Fahrenheit 451: Film Review

This is a François Truffaut's film adaption from Ray Bradbury's book, Fahrenheit 451. The film tries in a very contextualized environment to reflect the original script as accurate for the author. It is a Drama, Sci-Fi Triller film released on 16 November 1966 in USA. The film shows a totalitarian and oppressive future in which society has been forbidden to read; books are prohibited. Guy Montag is a fireman, but instead of his role to extinguish fires he burns books, it is the duty of firefighters to burn any books or collections that have been reported by informants. This act of burning books is a fear from the government to prevent individual thinking or create some kind of consciousness. The government uses wall television screen to deliver information and manipulate the public. The name Fahrenheit 451 is paper's combustion temperature.

The main character, Guy Montag has this work of burning books, he is a lonely person, even being married with Linda who is trapped by this TV manipulation. Montag knows Clarisse and she starts to make Montag more about the books, he is curious about that and begin to read confiscated books. It is through this relationship that he begins to question the government's motives behind book-burning. Soon Montag must decide whether to return to his job or run away knowing well the consequences that he could face if captured.

The story reminds the time when the Inquisition was settled during late Mid-Ages and Renaissance, the church fear that people begun to be seduced by the ideas of Illumination century and that the reason had the only truth. The government in this case impose control and when people is controlled there is no demand for the rupture of the social contract. The use of media is the way that government makes control; the books are a symbol that there is knowledge, and knowledge gives power, the power is the thing that government want to have and won't share.

The less that have the privilege to read, as Clarisse for example, are the ones who want to share the one of those things that human beings have to protect, the information and knowledge.

It is a very interesting setting due to the age in which was filmed. The story makes people to be conscious about the need to know and uses that knowledge in order to do the correct, in order to build a better society that always is in constant change.