Title: Equilibrium
US Release: 12/6/2002
Directed and written by Kurt Wimmer
Distributed by Miramax Films
Cast:
Christian Bale – John Preston
Emily Watson – Mary O’Brien
Taye Diggs – Brandt
William Fichtner – Jurgen
Sean Pertwee – Father
Angus Macfadyen - Dupont
Sean Bean – Partridge
The Skinny:
An opening
montage shows that in a distant future, earth has been become nearly uninhabitable
after World War III. The world powers unite
to in hopes to guarantee mankind’s survival as another World war would
certainly mean the end of Humanity, period.
Somehow, a united world authority decides that in order to prevent any conflict
from happening, human emotion must first be regulated. Thus, all citizens must submit to regular
doses of the drug “Libria”, which numbs human emotions almost to zero. Of course, many reject this solution and flee
to the scorched earth areas away from the few remaining large cities, dubbed “The
Nether”. To ensure these citizens
submit or perish, a special division of law enforcement, known as the “Tetra-Grammaton”
is founded. Trained in a new art of
self-defense and attack, known as “Gun-Kata”, the clerics of the Grammaton are
formidable and very efficient in hunting down and eliminating these “Sense-offenders”
before they can upset the new utopia.
Enter Cleric
John Preston (Bale) who, after eliminating a cell of sense-offenders with
relative ease, is able to locate hidden cache of art work, declared contraband
as it can stir emotions, and orders it burned on the spot. His partner, Partridge (Bean), wonders if the
clerics will ever be successful, as there is no guarantee that all sense-offenders
could ever be found and eliminated.
Preston believes it just to be a matter of time, but is slightly
unsettled by Partridges attitude.
Back at
their headquarters, Preston is debriefed by Dupont (Macfadyen), press secretary
of sorts for Father (Pertwee) the leader of the new society who is only seen on
large screens all over the capital city of “Libria”. Due for a promotion, Dupoint asks about
Preston’s ability to sense emotions of those around him, without actually
feeling emotion himself. A prime example
is Preston’s wife, who is revealed to have been convicted of sense-offense
years before and executed. Preston,
however, did not know that she had stopped taking Libria and was surprised when
officers raided their home and took her away.
Dupoint warns that such an action could end his career, and that such a
lapse should never happen again. On his
way out, Preston is unnerved by the conversation, which leads him to suspect
his partner, Partridge, may be an offender himself.
He suspicions
are confirmed when he finds Partridge in the Nether, reading a copy of “Canterbury
Tales”, which he swiped from the cache that was burned earlier. Accepting his fate, he states his reasons to
Preston, but Preston counters with Librian propaganda. Partridge moves to draw his gun, but Preston
shoots him.
Partridge’s
replacement, Brandt (Diggs), is eager to move up the ranks, and see’s
partnering with Preston as a career making assignment. Preston, though still on Librium, has dreams
about his wife and Partridges last words.
About to take his morning dose, he accidentally knocks the vial off the
bathroom counter, shattering it on the floor.
Going to the local dispensary, an “Equilibrium”, to get a replacement
dose, he discovers its been closed because of a bombing attempt. Brandt finds him there and takes him to a
raid on a sense-offender’s home within the city limits. Preston begins to feel emotions almost
immediately, seemingly becoming attracted to the offender Mary O’Brien (Watson)
and even stopping Brandt from killing her when she tries to grab the gun of a
nearby officer to shoot her way out.
Very soon,
Preston becomes overwhelmed with emotions, awakening in a cold sweat from a
nightmare of witnessing his wife’s execution.
Seeing the sunrise over Libria
through morning rain, Preston panics and nearly takes a dose of Libria, but hesitates. Now curious about these emotions, Preston
hides unused vials behind his bathroom mirror, or casually drops them on the
sidewalk to be crushed underfoot of commuting citizens. He delves into his emotions, becoming remorseful
when he sees Brandt gun down an old man during a raid on the Nether, and later stopping
the killing of a young puppy. He comes
across a hidden room of contraband, and begins to explore. He’s intrigued by a snow globe, and finds himself
crying when he hears an old phonograph play the opening to the Ninth Symphony
by Ludwig Von Beethoven.
Preston, becoming more engrossed in
his emotions, spends more time “interrogating” Mary, and investigating Partridge’s
illegal activities, all the while covering his tracks with his Gun-Kata skills,
which are second nature to him. Preston
eventually meets Jurgen (Fichtner), leader of a resistance hiding beneath
Libria. Jurgen knew
Partridge and even knows of Preston’s ability to feel his own emotions. He implores Preston to help them by killing
father, sparking a revolution.
Brandt however, is suspicious,
tailing Preston whenever he’s in city limits.
Preston must keep his emotions in check to keep from drawing attention, while
trying to find a way to kill father, all before Mary can be executed for her
sense-offense.
On the Surface:
This
film, naturally, has the totalitarian look one would get from reading George
Orwell’s “1984”. A dystopian setting, showing
a possible outcome for the human race in general if fascist, communist or
socialistic regimes were ever to rise to power, not just for a single country,
but for the world as a whole. The symbol
for Libria is similar to a swastika.
This is also very
anti-establishment film, posing the hypothetical of how far regulation can go,
even all the way to human emotion itself.
Requiring all human emotion be regulated through a specific drug, marriage
as only a means of creating more children for the survival of the great
society, and the cult of personality created by the Father figure are a few
example
Lastly, it casts a negative vibe on
religion. “Tetra-Grammaton” being a
phrase orthodox Jews would use to refer to the four-letter sequence using the Hebrew
alphabet that makes up the name of God.
Clerics, representing Catholic priests, dressed in long black coats with
short upright collars similar to priests’ normal attire.
But the one defining attribute of
the film which allows it to endure still, is the Gun-Kata sequences. Many fans skip all other scenes of this movie
and just watch the Gun-Kata sequences and the few other martial arts sequences. Christian Bale, still in the beginning of his
career, did most of the stunts and Gun-Kata sequences himself, and
Director/Screenwriter Kurt Wimmer was impressed with his athleticism, even
stating that filming the action sequences could be filmed in much shorter
timeframes because of his ability to pick up the choreography quickly.
The film might have reached a
better audience if it had not been released so soon after the smash hit “The
Matrix”. Much of the intended audience,
Sci-fi and action junkies, were still caught up in the breakthroughs of The
Matrix and its upcoming sequel “The Matrix Reloaded” that Equilibrium seemed to
get lost in its shadow.
Production Wise:
Kurt
Wimmer, who also wrote the film, developed the martial art of Gun-Kata, seeing
the hand-gun as an extension of the human hand, similar to any other hand held
weapon. He would spend his free time in
his backyard refining the technique, and demonstrated it himself to producers
when pitching the film. He’s seen (his
face obscured) in the opening sequence showcasing the technique. The lead choreographer however modified the
technique to be more rigid as he felt a rigid style fit the tone of the film
better. Wimmer’s more fluid style would be
used in his next film “Ultraviolet”.
Much of
the filming was done in Germany and Rome, using locations built during World War
II. The architecture, seen in a lot of
vintage news reels from the time period, helped give the film setting the totalitarian
look needed for the story.
Why I like the film:
I was
bored one day and had noticed this film in my roommate’s dvd library. Seeing Bale’s performance in “Reign of Fire” I
thought it would be a nice experience. I
was blown away by the Gun-Kata sequences and for awhile would say this was my
favorite film. Over the years though, I
did start to see the flaws in the film.
The anti-socialist message I understand, but the anti-religion angle now
seems out of place and feels like it comes from a place of misunderstanding. The drama and dialog between the action sequences
seems to slow down too much and causes the film to feel like it dragging the
viewer down somewhere.
The one
reason I still watch this film, as said before, is the Gun-Kata sequences. It wouldn’t surprise me if this film was the
inspiration for a lot of “Gun-fu” type films that are in the works nowadays (IE:
the John Wick films), being an unknown film to the general public, but a secret
weapon of sorts to film-makers looking for the next exciting step in action
films. I too skip past most of the film
and just watch the action sequences.
Christian Bale gives a performance
of the grade that made him the movie star he is today. Angus McFadyen’s performance was very
different from his performance in “Braveheart” making his role as the villain
much more surprising. This was the first
time I saw Taye Diggs on screen, and his billboard model looks definitely gave
him the “love to hate” vibe every villain needs in action movies. Sean Bean’s performance was sadly short. Forever known as Alec Trevelyan, 006 of “Goldeneye”,
I was disappointed to see him killed off so quickly in the film. His remorseful and somber portrayal of Partridge
was great, and I would’ve like to see more of it in this film.
Rated R for the gun violence and a few scenes of broken
bones and dismemberment. Stream or rent
where available for the times you want a different action flick with enough
time in between action sequences to go to bathroom, or refill your beverage.
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