Movie Review: Fahrenheit 451

After I discovered that an adaptation of Fahrenheit 451 was in development for a 2012 release, I decided to write a review of the first adaption (only fifty years late). Without further ado here it is.

Fahrenheit 451

This is perhaps the best cover ever.

Fahrenheit 451 is a sixties movie based on the novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury. The French Francois Truffaut directs the film. The plot goes as follows Guy Montag (Oskar Werner) is a fireman, whose job it is to burn books (books being banned by the government), in a dystopic authoritarian future, he lives his life in a house with a gigantic TV with a wife (Julie Christi) who watches it non stop. His life is thrown into turmoil when he meets a teacher Clarisse (Julie Christi again for some reason) who tells him to listen to things and talk. He then begins stealing books after he sees a lady choose to burn with her books.

Although I cant say this puts me in the mood for a good book...marshmallows perhaps.

So the plot sounds decent but a film is more than the sum of its parts, the acting is not very good; Guy Montag has an annoying German accent and a monosyllabic voice, Christie is appalling as both Linda and Clarisse. And the shooting! The film is blinding because its always so bright, every where you look is either bright purple or bright red, Guy Montags house looks like Princes love shack! The costume design of the Firemen uniforms is all right even though it is basically a NAZI Gestapo uniform minus the swastikas; I suppose a film can’t be blamed for drawing on NAZI imagery…. look at star wars.

NAZI Uniform

Star wars Republic uniform

The plot is fairly thin and it does a good job of ignoring the central theme of the book, in favour of a government is bad message and the stunning ending of the book is dropped. Really its very existence stands in stark opposition to the message of the original book. So much of the charm and finesse is lost in this tacky rendering.

Much of this film just seems hollow and pretentious, Guys character lacks motivation and the camerawork is uninspired, the attempt to create a futuristic city on such a small budget went about as well as one would expect.

This is a sloppily made film that fails to live up to the classic book, do not watch, simply take a cue from the message as intended and read a book.

Remember these?

Two and a half stars