Synopsis/Details
Berlin, Germany, 1933. German citizens—students and professors among them—have ransacked libraries and bookstores in order to burn books written by Jews and others opposed to Nazi ideology. A book-bonfire subsequently rages in a city square, attended by a large crowd and watched over by soldiers.
A distinguished writer sees the fire from his apartment and goes downstairs to confront the men in charge, because his books—which, he says, have always reported the truth—are NOT being burned, thus effectively making him a liar. The German soldiers brusquely try to send the writer back to his apartment, but he breaks free and leaps into the bonfire, thereby immolating himself. The surprised crowd watches but does nothing; some even cheer. Then they all go back to book-burning, with the soldiers’ assent.
Story & Logistics
Story Type:
Set Mission
Story Situation:
Self-sacrifice for an ideal
Story Conclusion:
Surprise Twist
Linear Structure:
Linear
Moral Affections:
Accusation, Condemnation, Intemperance
Cast Size:
Several
Locations:
Single
Special Effects:
Minor cgi
Characters
Lead Role Ages:
Female Teenager, Male Adult, Male Middle Aged, Male Teenager
Hero Type:
Anti-Hero, Ordinary
Villian Type:
Authority Figure
Stock Character Types:
Everyman, Fall guy, Tragic hero
Advanced
Adaption:
Based on Existing Fiction
Subgenre:
Drama, Gore, Horror, Literary Adaption, Political
Action Elements:
Pyrotechnics
Life Topics:
Death, Mid-life Crisis/Middle Age
Super Powers:
Physical or mental domination
Time Period:
Great Depression (1929 – World War II), Interwar period (1918–1939), Machine Age (1880–1945)
Country:
Germany
Time of Year:
Spring
Writer Style:
Dalton Trumbo, Oliver Stone, Waldo Salt
