Ray Bradbury's famous novel about a future society in which books are outlawed gets the movie treatment. And the movie doesn't quite live up to the standards of the book. The basic skeleton of the novel's plot is here but director François Truffaut takes Bradbury's story and makes it his own. And at times the movie suffers for it. Much of the nuance and detail of the novel has been lost. Many important plot points have been changed entirely. But a movie adaptation of a novel doesn't have to be exactly like its original source material in order to succeed. Many novel-based films have changed all sorts of things about the book and been very successful. The problem here is not necessarily that there are changes but that the changes are made to no good effect. The movie's story is not as engrossing as the book's. And certainly not as entertaining. What was a thoroughly captivating book has been transformed into a very dry, often downright dull movie.
Right from the beginning, with the first call we see the book-burning firemen go out on, the movie is curiously sedate. The thrill of the novel is gone. The drama just isn't there. The story doesn't grab you. Oskar Werner's performance as the central character of Montag is rather stilted. Either Werner was very uncomfortable in his role or he was going for some kind of effect which just didn't work. The result is the character of Montag leaves much to be desired. And for a movie which is all about that character that's a problem. Montag suffers from a serious personality deficit and so does the movie. There's very little life to it. What little life there is is injected by Julie Christie's character of Clarisse. In a future world where people basically float through life as mindless zombies Clarisse dares to live and it is she who critically, and fatefully, opens Montag's eyes to the possibilities of the written word. Speaking of mindless zombies the other main character is Montag's wife Linda. She lives in a drug-induced stupor, living only vicariously through her wall-screen TV. Christie plays this part too, a neat idea. The contrast between the two women is obvious and that contrast is largely what the story is about, Montag finally seeing another option out there. He sees the chance to actually live a life. He sees what society has become, what has been lost with literature's demise. It was a great story in its original Bradbury incarnation. But greatness eludes this movie version. The book was like lively Clarisse. The movie is more like zombie Linda. The life has been sucked out of it. The basic gist of Bradbury's story remains but with all the changes made the story as presented here is not as compelling and clearly not as entertaining. The book was a real page-turner, the movie is a slowly-paced slog to the finish. In this book-burning tale the best advice is both obvious and ironic. Read the book.
Right from the beginning, with the first call we see the book-burning firemen go out on, the movie is curiously sedate. The thrill of the novel is gone. The drama just isn't there. The story doesn't grab you. Oskar Werner's performance as the central character of Montag is rather stilted. Either Werner was very uncomfortable in his role or he was going for some kind of effect which just didn't work. The result is the character of Montag leaves much to be desired. And for a movie which is all about that character that's a problem. Montag suffers from a serious personality deficit and so does the movie. There's very little life to it. What little life there is is injected by Julie Christie's character of Clarisse. In a future world where people basically float through life as mindless zombies Clarisse dares to live and it is she who critically, and fatefully, opens Montag's eyes to the possibilities of the written word. Speaking of mindless zombies the other main character is Montag's wife Linda. She lives in a drug-induced stupor, living only vicariously through her wall-screen TV. Christie plays this part too, a neat idea. The contrast between the two women is obvious and that contrast is largely what the story is about, Montag finally seeing another option out there. He sees the chance to actually live a life. He sees what society has become, what has been lost with literature's demise. It was a great story in its original Bradbury incarnation. But greatness eludes this movie version. The book was like lively Clarisse. The movie is more like zombie Linda. The life has been sucked out of it. The basic gist of Bradbury's story remains but with all the changes made the story as presented here is not as compelling and clearly not as entertaining. The book was a real page-turner, the movie is a slowly-paced slog to the finish. In this book-burning tale the best advice is both obvious and ironic. Read the book.