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Fahrenheit 451

1966, Movie, NR, 112 mins

Fahrenheit 451: Review

Throughout his career, Francois Truffaut was criticized for not making political films. This adaptation of Ray Bradbury's classic indictment of totalitarianism is a strong exception. In a dismal future where books have been outlawed, Oskar Werner is a "fireman" with a knack for sniffing out and destroying the forbidden things. He has a change of heart when he takes the time to read one. Julie Christie stars as both his listless, television-addicted wife and a subversive schoolteacher. Sci-fi isn't a term often associated with French director Francois Truffaut, but his sleek 1966 adaptation of Ray Bradbury's dystopian nightmare has aged surprisingly well. Not only does it feature cinematography from director-to-be Nicolas Roeg ("The Man who Fell to Earth") and a score by Bernard Hermann ("Psycho"), but its nightmare vision of an anti-literate future in which books are sniffed out and burned by "firemen" is, sad to say, as timely as ever. We also get Julie Christie in a dual role, playing an idealistic schoolteacher and fireman Oskar Werner's wife, a bored beauty addicted to pills and her flat-screen TV. Sound familiar? Read the complete review for Fahrenheit 451