Fahrenheit 451 (1966)

In an oppressive future, a fireman whose duty is to destroy all books begins to question his task.

Director:

François Truffaut

Writers:

François Truffaut (screenplay), Jean-Louis Richard (screenplay),

Stars:

Julie Christie, Oskar Werner, Cyril Cusack

Nominated for 1 BAFTA Film Award. Another 2 nominations.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Julie Christie	...	Clarisse / Linda Montag
Oskar Werner	...	Guy Montag
Cyril Cusack	...	The Captain
Anton Diffring	...	Fabian / Headmistress
Jeremy Spenser	...	Man with the Apple
Bee Duffell	...	Book Woman
Alex Scott	...	Book Person: 'The Life of Henry Brulard'

Storyline

Based on the 1951 Ray Bradbury novel of the same name. Guy Montag is a firefighter who lives in a lonely, isolated society where books have been outlawed by a government fearing an independent-thinking public. It is the duty of firefighters to burn any books on sight or said collections that have been reported by informants. People in this society including Montag's wife are drugged into compliancy and get their information from wall-length television screens. After Montag falls in love with book-hoarding Clarisse, he begins to read confiscated books. It is through this relationship that he begins to question the government's motives behind book-burning. Montag is soon found out, and he must decide whether to return to his job or run away knowing full well the consequences that he could face if captured.

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Plot Keywords:

book | fireman | future | television | fire department | 

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Taglines:

What if you had no right to read?

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Genres:

Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 November 1966 (USA)

Also Known As:

451 градус по Фаренгейту

Filming Locations:

14 Linkway, Edgcumbe Park, Crowthorne, Berkshire, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Anglo Enterprises, Vineyard Film Ltd.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Producer Lewis M. Allen said the studio's legal department requested that only books in the public domain be shown burning for fear of being sued by offended authors. Director François Truffaut and Allen ignored the request, believing that anyone would be flattered to have their book included.

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Goofs

After Montag comes out of the first raid to burn the books, the placement of the fire protective clothing (helmet and gloves) are unnatural movements and appear to be a reverse run of film footage. This is further compounded by the fact that he walks backwards to get the flamethrower which has flame entering the nozzle instead of leaving the nozzle.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Announcer: An Enterprise Vineyard Production. Oskar Werner, Julie Christie... in Fahrenheit four-five-one.

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Crazy Credits

The beginning credits are spoken instead of written on the screen.

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Connections

Referenced in The Matrix (1999)

User Reviews

A must see movie - fantastic vision!

What an amazing film. I've heard of it for a long time, but only just had the opportunity to see it. The story is based on Ray Bradbury's novel of the same name and has been cleverly adapted to film. There are a lot of clever visual clues in this film, and it stands a couple of watches - just to make sure that you pick them all up! Apparently it is Truffaut's first venture into colour film, and this yields quite interesting results, at times quite colourful. If you are expecting a Sci-Fi film - set in a space-like future, with astounding special effects - you will be disappointed, it's not that sort of film. This is a film where a possible set of scenarios - and 'what-ifs' are put forward, and explored by the filmmaker. It is believable and at times makes you think, 'What if this were true?', I fully recommend this film, a great watch.