up a conversation with him, and the two become friendly. She bewilders him but challenges him to think and feel....and read. And when he arrives home we see his wife (also played by Julie Christie, with long hair), sedated and watching the wallscreen (TV of sorts)...we see what his life is really like, although he had told Clarisse he was "happy"...he is not.
As his friendship with Clarisse grows, he starts to secretly take home, hoard, and read some of the books he finds in the course of his daily work, and as he reads, he becomes obsessed with the books. They become his mistress, and are what finally make him feel affection and warmth. And when he starts to feel and care, so do we.
The two single best scenes are a passionate one involving an old woman who refuses to leave her books, her "children" as she calls them; and the wonderful ending of the film. The countless, painful closeups of books as they are being burned are beautifully done, and difficult to watch.
Truffaut was a well-known disciple of Alfred Hitchcock's films, so when Hitchcock fired his long-time music collaborator Bernard Herrmann during the filming of "Torn Curtain", Truffaut was thrilled to acquire his talents for his own film. The score for "F451" is beautiful, and the film would not be nearly as effective without it.
Writer/producer/director Frank Darabont ("The Green Mile", "The Shawshank Redemption") is working on a new film of "Fahrenheit 451" this year. He says it won't be a remake of the original film.
Movie Review: Thoughtful- not fluffy
Summary: 4 Stars
It was a strange movie; the edgy feeling was on par with, say, Edward scissor-hands. That was mostly due to the Score being very well done. A beef I have with a lot of more modern movies is that people don't use their score and background music well anymore. With the exception of Lord of the Rings, the use of themes takes the place of mood- and that's not really a good thing. In Fahrenheit, the music sets the tone and helps you interpret the intended emotional effect. Otherwise, in a movie with so little dialogue and such stone-faced acting (which wasn't as negative as it sounds), you'd hardly know what you were supposed to feel!The story is set in the near future, in a time when books have been outlawed. The main character is a fireman- no, he doesn't put out fires (homes these days are modern and fire-proof - he starts them by burning books. Firemen are trained to go out on calls to people's homes, raid them of all their hidden books and burn them. Television totally controls the culture standard as all people are brought into uniformity with each other. The communist idea of everyone being made alike is brought to its full manifestation.
The Fireman begins to read the books he burns after meeting a lady who doesn't quite fit the mold. Eventually he is caught, murders his captain with a flame thrower and escapes to live with the Book People, a commune of individuals each of whom have memorized some great work of literature in order to preserve it. "I'm `The Prince' by Machiavelli" says one scraggly looking man, "It should now be plain that you can't judge a book by its cover!"
Seeing as it is an older movie, everything about it is tame as far as how nasty stuff is portrayed. People smoke (books about lung cancer used to make them upset, so they were burned to preserve their happiness), overdose of pills, die fiery deaths among piles of forbidden books, and get shot. But none of it is anywhere near the more brutal or sickening kinds of violence and such one is used to seeing in movies. Incidentally, the one love scene in this movie consists of the wife knocking her husband onto the bed, untying his bathrobe to reveal *gasp* long sleeve and long legged pajamas, and as she wraps her arm around his PJs and kisses him, the scene fades.
As a philosophical movie, it does well, bringing up some excellent questions about "common good", "individuality", and "happiness". As pure entertainment, or party fare, it does very little good at all. Rent it and think through the questions the "model society" brings.
Movie Review: Let Your Passion Burn
Summary: 4 Stars
I agree with one reviewer who said to read the book...yes, by all means, read the book and then watch this incredible film adaptation. Yes, this film is a little dated - but aren't we all. It's a little cheesy in spots, sure. But I feel that Truffaut really did Bradbury justice especially by making sure that the only things we actually saw in print were the titles of the books that were being burnt.
Both the book and the film are powerful commentaries on society. We really are becoming more and more of a society who wants everything spelled out for us. With all our technology, we have allowed our minds, our hearts, and our souls to grow flaccid and weak. We pledge our allegiance to things that really do not serve our spirit...things that slowly gnaw out our insides and make us hollow inside. I have a friend who recently bought a home that had a very nice set of built in bookcases built into the wall of the den. He took a sledge hammer to them, resurfaced the wall, and put up his 72" Plasma flatscreen.
I almost cried.
I guess it's because I love to read. I guess it's because I like to feel. I guess it's because I truly feel in the pit of my soul that this journey that we call like is such a magnificent thing, that I am disheartened by all the callousness that we, as a society, have allowed ourselves individually as well collectively to become.
I put up a review not too long ago where some people attacked and judged my enthusiasm for the film. It really kind of bothered me for a bit. Almost to the point where I wanted to stop writing reviews for things that I enjoyed and wanted others to also enjoy. Do you see what I was doing? I was letting other people's opinions have made weight and more validity than my own. That's how a society crumbles. That's how the "futuristic society" in Fahrenheit 451 allowed the Law to establish the ban on reading.
We must allow ourselves to rise up out of the ashes of our past and decide who we want to be, what we want to do, what we want to have, and where we want to go. We must do this individually and we must do this collectively. Life is much too precious to simply go on auto-pilot.
I invite you to watch this incredible movie. I invite you to see it with a group of friends. I invite you to think about it, be stirred up about it, and then decide for yourself (while you still can) what kind of life you want to bring forth.
Be the change you wish to see in the world...
Movie Review: Burning Brightly in the Night: Fahrenheit 451 as a Warning
Summary: 4 Stars
The movie "Fahrenheit 451" has always been regarded as a strange, stiff movie, curious not only in the casting, but also in the stilted feelings of the main character and abrupt changes in pacing. I think that is part of its appeal. Ever since it's release in the mid 1960's the film has had a special appeal to the 10 year old in me. From the afternoon movie appearances on WXYZ TV 7 4:30 pm Movie (edited for time, commercial content, and any suggestion of sexual content) to the occassional late night replay, it's a facinating look at a future society of rules, regulation, control and totalitarianism run rampant.
True, it is difficult to understand Oscar(Montag)Werner's speech at times, and you wonder how he ever linked up with Linda/Julie Christie in the first place... but I think that only helps to underscore his growing sense of not-fitting it, not belonging, alienation, and loneliness. His dying love for her is evident in his frantic attempts to save her, but even in that effort, while the technicians work to casually revive her in the next room, he can only listen in... not actually DO anything to help save the woman he married... as she is restored to a participating member of 'the family'.
There are many images that stay with me, some 35 years since I first saw the film. I frequently remember the run for darkness in front of the apartment complex/condos... and the errie predictive precursor to "America's Most Wanted" program.... "Let every citizen stand at his front door and watch for...Guy Montag..."
In this modern day of MTV, the obsession with mindless reality shows like "Dog Eat Dog", "Fear Factor" and "The Real World"... we have to wonder how close we have grown to this futuristic world of mind-numbing cable television. As the 80s rock band "The Tubes" said, "What do you want from Life? To get cable TV and watch it every night?"
This movie, as awkward as it is and always has been, should be required viewing for every high school literature class... in the hopes that some of the brighter students will recognise their classmates and the dangers of becoming one of the "family".
By the way, did you hear that the new plazma wide screen TV's are coming down in price? If you rush now, you can buy a second one for Christmas and install it in your family room... then you'll only need two more before you are completely immersed in cable TV 24/7.....
Think about it.
Thank you Mr. Ray Bradbury, Mr. Francis Trufau, Mr. Bernard Hermann, Mr. Guy Montag...