The 1966 British dystopian drama film Fahrenheit 451 is based on the 1953 novel of the same title by Ray Bradbury. Directed by the famous François Truffaut, it was his first color film and his first and only non-French language film.

Set in a distressing future in which a totalitarian government controls human thought and expression, the viewpoint character is Guy Montag, played by Oskar Werner. Montag, as he is always called by not only his employers but also his wife, neighbors, and friends—his first name never appears in the film—is a fireman. Far from being helpful public servants, these future firemen have one purpose: to find and destroy books, which, along with reading, are forbidden. Montag unquestioningly follows this calling.

One day, riding home from work on an elevated train, Montag meets Clarisse, played by Julie Christie, a 20-year-old aspiring schoolteacher. Unlike most members of society, who are numbed by constant television, Clarisse is friendly and displays emotion. She asks Montag if he ever reads the books he burns, causing him to become curious and start concealing books during book burning raids and reading them in secret.

Montag goes home to his television junkie wife, whose name has been changed to Linda, from Mildred in the book. Linda, also played by Julie Christie, is hooked on reality TV, drama being forbidden. She and Montag seem to have little in common and she can’t remember how they met. The books lead Montag deeper and deeper into rebellion against social dictates.

The film gets a lot right and some wrong. Author Ray Bradbury felt, and I agree, that Julie Christie was wonderful as Linda but although good as Clarisse she was less suited to the role. Clarisse was written as a teenager and Julie Christie was around eight years older than the book character. Clarisse in the book was not a schoolteacher. A scene at a school, not in the book, features an early appearance by Mark Lester who became famous a few years later from Oliver! Mark Lester also has a line where a young boy tells his mother, on seeing firemen, “There’s going to be a fire!”

Julie Christie does so well in her dual role that some people didn’t spot that it was the same person. I certainly didn’t on my first viewing, but my mom did.

A futuristic fire truck is well employed, but the film is sadly forced to leave out the mechanical hound of the book, doubtless due to time and money constraints. Some characters and story lines important in the book are omitted. The costuming is mostly very good although in street scenes some 1960s fashions appear. There is a mix of futuristic, contemporary, and old-fashioned details. One impressive detail is the wall screen. This sixty-year-old film manages to almost exactly portray a 64-inch flatscreen television. The only wrong detail is that the picture is still in lines rather than the smoother images of today. Bernard Herrmann’s wonderful score perfectly complements and supports the action.

One thing the film way overdid was its emphasis on not reading. The only print seen except for the forbidden books is numbers. Montag reads a comic style newspaper consisting entirely of pictures. Printed titles don’t even appear at the beginning, just an announcer reading the credits in an ominous tone. This leaves viewers with the huge question: how does Montag know how to read? In the book it was clear that only literature—works that made the reader think and feel—were forbidden. Instruction manuals were allowed as were doubtless street signs and product labels. When Montag begins to read, he does so haltingly, like a child still learning, but not like someone who never learned at all.

Objectionable content is smoking and violence. Two people are burned to death on camera, and one is possibly shot. In the book this person was definitely killed, but the movie leaves it unclear as to whether someone actually died or the entire event was faked.

The action leads to a beautiful conclusion entirely created by Truffaut, which is not in the book.

Inevitably the film struck me differently than when I first saw it at age thirteen at which time I was totally blown away. I remember going out to the back yard and standing there stunned. As soon as possible I read the book and was again overwhelmed and awestruck. It’s a good film and I like it but I wasn’t overcome this time.

Oskar Werner was an excellent choice as Montag. His German accent sometimes makes him difficult to understand but it adds to the character, as his speech sets Montag apart from everyone else. Werner draws the viewer into Montag’s world as he undergoes a profound change of character, abandoning former beliefs he had accepted, or convinced himself he accepted. Oscar Werner has a fine face with lovable features and can subtly convey various emotions.

The film employs a lot of symbolism, for instance, at the beginning a man forced to flee to avoid capture for having books is eating an apple. On arriving at the residence, a fireman takes a bite of an apple, another fireman knocks it from his hand, and the fireman spits out the apple. At the end the same man who fled in the beginning is happily eating an apple. There is a clear hint of the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. I watched the film once, and then again with the Blu-ray commentary, and on this second viewing noticed one of Montag’s comic papers portrays Ku Klux Klan members.

The Blu-ray is superb. The picture is beautiful and the sound is great. Unlike most discs, the menu doesn’t come up on the screen first thing, but by pressing a button on your remote the menu does appear. I watched the whole thing—the film, the Bonus Features, and the film again with the commentary on, which is by author Ray Bradbury, Julie Christie, editor Thom Noble, and two film historians.

The Bonus Features and commentary were very informative. François Truffaut was a French national whose English consisted of “Have a nice weekend,” so everyone on the film either had to understand French or require an interpreter. All planning was done in French and then the dialogue delivered in English.

I would advise to have your local library purchase the 50th Anniversary Blu-ray for you to watch, that is if they don’t own it already. Highly recommended.