“News, facts, memoirs, internet of old — burn it.”
That’s one of the many lines spoken by Michael Shannon in the first trailer for HBO’s upcoming movie Farenheit 451; a film that perhaps fits a little too comfortably in today’s current political and ideological climate. Based on the novel of the same name, Farenheit 451 is a dystopian thriller set in a melancholic, hopeless future where all writing is literally being burned.
Written by acclaimed author Ray Bradbury and published in 1953, Farenheit 451 was inspired by the McCarthy era — a period where Sen. Joseph McCarthy led an attack on hundreds of American citizens, imprisoning them for supposed Communist beliefs. There were threats of actual book burnings, an archaic practice meant to impose fear and rid citizens of knowledge that could lead to political uprisings, during his reign.
Farenheit 451 follows a firefighter named Montag (Michael B. Jordan) as he sets about burning books while harnessing a life-threatening secret. The story is about one man’s desire for knowledge, and the risks rebellious thinkers will take on to keep the wealth of knowledge found within the pages of books alive.
Farenheit 451, directed by Ramin Bahrani, premieres on HBO this year.
