Fahrenheit 451: Truffaut's 1966 Suburban Dystopia

Show notes 

As always there are spoilers ahead!

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If you are interested in the plot of the film you can read an overview on the wikipedia page here. 

In 1953 writer Ray Bradbury released his magnum opus Fahrenheit 451. It quickly became a widely acclaimed cautionary tale about the dangers of censorship, authoritarianism and the effects of mass media on human ideas and connection. 

One of the most prominent science fiction books it is easy to understand why François Truffaut, one of the French New Wave's most prominent directors, became utterly focused on making the story into a film. 

The process had its challenges with producers, funding and a casting changes causing delays. The film was finally wrapped up and released in 1966 to both positive and negative reviews. It is an interesting watch if not a gripping one and my two expert guests unravel the ins and outs of how it came to be. 

Ian Scott is a Professor of American Film and History at The University of Manchester. He has written extensively about politics and film in Hollywood including the book American Politics in Hollywood Film.

Phil Nichols is a visiting lecturer at the University of Wolverhampton and a researcher with a special interest in Ray Bradbury. He is Senior Consultant to the Ray Bradbury Centre at Indiana University and editor of The New Ray Bradbury Review. He is also the man behind the Bradbury 100 podcast and the Science Fiction 101 podcas

Chapters

00:00 Introduction

01:32 Fahrenheit 451: a sci-fi heavyweight

04:36 Truffaut and the book

11:03 Suburban scifi in the mid century

13:33 Politics of the story

15:07 Truffaut's perspective

20:01 Julie Christie's double role

26:50 Searching for Montag

34:29 Burning with her books

39:12 Bernard Herrmann's score

40:40 The 2018 remake

49:56 Bradbury's stage play

51:37 Recommendations

 

 

Recommendations:

Never Let Me Go (2010)

The Wild Child (1970)

 

NEXT EPISODE!

Next episode we will be discussing Fantastic Voyage from 1966! The film is annoyingly a little tricky to find online but can be rented easily on mainstream platforms in some countries. You can check the Just Watch website to see where it is available in your region.