Fahrenheit 451 Film
Fahrenheit 451 is a 1966 movie of a dystopian future, based on the
novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury.
According to Ray Bradbury, the novel is not about speech, but is a story
about how television destroys interest in reading literature. The
central character, Guy Montag, is employed as a "fireman" (which, in
this case, means "book burner"). 451 degrees Fahrenheit (about 233°C) is
stated as "The temperature at which book-paper catches fire, and burns
...". It was directed by François Truffaut, his only English-language
film.
The film starred Oskar Werner as Montag and Julie Christie who was
nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role award for
the dual roles of Linda (Mildred) Montag and Clarisse; having long red
and short blonde hair respectively and being photographed through
different coloured filters. Funding for the film became available when
both Christie and Werner, both in popular films at the time, became
interested in the project.Below is a video of the film trailer:
The movie, Fahrenheit 451, differed somewhat from the novel per the points list below:
- Clarisse survives throughout the film and accompanies Montag
when he leaves the city.
- The role played by Faber is reduced significantly, appearing
only briefly in one scene as an old man who is searched for books in
a park as the cinematography surrounds him with black borders.
- The obsession with fast and often fatal driving that permeates
the novel is nowhere in the film. Only three automobiles are seen in
the film; a Jaguar S-Type, a Commer Imp van, and art director Syd
Cain's red Excalibur roadster.
- Bradbury has said that Truffaut "captured the soul and essence
of the book," although he disliked the double omission of Faber and
the Mechanical Hound.
- The nuclear war in the book is absent, though one of Linda's
friends talks about her husband being called up by the military.
- The film adds a pursuit of Montag with James Bond type jet packs
and an attack from a machine gun firing helicopter that is
televised.
- Once Montag begins reading, the machines of his society
(represented by the Mechanical Hound in the book) turn against him.
In the film this is represented by his being unable to go up the
fireman's pole and the door of his home no longer opening
automatically.
Fahrenheit 451 was shot at Pinewood Studios in England, with the
monorail exterior scene taken at the French SAFEGE test track, in
Châteneuf-sur-Loire near Orléans, France (since dismantled). The Alton
housing estate in Roehampton, South London was also featured in the
film.
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