François Truffaut's (1932-1984)

F A H R E N H E I T 4 5 1

(1966)

from the novel by

R A Y B R A D B U R Y ( 1 9 2 0 - )

Starring Oskar Werner (Montag, a fireman), Julie Christie (Linda Montag & Clarisse, a reader), Cyril Cusak (the Captain), Anton Diffring (Fabian, a fireman and Montag's rival; he also plays the principal of Clarisse's school), Bee Duffell (the Book Lady, Clarisse's aunt), Noel Davis ("Cousin Midge," a TV personality and one of Linda's "family.")

Screenplay by Jean-Louis Richard and François Truffaut from the novel by Ray Bradbury.

Music by Bernard Herrmann.

Produced for Universal Pictures by Lewis M. Allen.

"Fahrenheit four five one is the temperature at which book paper catches fire and starts to burn."

The most lyrical and evocative of all science-fiction novels was transformed by Truffaut into one of the most lyrical and evocative of films. A theorist, critic, and historian of the cinema as well as a director and screen writer, Truffaut is also known for his famous book of interviews with Alfred Hitchcock. Fahrenheit 451 was the director's first film in color and his only film in English. He was very unsatisfied with what he later decided was stilted dialogue, and preferred the French-dubbed version.

"Is it true that a long time ago, firemen used to put out fires and not burn books?"

The screenplay diverges significantly from the novel, but manages to amplify the impression given by the book. The future society is drab, oppressive, and antiseptic, but details of political organization are left to the viewer's and reader's imagination. Montag's existence revolves around uncovering and destroying the forbidden books, and training new firemen. His apparently unemployed wife watches exceptionally vapid television all day long and is apparently addicted to legal stimulants and sedatives.

Linda's ambition is to obtain a second wallscreen, large widescreen TVs that occupy most of her time. Widescreen TV did not exist in 1966, and it is a bizarre coincidence, that the1.85:1 aspect ratio used by Universal was mimicked by the set designer to make the wallscreens seem futuristic, and has since become the standard. Bradbury's hypodermic hound would have been impossible to visualize convincingly, so was left out of the film. It may have inspired the ubiquity of the film's legal narcotics. The TV antennas shown in the opening titles are one of the few features to date the film. Neighbors can identify book people by the lack of an antenna on their roof. The monorail on which Montag and Clarissa commute to and from work was a museum piece by 1966, set up on a few miles of track outside the factory to demonstrate the technology for prospective buyers. It was torn down shortly afterward.

"And the philosophers, they're even worse than the novels! All of them saying the same thing:

'Only I am right! The others are all idiots!'"

It was particularly difficult to depict a futuristic society where all writing had been suppressed, and this presented rather different problems for the filmmakers than for Bradbury. The film's design features no written signage except Arabic numerals, such as 451 as symbols of the firemen. Personnel dossiers are brandished by the Captain, but only contain photos of the subject identified by serial numbers. The opening credits are spoken to maintain the illusion of a world without the printed word.

Julie Christie plays the dual role of Montag's wife Linda, an uncritical conformist whose life revolves around the false reality of her wallscreen family, and Clarisse, a reader who is dismissed from her job as a school teacher. This was an especially inspired casting choice, because having Christie play both roles emphasizes the contrast between a person who thinks for herself and one who doesn't.

"You see, it's... it's no good, Montag. We've all got to be alike.

The only way to be happy is for everyone to be made equal."

Laurence Olivier was considered for the part of the fire captain ultimately played by Cyril Cusak. The Captain is a thoughtful intellectual who is also subversive and traitorous. He not only has made peace with the oppressive society he serves, but he attempts to win over others, including Montag. Paul Newman, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Charles Aznavour, Peter O'Toole, and Terence Stamp were considered for the part of Montag. Terence Stamp withdrew when he learned that Julie Christie would play a dual role, because he thought she might upstage him. The name Montag means "editor." Oskar Werner cut his hair before the final scene to torment Truffaut. Most of the cast and crew were fluent in French, but that did not include editor Thom Noble or composer Bernard Herrmann. Werner's marked German accent, contrasting with nearly everyone else's British accents, stands out in the cast, and actually gives this film with a mostly British cast made by a mostly French crew, a much more American aspect than it would have had otherwise.

The elegiac snowstorm at the end was serendipitous. It was neither planned nor does it occur in the novel. The film was critically acclaimed, but also criticized for its departures from the novel. It was a reasonable financial success, but it has become one of the most enduringly popular films of the 1960s.