Fahrenheit 451
| Year: | 1966 |
| Director: | Francois Truffaut |
| Cast: | Julie Christie |
Like a lot of films of the 60s and 70s exploring the themes pioneered by Huxley and Orwell, this single idea doesn't translate well to a feature length film and would have been better as a short film.
Telling the story of a world where books are banned is a very strong idea, but you have to suspend disbelief too much (a society as complicated as the one depicted - basically the same as our own - couldn't function without written communication).
The sets, acting and dialogue are also dated and hammy, with the overhead train system the standout science fiction element.
The story is also a well-trod theme - of the single rebel who sees the truth behind the oppression (the same role of Logan in Logan's Run or Winston Smith in 1984).
It also proves that Huxley, rather than nearly all his contemporaries, was the most prophetic. Elements of all those old oppression vs the human spirit themes exist throughout today's society (some books are banned, the elderly are effectively shuffled off to a netherworld existence out of the way of economic productivity). But nobody thinks the lack of freedoms are a big deal because we have the illusion of choice and will - Huxley was the only one who said we'd come to love our oppressors.
All in all, done better elsewhere, but an interesting method is the use of having a voiceover read the titles rather than have them on screen.
Telling the story of a world where books are banned is a very strong idea, but you have to suspend disbelief too much (a society as complicated as the one depicted - basically the same as our own - couldn't function without written communication).
The sets, acting and dialogue are also dated and hammy, with the overhead train system the standout science fiction element.
The story is also a well-trod theme - of the single rebel who sees the truth behind the oppression (the same role of Logan in Logan's Run or Winston Smith in 1984).
It also proves that Huxley, rather than nearly all his contemporaries, was the most prophetic. Elements of all those old oppression vs the human spirit themes exist throughout today's society (some books are banned, the elderly are effectively shuffled off to a netherworld existence out of the way of economic productivity). But nobody thinks the lack of freedoms are a big deal because we have the illusion of choice and will - Huxley was the only one who said we'd come to love our oppressors.
All in all, done better elsewhere, but an interesting method is the use of having a voiceover read the titles rather than have them on screen.