Based on the 1951 Ray Bradbury novel of the same name, Fahrenheit 451 tells the story of Guy Montag (Oskar Werner), a firefighter who lives in a dystopian future society where books have been outlawed by a government fearing a freethinking public. It is the duty of firefighters to burn any books on sight or said collections that have been reported by informants. People in this society, including Montag's wife (Julie Christie), are drugged into compliance and get their information from wall-length television screens. After Montag falls in love with revolutionary schoolteacher Clarisse (also played by Christie), he begins to read confiscated books. Montag is soon discovered and finds himself forced to choose between personal safety and intellectual freedom.