Equilibrium (film)

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Equilibrium
Theatrical poster for Equilibrium
Directed by	Kurt Wimmer
Produced by	Jan de Bont Lucas Foster
Written by	Kurt Wimmer
Starring	Christian Bale Emily Watson Taye Diggs Sean Bean Angus MacFadyen William Fichtner Sean Pertwee David Hemmings
Music by	Klaus Badelt
Cinematography	Dion Beebe
Distributed by	Dimension Films
Release date(s)	December 6, 2002
Running time	107 min.
Language	English
Budget	$20,000,000 US (est.)

Equilibrium is a 2002 science fiction/action film written and directed by Kurt Wimmer.

Christian Bale portrays the film's main character (Cleric John Preston). He is supported by Taye Diggs, Angus MacFadyen, Sean Pertwee, Emily Watson, David Hemmings, and Sean Bean.

The film was originally released as Cubic in Scandinavian countries^[1] and as Rebellion in Japan.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Cast 3 Gun Kata 4 Critical reception 5 References 6 External links

[edit] Plot

Equilibrium is set in the futuristic, and dystopian city-state of Libria. In the year 2072 ^[2], the Third World War devastated the planet. Realizing that humanity likely wouldn't survive another war, the leaders of the world sought to create a society free of conflict. It was determined that human emotion was the primary cause of conflict, and thus any and all emotionally stimulating material was banned. These materials are rated "EC-10" for "emotional content" (a reference to the MPAA film rating system^[3]), and are typically destroyed by immediate incineration. Furthermore, all citizens of Libria are required to take regular injections, called "intervals," of an emotion-suppressing drug called Prozium, collected at the distribution centers known as "Equilibrium".

Libria is governed by the Tetragrammaton Council, which is led by a reclusive figurehead known as "Father". Father never interacts with anyone outside the ruling council, but his image is omnipresent throughout the city in a strong cult of personality. The Tetragrammaton Council strives to create identical lives for all Librians and uses its police state apparatus to enforce unity and conformity. At the pinnacle of Librian law enforcement are the Grammaton Clerics, who are trained in the deadly martial art of Gun Kata, an art which teaches users to predict the actions of opponents during firearm combat. The Clerics exist for the purpose of locating and destroying EC-10 materials and for pursuing, apprehending, and, if necessary, terminating "sense-offenders"—people guilty of feeling emotions.

Despite the efforts of the police and Clerics, a resistance movement exists in Libria, known as "The Underground". Members of this movement are responsible for terrorist activity against Libria, specifically against the Prozium factories. The leaders of the Underground believe that if they can disrupt the production and distribution of Prozium, the emotionally-awakened Librians will rise up and destroy the Tetragrammaton Council. The Underground operates within Libria itself, but also has contact with resistance groups residing in the "Nethers", the ruins of cities destroyed during World War III. These outsiders hoard objects and artifacts from the old society before World War III, including art and literature. Subsequently, they are the targets of Librian death squads composed of police and Clerics.

The film's protagonist, Grammaton Cleric First Class John Preston, is Libria's highest ranking cleric. He is a widower whose wife, Viviana, was executed after being revealed to be a sense offender, leaving him with two children. After a raid on a group of resistance members in the Nethers, Preston notices that his partner, Grammaton Cleric First Class Errol Partridge, has personally taken a copy of the poems of Yeats under false pretenses. Preston discovers that Partridge has not turned the book over for destruction and follows him to a ruined cathedral in the Nethers, where Partridge speaks of emotion and forces Preston to aid him in suicide by cop. Shortly afterward, Preston accidentally breaks the vial of his morning dose of Prozium and, unable to obtain a replacement due to terrorism closing the equilibrium center, begins to experience emotions.

Preston is assigned a new partner, the career-conscious Brandt. Following the arrest of Mary O'Brien, who has stopped taking Prozium, his emotional confusion is exacerbated during her interrogation. He first acts out of emotion when he makes an excuse not to execute a puppy in the Nethers. Preston has by now ceased taking Prozium and is forced to try and maintain his monotone and emotionless facade in front of his son and the increasingly suspicious Brandt. Over the course of the film, Preston's behavior increasingly mirrors that of Partridge in the beginning, even to the point of repeated dialogue.

Soon, Preston is involved in illegal activities. During one visit to the Nethers, he is forced to kill several Librian policemen who find the rescued puppy in his car. Brandt, having seen Preston re-arranging his desk (signaling a dislike of conformity) and refusing to personally execute resistance members during a raid in the Nethers, becomes suspicious. Preston is summoned before Vice-Counsel DuPont, and explains that he is attempting to infiltrate the Resistance in order to destroy it. DuPont tells him that he has heard rumors of a Cleric attempting to join the Resistance, and Preston promises to find this traitor. Finding a clue in Partridge's effects, Preston soon makes contact with the Resistance. He agrees to assassinate Father, an act which will create enough confusion for the Underground to detonate bombs in Libria's Prozium factories and hopefully bring down the Tetragrammaton Council. However, watching Mary O'Brien's execution in Libria's furnaces causes Preston to weep uncontrollably, and Brandt arrests him.

Brandt brings Preston before DuPont; Preston, however, tricks DuPont into believing Brandt was the criminal. Apparently cleared, Preston is released. He returns home to destroy his stashed Prozium before police find it, and is confronted by his young son, who reveals to Preston that he and his sister have not taken Prozium since their mother was executed, and have already hidden his cache of Prozium. As part of an elaborate plot formed with the Underground, the leaders of the Resistance turn themselves in to Preston, on the basis of which he persuades DuPont to grant him an audience with Father.

Preston arrives for his audience with Father. He is asked for his weapon and then is hooked up to a polygraph machine to test him for emotions. Preston is confronted by Father in a sudden reversal. Via a telescreen, Father speaks to Preston, revealing that he has been aware of Preston's sense-offense, and has staged Brandt's arrest in order to lull Preston into a false sense of security and allow him to think that his assassination scheme can go ahead. The face on the telescreen changes, revealing the face of Vice-Council DuPont, who explains that the real Father died years before, and that the Tetragrammaton Council elected DuPont as the new Head of State.

DuPont comments that now he has ended The Underground and has also captured Preston without any confrontation, calmly, cooly and without incident. The needles on the polygraph machine stop twitching indicating that Preston has now forced himself not to feel so that he could become the perfect fighter. Preston then states that he will not go without incident and embarks on a rampage using concealed pistols, shooting his way to DuPont's office, where he kills DuPont's bodyguards in a sword fight. Preston and Brandt face each other, but Preston easily dispatches Brandt and cuts his face off. Preston and DuPont then confront each other with handguns in a battle of Gun Kata masters, during which Preston manages to get the upper hand. Disarmed, Dupont attempts to persuade him, as a fellow feeling human, not to kill him, but Preston recalls O'Brien, and shoots DuPont. Preston then destroys the propaganda machines which broadcast across Libria, and the device which projects holographic images of Father. Realizing that the Tetragrammaton Council is faced with a crisis, the Underground detonates their bombs and the prisoners are released.

The film ends with a riot signaling the destruction of the Librian government and Preston smiling now feeling emotions again, of a strong sense of elation over this victory.

[edit] Cast

• Christian Bale as John Preston
• Sean Bean as Errol Partridge
• Emily Watson as Mary O'Brien
• Taye Diggs as Andrew Brandt
• Angus Macfadyen as Vice-Counsel DuPont
• Sean Pertwee as Father
• William Fichtner as Jurgen
• Emily Siewert as Lisa Preston
• Matthew Harbour as Robbie Preston
• Alexa Summer and Maria Pia Calzone as Viviana Preston
• Dominic Purcell as Seamus
• Brian Conley as Reading Room Overseer
• David Hemmings as Father's Chamberlain

[edit] Gun Kata

Gun Kata is a fictional gun-fighting martial art discipline that is a significant part of the film. It is based upon the premise that, given the positions of the participants in a gun battle, the trajectories of fire are statistically predictable. By pure memorization of the positions, one can fire at the most likely location of an enemy without aiming at him in the traditional sense of pointing a gun at a specific target. By the same token, the trajectories of incoming fire are also statistically predictable, so by assuming the appropriate stance, one can keep one's body clear of the most likely way of enemy bullets.

The Gun Fu shown in Equilibrium is a hybrid mix of Kurt Wimmer's own style of Gun Kata (which he invented in his backyard)^[4] and the martial arts style of the choreographer. They disagreed on the appropriate form of Gun Fu, with Kurt Wimmer advocating a more smooth, flowing style and the choreographer supporting a more rigid style. Much of the Gun Fu seen in the movie is based on the choreographer's style (movements are rigid and rapid).^[5] Kurt Wimmer's Gun Fu is dispersed sparsely throughout the movie, most notably in the intro scene with the silhouetted man (played by Wimmer himself) practicing with dual pistols.

[edit] Critical reception

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The film received generally negative reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 36% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 81 reviews.^[6] Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 33 out of 100, based on 22 reviews.^[7]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Equilibrium (2002 film)

• Equilibrium at the Internet Movie Database
• Equilibrium at Rotten Tomatoes
• Equilibrium at Metacritic
• Equilibrium at Box Office Mojo
• Equilibrium at Allmovie