Another film about how our future is going down the toilet. This time, though, everyone is blissfully ignorant about it. Living a cosy lifestyle, using drugs, but all reading is banned. Books are illegal, and to be caught with them means death.
The title refers to the temperature at which paper will ignite. The main character, “Montag,” is a fireman. It's his job to burn down places where books are found; and the inhabitants, if need be (though, in the original book, they used a robot dog to hunt down and kill the people, with its built-in procaine injection).
While doing his job, Montag takes a book home, and secretly begins to read it. He discovers that books aren't a terrible thing, after all.
But, enough plot spilling. The story is set in our future, though the portrayal has a distinctive 1960's look to it. You'll have to see the film, if you want to know more.