Equilibrium (film)

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

Equilibrium is a 2002 action and science fiction film written and directed by Kurt Wimmer. Christian Bale has the lead role in the film and is supported by Taye Diggs, Angus Macfadyen, Sean Pertwee, Emily Watson, David Hemmings, and Sean Bean.

Although it was received well by test audiences, the film was given only a limited release and little promotion and was generally poorly received by critics. However over the years its ratings have significantly improved and is now classified as a cult classic.

The film was originally released as Cubic in Scandinavian countries and as Rebellion in Japan.

Overview

Following an apocalyptic Third World War, the strict government of the city-state Libria has eliminated war by suppressing all human emotion. In the monochromatic and sedated society, artifacts from the old world (works of art and music that may evoke some emotion) are destroyed and the population is required to take emotion sedatives. Grammaton Cleric Preston (Bale), a man trained to locate and arrest those guilty of feeling emotions, finds himself abandoning the drug and experiencing outlawed feelings. As he struggles to conceal his feelings from his superiors, colleagues, and family, Preston finds himself drawn into a sinister world of double-crossings and lies, and becomes an unwitting pawn in a sophisticated plot which ultimately changes the repressed society forever. In an Orwellian film, it is important to note the reference to the Tetragrammaton. This the old Jewish name for God.

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 as Viviana Preston
• Maria Pia Calzone as Preston's Wife
• Dominic Purcell as Seamus
• Brian Conley as Reading Room Overseer
• David Hemmings as Father's Chamberlain

Plot

Equilibrium is set in the futuristic, and dystopian city-state of Libria. The film explains how, in the early years of the 21st century, a devastating Third World War breaks out, the impact of which brings civilizations across the planet to their knees. After the war ends, world leaders fear that the human race cannot possibly survive a Fourth World War, and so set about building a new society which is free of conflict.

Believing that human emotion is responsible for man's inhumanity to man, the new leaders ban all materials deemed likely to stimulate strong emotions, including art, music, and literature. These materials are rated "EC-10" for "emotional content" (a reference to the MPAA film rating system), and are typically destroyed by immediate incineration. Furthermore, all citizens of Libria are required to take regular injections, called "intervals," of a liquid 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 for a short period of time—even a single day—then the 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 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 afterwards, Preston accidentally breaks the vial of his morning dose of Prozium, and begins to experience emotions.

Preston is assigned a new partner, the career-conscious Brandt. Following a standard police raid on a Librian woman, 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 façade 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. 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. 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 for some time, 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, who persuades DuPont to grant him an audience with Father.

Preston arrives for his audience with Father, and 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.

Preston, however, embarks on a rampage using concealed pistols that he uses in order to reach Brandt and DuPont. Preston and Brandt face each other using paired short swords (similar in size and shape to the Japanese wakizashi), but Preston easily dispatches Brandt. 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 and kills 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.

Themes

Gun Kata

Main article: Gun Kata

File:Gunkata equilibrium.jpg

Gun Kata technique.

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

Prozium

Prozium is a fictional liquid drug (based off of the nonfictional drug Prozac, with similar effects) which suppresses strong emotions, creating a sedated and conformist society. The loss of emotions is a heavy price, but it is considered to be one paid gladly in exchange for the elimination of war and crime. Father calls Prozium the "opiate of the masses", a reference to Karl Marx's labeling of religion as such. Prozium was to be originally called Librium (thus the nation of Libria). This was changed to Prozium when it was discovered that Librium was already an existing drug.

Critical reception

The film received generally negative reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 35% of critics gave the film positive reviews, based on 79 reviews. Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 33 out of 100, based on 22 reviews. However, on the Internet Movie Database, the film received a 7.8/10 rating out of over 47,000 votes by members.

External links

• Equilibrium at IMDb
• Equilibrium at Rotten Tomatoes
• Equilibrium at Metacritic
• Equilibrium at Box Office Mojo
• Equilibrium at AllMovie