Fahrenheit 451 trailer review: Book burning comes to HBO
By Wesley Lara
Ray Bradbury’s novel about a dystopian future bent on eliminating knowledge and the luxury of learning stands the test of time as one of the most important novels ever put to a book. Now that book, Fahrenheit 451, will be adapted into a TV movie released by HBO.
The concept of book-burning may not be as literally renowned as it used to be in the 1950s, but the idea behind the book burning, the elimination of knowledge and perception, is instantly recognizable. It is one of the main aspects behind why the Ray Bradbury novel, Fahrenheit 451, has continued to be referred to as one of the greatest and most important novels ever written. At a time where book burning was still rampant across the nation, the novel used this as a catapult to sling itself into the halls of legend. In 2018, that legend will be adapted into a TV movie on HBO, appropriately titled: Fahrenheit 451.
The adaptation will be helmed by Iranian-American filmmaker, Ramin Bahrani, whose name will not be familiar with many people, but make no mistake about it: Bahrani is a filmmaker who handles his craft with care. Some of his most acclaimed films include Man Push Cart in 2005 and Chop Shop in 2007, but international and mainstream audiences may be more familiar with his film, 99 Homes, with Andrew Garfield and Michael Shannon, the latter of whom will also star in this Ray Bradbury adaptation. Shannon, along with Michael B. Jordan of Creed fame, will attempt to properly deliver this modern adaptation of the classic novel, which has just released its first teaser trailer.
Knowledge is Poison
The teaser trailer for HBO’s Fahrenheit 451 is exactly that: a teaser. A very short and fairly vague teaser, at that. There’s no official clips shown in the teaser itself, but rather symbolic visuals that warn the viewers of what to expect from the story. Much like the Ray Bradbury’s book, the teaser hints at the movie dealing with similar themes of oppression through the burning of books with a close-up shot of the pages of a book slowly catching fire. This only increases as the book is dropped with authority into a pile of burning books, before being burned by a frightening-looking fireman. Despite the teaser only being a minute long, the viewer should know EXACTLY what they’re getting into just from those shots.
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While all we can get from the film is a few production stills, it’ll still be interesting to see how Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon will play around with their roles, if the stills are any indication of what’s to come. Shannon will slide into the familiar role of the antagonist, playing the book-despising Captain Beatty, a role Shannon should have no problem getting familiar with. On the other hand, we have rising star, Michael B. Jordan, in the role of the story’s main protagonist, Guy Montag, effectively leading the film. We’ve seen how well Jordan can carry a movie and with a meaty role like Montag, it’ll be intriguing to see how well, or not well, Jordan will be able to emulate the conflicted protagonist of Fahrenheit 451.
Burn
It’s very possible that Ramin Bahrani’s adaptation of the Ray Bradbury novel may not live to expectations. After all, it’s only one of the most acclaimed novels in literary history. Modern adaptations tend to have a mixed reputation: sometimes they’re extremely successful, other times they are despised beyond belief. Fans of the novel will be watching this film like sharks on the hunt for animals, it’s just something that the filmmakers will have to deal with. This writer, on a personal level, is extremely interested in how this modern adaptation will work out and if anything will change with the times. It’s risky, but it might succeed.
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Michael B. Jordan and Michael Shannon are both incredibly talented actors with a natural gift for acting and it would be shocking if one or both of them were to mess up with their roles. Ramin Bahrani also has well over 10 years of experience with directing and writing films for the screen and I trust that Bahrani will pay respect to the Ray Bradbury novel. With its release set for HBO, I’m not expecting the material to be extremely sanitized and for a story as raw and powerful as Fahrenheit 451, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Fahrenheit 451 will be released by HBO this upcoming Spring.