Fahrenheit 451

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The classic science fiction novel by Ray Bradbury was a curious choice for one of the leading directors of the French New Wave, François Truffaut. But from the opening credits onward (spoken, not written on screen), Truffaut takes Bradbury's fascinating premise and makes it his own. The futuristic society depicted in Fahrenheit 451 is a culture without books. Firemen still race around in red trucks and wear helmets, but their job is to start fires: they ferret out forbidden stashes of books, douse them with gasoline, and make public bonfires. Oskar Werner, the star of Truffaut's Jules and Jim, plays a fireman named Montag, whose exposure to David Copperfield wakens an instinct toward reading and individual thought. (That's why books are banned--they give people too many ideas.) In an intriguing casting flourish, Julie Christie plays two roles: Montag's bored, drugged-up wife and the woman who helps kindle the spark of rebellion. The great Bernard Herrmann wrote the hard-driving music; Nicolas Roeg provided the cinematography. Fahrenheit 451 received a cool critical reception and has never quite been accepted by Truffaut fans or sci-fi buffs. Its deliberately listless manner has always been a problem, although that is part of its point; the lack of reading has made people dry and empty. If the movie is a bit stiff (Truffaut did not speak English well and never tried another project in English), it nevertheless is full of intriguing touches, and the ending is lyrical and haunting. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews:

The Future Is Now?.......2007-09-17

With "Farenheight 451" the brilliant French director Francois Truffaut made his first film in color and his only on in English. Based on the science fiction classic by Ray Bradbury, it takes place in the future where a totalitarian government is in place. People are forbidden to read. Houses have huge television screens installed in the walls; the inhabitants of this negative utopia take pills to stay on an even keel. Firemen no longer put out fires but rather burn books because they make people think, make them unhappy and, as one character says, "we above all have got to be alike." The film stars Oskar Werner as Montag, a fireman who hides books in his home and secretly reads among other novels Charles Dickens' DAVID COPPERFIELD, and Julie Christie who plays two characters, Montag's wife Linda and another secret reader Clarisse.

The cinematography is beautiful, particularly the opening scenes with frame after frame shot in different colors of the roofs of houses with huge television antennas. There are no written credits at the beginning of the movie; a man's voice tells the viewer the stars of the movie, the producer, the director et al. The characters read comic strips with no captions. The title of course comes from the temperature that supposedly book paper burns.

According to the commentary that accompanies the DVD version of this film about the making of "Farenheight 451" Truffaut used some of his favorite books for the burning scenes: MOBY DICK, Bradbury's THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES, ROBINSON CRUSOE, MADAM BOVARY, VANITY FAIR, OTHELLO, LOLITA, THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, works by Jean Genet, Frank Harris, Kafka, Henry Miller and many others-- and a cook of crossword puzzles in Spanish!

It hardly bears saying that this film is as timely as both local and world news, past and present. Everyone knows that both the Soviets and Hitler burned books. Churches and other institutions, the so-called keepers of morals, along with private citizens in these United States, have led fights to ban books from schools and libraries over the years. Right now a citizen of Gwinnett County, Georgia is trying to get the Harry Potter novels removed from that county's schools. Furthermore, a recent study showed that one out of five Americans-- I believe-- had not read a single book in the past year. The average family, on the other hand, watches dozens of hours of TV drivel each week while many Americans take tranquilizers and other mood-altering prescription drugs on a daily basis.

This fine movie deserves a much-needed revival in these times.

Classic movie.......2007-09-09

I have watched this movie many times and it never gets old. The cast is super and the story is great. I am sure we will watch this many times in the future. It is a classic!

An interesting,under-rated film.......2007-08-27

The reviews of this film have been generallu unfavourable since it was released in 1966.I think they miss the point as well as being unjustified.
This is a Europeon take(hemed by Francoise Treuffaut) on a Ray Bradbury novel set in the Mid-West of the USA in the future.It's about a dystopian society that burns books to establisf an intellectuaectually bland and pointless consumer driven society.

The film and script are intentiomally stilted.Many critics toof exception to this,bur I believe it is faithful to Bradbuty's vision and the requirements of the story.The performances by Oskar Werner and Julie Christie,who plays two characters(The vacuous wife(Linda) of Werner's character(Montag) and the woman(Clarissa) who changes his life) are both good.Of special mention is Cyril Cusack as Montag's enigmatic and sinister boss.

There are incocsistancies in the plot,but on the whole this unusual film is worth the effort of watching.

A great classic.......2007-06-27

A great classic that is pretty faithful for the book. The cinematography is superb and the overall DVD image and sound quality is superb.

Fahrenheit 451.......2007-03-20

Timeless story of the evil of political correctness. The cast in this movie is outstanding. Michael Moore deserves to burn in hell for besmirching the name of this movie for his petty drivel.

Average customer rating:

The Future Is Now?
Classic movie
An interesting,under-rated film
A great classic
Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451
Starring: Oskar Werner , Julie Christie , Cyril Cusack , Anton Diffring , and Jeremy Spenser
Director: François Truffaut
Manufacturer: Image Entertainment
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B00000FYZI
Release Date: 1998-03-11

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Description

Ray Bradbury's best-selling science fiction masterpiece about a future without books takes on a chillingly realistic dimension in this film classic directed by one of the most important screen innovators of all time, the late Francois Truffaut.

Customer Reviews:

The Future Is Now?.......2007-09-17

Classic movie.......2007-09-09

I have watched this movie many times and it never gets old. The cast is super and the story is great. I am sure we will watch this many times in the future. It is a classic!

An interesting,under-rated film.......2007-08-27

A great classic.......2007-06-27

A great classic that is pretty faithful for the book. The cinematography is superb and the overall DVD image and sound quality is superb.

Fahrenheit 451.......2007-03-20

Timeless story of the evil of political correctness. The cast in this movie is outstanding. Michael Moore deserves to burn in hell for besmirching the name of this movie for his petty drivel.

Average customer rating:

Not So Bad - I Liked It
Disappointing Bradbury Documentary

Ray Bradbury: Dancing Among the Muses

ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B000L42NMI
Release Date: 2006-11-27

Description

Ray Bradbury, Dancing Among The Muses, is the film bio of American literary icon and master storyteller Ray Bradbury. Bradbury, author of such classic novels as The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man and Fahrenheit 451 and numerous screenplays such as Herman Melville's metaphoric saga, "Moby Dick". Through intimate interviews with Mr. Bradbury and some of his closest friends and colleagues, the viewer becomes a first hand observer to Bradbury's childhood in Waukegan Illinois, where a mysterious carnival performer changes his life forever. Next as a teenage as Bradbury journeys west with his family to a depression-era Hollywood - a move that puts him in the fantasy world of movies. And finally into the present where Bradbury resides today as the world's premiere storyteller with a list of classic movies, television shows and plays to his credit and more than 50 million books in print throughout the world.

Customer Reviews:

Not So Bad - I Liked It.......2007-06-28

If you disregard the film editing techniques and just listen to the words, I think you will find this program useful and inspiring. As the professor said there are a few things wrong such as missing name/date/location captions and a few stills that don't really make sense, but the content is great. Who cares if Bradbury is not clean shaven, it's ridiculous to use that as a dissent. We're lucky to see Ray speak at all these days. Those who have heard him talk before will recognize many of the same themes and stories that he has spoken of in the past, but at least for me there were a few things I had never heard before. It makes me want to pick up my copies of Dahl, Kneale and Collier, and all the other short story writers Ray has recommended, read them, and get back at the typewriter writing stories every day. And if that's not the most important thing, I don't know what is. As Ray would say to future writers, "Mad Love!" and "Onward!"

Disappointing Bradbury Documentary.......2007-01-04

As a literature professor I view lots of documentaries about authors, from well-produced works to bargain basement photo montages. This is frankly one of the worst I have seen. The disk itself even appears to be a cheap DVD recordable with a label, not a standard commercial DVD. The documentary is a collection of bland recent interview clips and lecture footage of a disheveled and often unshaven Bradbury interspersed with oft-repeated photos and fawning interview comments by others. No one is identified with a screen caption, so while Forrest Ackerman and James Whitmore are easily recognizable, the identities of several other interview subjects are a mystery (although suggested by the context). The camerawork is amateurish and the image jitters from time to time, sometimes inexplicably zooming or panning slightly. The music, such as it is, is comprised of someone strumming on a single guitar. I have seen first year film students put together better work than this. Very disappointing and not at all recommended.

Average customer rating:

The Future Is Now?
Classic movie
An interesting,under-rated film
A great classic
Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 [Region 2]
Starring: Oskar Werner , Julie Christie , Cyril Cusack , Anton Diffring , and Jeremy Spenser
Director: François Truffaut
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B00006495Q

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

The Future Is Now?.......2007-09-17

Classic movie.......2007-09-09

I have watched this movie many times and it never gets old. The cast is super and the story is great. I am sure we will watch this many times in the future. It is a classic!

An interesting,under-rated film.......2007-08-27

A great classic.......2007-06-27

A great classic that is pretty faithful for the book. The cinematography is superb and the overall DVD image and sound quality is superb.

Fahrenheit 451.......2007-03-20

Timeless story of the evil of political correctness. The cast in this movie is outstanding. Michael Moore deserves to burn in hell for besmirching the name of this movie for his petty drivel.

Average customer rating:

The Future Is Now?
Classic movie
An interesting,under-rated film
A great classic
Fahrenheit 451

Fahrenheit 451 [Region 2]
Starring: Oskar Werner , Julie Christie , Cyril Cusack , Anton Diffring , and Jeremy Spenser
Director: François Truffaut
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

General | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Genres | DVD | Video

( F ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video
Similar Items:

ASIN: B0000DCXS3

Amazon.com essential video

Customer Reviews:

The Future Is Now?.......2007-09-17

Classic movie.......2007-09-09

I have watched this movie many times and it never gets old. The cast is super and the story is great. I am sure we will watch this many times in the future. It is a classic!

An interesting,under-rated film.......2007-08-27

A great classic.......2007-06-27

A great classic that is pretty faithful for the book. The cinematography is superb and the overall DVD image and sound quality is superb.

Fahrenheit 451.......2007-03-20

Timeless story of the evil of political correctness. The cast in this movie is outstanding. Michael Moore deserves to burn in hell for besmirching the name of this movie for his petty drivel.

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