Fahrenheit 451

GREEN'S STOKE UP THE FIRE I'M GETTIN' COLD REVIEW:

In this eerie vision of the future, the government has banned books, fearing an independent, free-thinking society. People in this society, including Montag's wife (Julie Christie), are drugged into compliance and get their information from wall-length television screens. A fireman's job is not to put out fires but to set them, burning the illegal books wherever they are found. Guy Montag (Oscar Werner) is just such a firefighter. When Montag falls in love with book-hoarding Clarisse (also played by Julie Christie), he begins to read confiscated books. Through this relationship Montag begins to question the government's motives behind book-burning. Montag is soon ratted out and must decide to return to his job and rejoin the book-fearing society or run away knowing full well the consequences that he could face if captured.

The movie is based on the 1951 Ray Bradbury novel of the same name, cleverly derived from the temperature at which paper burns. Bradbury's novel is top notch and a must read at least once in your life. The film version, adapted for the screen and directed by famed French director Francois Truffaut, follows the novel closely as far as I can recall since I haven't read the book in over 20 years. The problem with this film, as with most films produced in the 1960's, is that the acting is stiff, flat and mostly uninspiring. Julie Christie, however, does a decent job in her dual role as Montag's wife and Clarisse.

Apparently, a remake is in the works and scheduled for a 2010 release. Maybe this adaptation will be better.

book: ***** out of *****
film: *½ out of *****

SCRIBE'S DAMMIT I CAN'T BELIEVE WE BASICALLY AGREED AGAIN! REVIEW:

Before reviewing Fahrenheit 451, it‘s time for Scribe’s True Confessions…as opposed to Scribe’s BS Confessions, I guess.

I couldn’t make it through the whole thing. There, I said it. First time in the history of this blog which stretches back to, like, the mid-Eighties, I think. Keep in mind this is coming from a guy who despises Disney and, not including a few presses of the fast forward button during the horrific song sequences, sat through Brother Bear without vomiting.

So what made Fahrenheit so difficult to watch?

I am a huge Ray Bradbury fan. In fact, his approach to writing, which involved taking the mundane and speculating around it, is my favorite way of working. He’s one of my literary heroes, but I don’t hold all of his work sacred. For instance, the novel of “Something Wicked This Way Comes” is dreadful in my opinion despite having won several awards.

I never read Fahrenheit 451 so I can’t compare the book to the film. All’s I can say is the latter leaves much to be desired. This wasn’t the first time I tried to watch it, either. Many moons ago, a film class made it required viewing and I still couldn’t get past the first 10 minutes. This time I made it to the halfway mark and realized I was bored out of my mind.

This was French auteur Francois Truffaut’s first English-language film and it shows. The dialogue scenes are awkwardly rendered to say the least, and he populates the film with Europeans with thick accents to boot. To be sure, the visuals are rather clever. It’s amazing what Truffaut accomplishes with simple camera angles and sparse countryside that make the film look slightly futuristic. He does an excellent job of establishing mood, but what French director doesn’t? They’re all about mood.

Sadly, the performances are wooden and uninspired and the story ignores the main premise in favor of a love triangle. Despite my French blood, there’s only one love “triangle” I’m interested in and it doesn’t involve two women! Well, it can, but you get what I’m… you know, if you’re gonna be like that, forget it.

I’m done! Movie sucked!

*½ out of *****