Director François Truffaut filmed the movie, Fahrenheit 451. A native to Paris, France, he filmed this movie September 7, 1966 based upon the book, Fahrenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury. Oskar Werner played the fascinating protagonist who changed his way of life and went against society, Montag. Julie Christie played the bold character of Clarisse, along with Linda Montag. The film portrays the society’s hate towards all written text and certain people wanting to rebel, causing trouble for everyone and complete chaos. Overall the movie portrayed the main idea of the book, although the director left out several of the key events that shaped the basis of the novel. Leaving many readers disappointed and longing for a more completed plot without as many holes.

The movie portrayed a dystopian society who fears the knowledge that books contained. They burned them without hesitation using Firemen. Clarisse comes along and changes Montag’s views on society and books, completely turning his life upside down. Secrets begin to unravel as Montag becomes careless and people become suspicious, especially Beatty, the fire chief. His home burns to ash and Montag must survive on his own. All he has is the knowledge and love for his books.

As I watched the movie, having previously read the book before, I begun to realize how poorly it portrayed the book. Typically not being a harsh critic, I was highly disappointed. Fire was meant to be a huge symbol within the book, along with technology. Homes were supposed to be destroyed, and they were not. There were several holes within the plot. We were not supposed to know what happened to Clarisse, killing all suspense to be made. The mechanical hound was completely left out, ruining the idea of technologies defaults. The books also appeared to be less important, along with fire, which was the entire point of the story. Not once was the Phoenix mentioned, the item that was meant to show Montag’s new chance at life and to learn from the past. The thing that really stuck out to me was the fact that Faber, a huge character that helped Montag understand and escape, was not even mentioned. Just even watching the film, you could tell the poor quality.

Overall I was highly disappointed in the movie, as for it was meant to be an adaptation of the book. Several parts of the plot left out, leaving the viewer to keep guessing. As I have previously said, I read the book and was able to pull out those mistakes extremely easily. Several unnecessary parts of the movie could have been replaced with huge chunks that were left out. I could hardly believe it was the same concept. Possibly if you had not read the book, you may not have realized these things. I was utterly disappointed in the content and quality.

Reviewers left to clean up the mess the ashes the plot left behind.