Fahrenheit 451

I don't know about the book, but this didn't impress me at all. I certainly don't blame Truffaut, who, in addition to directing, also wrote the screenplay, because the weak point of the film, and probably of the book, lies in the story itself, which maps a totalitarian society in a very marginal and indecisive way, failing to convey the atmosphere of the time, and in this respect its age does not add much. By far the most dramatic scene in those 105 minutes is the final book-burning, which contains most of the evil and mystery that was otherwise only faintly and coldly hinted throughout the film. So I leave my first encounter with Truffaut at a great loss – I'll see after a second viewing, which these types of films usually need. 65% (16/03/2013)

Sometimes less is more. Truffaut knew this well, which is why the austere architecture and simple visual effects are not a bad thing; on the contrary, they perfectly illustrate the gloomy atmosphere of a uniformed Orwellian society. The unique atmosphere, Truffaut's inventive direction, and Bradbury's book, when things like this combine, the result will be nothing short of a compelling piece of cinema. (11/05/2003)

The problem is that everything that is good, even excellent, in this movie is taken from the book. I'm having a hard time getting past the 60's American naivety and the expressively earnest acting. Even harder when I know that in two years Kubrick will make 2001 and Leone will make Once Upon a Time in the West. The joke with Ray Bradbury and Pride and Prejudice was a delight. On one thing, however, the film is absolutely right: "Aristotle's Ethics! Anyone who reads it starts to think he's better than someone who hasn't read it" -) (14/04/2010)

What I’ve always liked the most about dystopia is the helpless and hopeless situation of the characters who try to stand up to the system. Those ingredients are present, so satisfaction. My only problem is that I can’t fully understand why this society would protect their power this way and through these means, and the tactics of the resistance (the book people) are questionable to say the least. (31/05/2011)

What happens when we start to hate books and ban them? Well, most likely we will realize that without culture, without art, we cannot exist, that art is what shapes us, what makes us think and what is capable of making us live. Not just us, but the whole society. A great message conveyed in a meaningful way. Bradbury didn't have to be ashamed of this delivery. (20/02/2015)