François Truffaut – Fahrenheit 451 [+Extras] (1966)

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. Written by Brian Rathjen {briguy_52732@yahoo.com}

In a future totalitarian and oppressive society, where books are forbidden, Guy Montag (Oskar Werner) is a fireman. The mission of firemen in this society with fireproof houses is to burn books at 450o F, the temperature of combustion of paper. Montag is married with Linda (Julie Christie), a futile woman that joins “The Family” through the interactive television. When Montag meets Clarisse (Julie Christie, in a double role), she questions him if he has never read a book, and Montag become curious. He decides to steal and read a book, twisting his view of life. He leaves his former way of life and escapes to “the city of the books” with Clarisse. Written by Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

When fireman of the future Montag comes home from a hard day of book burning, his wife is totally engrossed in a screen that fills a wall of the living room. Here she gets her entertainment and all the information the people in charge want anyone to know. A few days later Montag is intrigued by a woman he sees on the monorail who looks very much like his wife. But this woman’s eyes suggest that she has an active mind. She is a subversive, hoarding books. And he learns from her why books are so dangerous they have to be burned. People will want to think for themselves. Written by Dale O’Connor {daleoc@interaccess.com}

From the Ray Bradbury novel, Fahrenheit 451 is the temperature that paper will burst into flame. Oskar Werner plays a fireman who does not put out fires, but who searches out books and burns them. Books make people unhappy. In a parody of social correctness, all discordant strains are removed. The world is a lonely one of separate people in which Werner begins to read the books before burning them. Written by John Vogel {jlvogel@comcast.net}

Making of Fahrenheit 451

The Novel: A Discussion with Author Ray Bradbury

The Music of Fahrenheit 451