Essay Questions

What were the direct effects of having Francois Truffaut as director of the film?

The most striking and apparent influence of having Francois Truffaut as director was the language and dialogue of the film, as well as the connection to French actors. Truffaut was a French director and this played an important role in the film's creation.

Truffaut usually only spoke in French during the creation and publication of the film as well as all other films he created, and spoke almost zero English. And since he was playing a leading role in the writing oof the script, his inability to speak English lead to the creation of a dialogue with awkward phrasing and clunky lines, an effect that sometimes takes away from the acting of the individuals.

Another effect this had was that many French actors and actresses were brought in to try out for the roles of the characters in the film. Unfortunately, a lot of these French actors were not wel-known to the English-speaking audience and had to be cut. A few examples of this occurrence is the hiring of Charles Aznavour, Jean-Paul Belmondo, and Jean-Louis Richard.

How was the music and soundtrack of the movie influential in its production?

First and foremost, it is important to understand the background of the music and the composer behind the soundtrack of Fahrenheit 451.

Bernard Herrmann was the eventual composer behind the music. He was chosen because the director Truffaut knew about him, and the author of the novel recommended him. Ray Bradbury recommended him because he had met up with Alfred Hitchcock and Bernard Herrmann in one of their productions, and was thoroughly impressed and fascinated by the performance. As a result, he described his feelings to Truffaut when they met for a meeting on the film. It also helped that Truffaut had written a literary work on Hitchcock and Herrmann beforehand, giving him familiarity and knowledge of the composer.

This music and soundtrack created by Herrmann was so influential because it created the eerie feeling of a futuristic society. Truffaut didn't request some of his French composer acquaintances to create the soundtrack because their expertise was in contemporary music of the time. Truffaut wanted futuristic music and that is exactly what he got with Herrmann, who used instruments such as the vibraphone and glockenspiel to create the feeling that the audience was in this futuristic society.