Brilliant fable, told in a bit too artistic of a way. It seems the focus on visual took away a bit from the darkness of the story.
The first half seemed to slowly build up the story, and it needed the second half to be more dramatic. It was. You realise just what the books represent, and what kind of society this is. The society controls literature to stifle information but mainly free thought and imagination. Censorship isn't for your own good, but just a tool to shape and control thoughts and emotions. Drugged up people fit in, and anyone thirsting for mental stimulation via books is a threat. People are happy with a low expectation of happiness and awareness, because of the media propaganda and social norms. This movie focuses on a small part of a bigger world, and it was fine. Made today, this movie would be CGI overkill and miss the low key everyday feel.
Some old social sci-fi movies seems more relevant today. This is one. Today political correctness is the pressure to become one mindless being, against common sense and critical thinking, and history is often skewed to fit with the times. Drug use is rampant and self assurance and family come from a screen, getting likes (simular to the tv in this movie.)
i want that fireman pole
You can see the wires are 1:40:30 lol
The scenario, what scenario? It's almost a reading aloud of the book and of the moments that should have been scripted, rendered cinematographically. A flat "film", based on explanations by characters and incongruous scenes, rather than on plot, perspective and character development.
Is this still a 'viewable' movie..
Most movies from yesterday are really hard to see... Cause the kind of dialogs... Or its this more a problem of synchronised movies.... Also, the point, that only voices and some noises are synched in older movies... And not like today...
People outside must know.. On Germany we has always a very professional a technical perfect synchro industry...
So.. My critic is on a very high level
Review by VWFringe the Pervy Sage from TVMuseBlockedParent2023-01-26T02:21:58Z
This is a spoiler, but also a moment - a scene that I found very poignant, and I believe put a bow-tie on the story. Just read the bold-faced words if TL;DR: At the end, amongst the, "Book People," those who commit one book to memory (and become that book, living to mirror it's story) an elderly man on his death bed is seen passing on his chosen book to a young nephew.... He reads a passage then the boy repeats it. The passage we hear is of the old man saying he does not believe he loved his Father, and that his Father died as he feared during the first snows. It is early Fall...then the scene changes to early Winter. And, as the boy is seen reciting the same passage on his own, we see the old man has just passed away as the first snows fall. A self-fulfilling prophecy; a perfect mimicry of the fiction become real. So sad in a certain light, but also so beautiful. And, interweaving with the others walking about, re-reciting their books endlessly to preserve them, our protagonist Montag and Clarisse his true dance partner fall into step briefly, separate then again walk alongside one another.
I think I saw this as a preteen watching, "Creature Features," double-headers on KTVU hosted by Bob Wilkins, although between channel 2, 11, 20 & 36, I usually watched horror and science-fiction movies through a weekend night until channel sign-offs early the next morning. No wonder I could only read those genres of literature. No wonder I can't differentiate the books from the movies. I've seen this eight times now.
It may be klunky, and the classic Bernard Herrmann soundtrack may be jarring, but this is a great film.