Fahrenheit 451 in Film
Published December 07, 2004
I chose not to also review the book as it has had books written about it alone. It's hard to do justice to a masterpiece like Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451 with a simple entry to a blog.
Some quick background (I imagine there will be spoilers in this critique):
The book is about a future society in which firemen burn books. This eliminates provocative thoughts that cause overly emotional uprisings inside people, leading to unhappiness. The main character, Guy Montag, is a fireman who realizes the full power of books and is awed by it, yearning to know everything in every one of them. He has to burn his own house and ends up also killing his Captain (Beatty), making him a fugitive from his society. In the end of the book, a war with an un-named enemy quickly wipes out the entire city with atomic bombs. At this point, Montag has run away and joined the "book people", who memorize books to later return to print.
There. If you haven't read it yet, it was just spoiled somewhat for you. You should still read it though as it is literary genius at its finest, although sometimes overdone. It's about how the provocative emotions that books (and media in general) teach us lessons that we forget; and forgetting these lessons leads to our downfall (although it is cycular, like the birth/rebirth of a Phoenix).
On to the movie.
First, there are some stupid, entirely unnecessary changes. Montag's wife's name is Mildred. In the movie, it's Linda. I waited the whole time for some explanation, something to warrant this change, but it's simply not there. Talk about misused poetic license.
There are also some serious character issues in the movie. While the book is more plot-driven than character-driven, all the actions are at least validated by what we know about the characters already. In the movie, this is not the case. A romantic scene with "Linda" is added to the film, purely for ratings purposes as it makes for a juicy trailer. In the book, their relationship never has any warmth in it. When Montag has to burn his house, he first burns the bedroom, for understandable reasons. He still does this in the movie, but it is less warranted as he still had loving feelings for his wife.
- Fahrenheit 451 in Film
- Published: December 07, 2004
- Type:
- Section: Video
- Filed Under: Video: SF, Books: Science, Books: SF
- Writer: Shane S-T
- Shane S-T's BC Writer page
- Shane S-T's personal site
- Spread the Word
- Like this article?
- Email this
Save to del.icio.us
Comments on this articleComments
An absolutely great book.
For interest's sake, could you tell me -I have an old paperback with a cover identical to the one shown at the top of this article. Does that mean it's the original paperback edition?
DB, I respectfully disagree with your opinion. Maybe it's because I read the book almost simultaneously to when I watched the film, but I doubt it would stand well alone either. The characters are cold in the book as well; they're actually a bit warmer in the movie (the romance scene with "Linda" comes to mind). I love alot of movies from the same time period (The Graduate is one of my all time favorites, from '67), including the sci-fi's you mentioned, but this one seemed dry and definitely lacking.
Vern, hate to inform you, but that isn't the original paperback. It's one of the newest editions actually, dating back to '86 or '87.
It's been a few years since I've seen the film, but I delighted in the European setting and how the flatblocks there make the distant, impersonal nature of the fireman (He is without judgment on the content of the books. All books have ideas, and ideas cause conflict in society) all the more realistic in that setting.
Awwww......I was gonna use it to put a down payment on a Porsche.
Add your comment, speak your mind
(Or ping: http://blogcritics.org/mt/tb/23033)
Shane,
Interesting take on a film I have always applauded. I too have read the classic Bradbury novel, twice in fact, and was never offended by the film. When watching the film today, I have always been interested in the dramatic liberties taken by director Francois Truffaut. I think the year this film was made, 1966, was crucial to the final product. An experimental time in filmmaking, and Truffaut had his take on the subject matter. This film is very cold, and the characters are distant, and Truffaut was attempting to convey this. Technically, the film is superb, and is an absolute document of its time - this was the beginning of the glorious years of movie science fiction, including 2001, Planet of the Apes and on to Soylent Green and Demon Seed. Standing alone, the film is inspirational and avant garde. When compared to the novel, I suppose it is rather flat. The film is more Truffaut than Bradbury, and the artistic merits taken by the gifted director are open to discussion. I consider it a successful interpretation, with a dash of retro 1960s psychedelia thrown in for good measure.
Stanley Kubrick followed Anthony Burgess's novel A Clockwork Orange almost word for word, and it is a unique classic. But I am not convinced that Truffaut (this was one of his only English language films) could have followed the same route. When liberties are taken with a classic novel, perhaps one must first look at the director taking these liberties. I loved the film Fahrenheit 451, but consider it a Truffaut work during the 1960s, rather than a film based on Bradbury's novel.