Equilibrium
by Kurt Wimmer
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DVD details
Actor: Angus Macfadyen, Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Sean Bean, Taye DiggsDirector: Kurt Wimmer
Brand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 107 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2003-05-13
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: Dimension
DVD Reviews of Equilibrium
DVD Review: 1984 Light
Summary: 4 Stars
Yes, the film is a blatant reworking of aspects of Orwell's '1984' and Huxley's 'Brave New World.' However, this does not make it a bad film; it has no spectacular goals, but it achieves what it sets out to do nicely.
The story is set in the not-too-distant future, the late 21st century, sometime after the Third World War. The world's leaders, or at least the enigmatic leader of a nation called Libria, have decided that the best way to rule out such catastrophic violence happening again is to eliminate all human emotion. They do this by heavily medicating the entire population on doses of a drug called Prozium. The name bears more than a passing resemblance to certain very popular drugs of our own day, but this is how "Equilibrium" works: by suggesting things rather than outright saying them. The underlying ideas of this film are rather deep for this sort of action/sci-fi flick: that freedom of thought is dangerous to regimes, that individualism is the greatest threat to totalitarianism, that thinking or feeling too much is the most dangerous enemy of a government.
These ideas are certainly an undercurrent in the film, but "Equilibrium" is by no means a deep, strictly philosophical movie; it is very content to be a fast-paced action flick, and is quite successful at it too. It reworks material that's been seen before, to be sure, but it does so nicely, in a slick, fast-moving package, marrying action with thought to keep both sorts of audiences happy.
To keep the drug-induced peace, as well as hunt down "Sense Offenders" (those who refuse the drugs and engage in feeling, thinking, and otherwise enjoying themselves), the government of Libria - run by the nearly-omnipotent and highly Orwellian figure known only as "Father" - employs what are known as Tetragrammaton Clerics, who are highly trained in martial arts and psychology, dress in long black coats, and kill without compunction.
The principal Cleric, and the most talented, is John Preston, played with fierce inscrutable perfection by Christian Bale, who seems to specialize in off-beat characters who distance themselves from humanity. He does it nowhere better than here: he keeps his features dispassionately cool even as he suggests a growing madness behind his dark eyes. Director Kurt Wimmer says he didn't think of offering the role to anyone but Christian Bale: watching him perform, there is no question as to why. Here Bale's dark good looks and intense manner are menacingly appropriate to his character; in his first scene, we see him surf into a completely darkened room on the door that he just kicked from its hinges, firing off several dozen shots with what turns out to be lethal accuracy. This is an exhilarating sequence, the first of many.
Sean Bean plays his first partner, Cleric Errol Partridge; he is only in the film for 15 minutes or so, but he brings a quiet kind of poetry to Partridge that is most impressive. The two soon have a lethal falling-out when Preston discovers that Partridge has become a Sense Offender. Soon, of course, the inevitable happens: Preston misses his morning interval of Prozium and begins to feel. At first he is understandably apprehensive about this; he is, after all, the head Cleric, under a mandate to murder - ahem, "summarily combust" or otherwise eliminate - anyone who feels. He is very good at this job; indeed, he let his own wife be arrested and killed for Sense Offending. (This is one of the most perplexing bits of the story: given his extraordinarily cold demeanour, it is understandable that she might be driven to such things, but he is also extremely adept at sensing when other people feel...how is it that he never suspected her, especially as sex is clearly not outlawed in Libria?)
He intends to reinstate his dosage as soon as possible but finds reasons not to...soon enough, of course, he finds he cannot help himself, and willingly begins to dispose of his drugs without taking them. His new partner, Brandt, played with slick menace by Taye Diggs, is very like Preston, clever and adept at knowing what people are thinking and when they are feeling. He wears an almost permanent grin, flashing blinding white teeth and eyes that sparkle with an ominous glint that makes one wonder what he knows and what he plans to do with it. He is absolutely a match for Preston. All this leads invariably to complications, but to say more would be to reveal more of the plot than I should.
The scenes where Preston revels in his new-found emotions are extremely well-done, particularly one in the old cellar of an abandoned house that contains relics of the past that it is his duty as a Cleric to destroy. He discovers an old LP of Beethoven and plays it; it is most likely the first time Preston has ever heard music in his life, and Bale's face is an absolute marvel as he reacts to the passionate strings and brass of the 9th Symphony, a mixture of elation and despair, joy and heartbrokenness and surprise all at once.
The visual design of this picture is really fabulous. It is shot primarily in shades of steel-grey, white, and black, providing an altogether drearily futuristic feel. This is particularly effective when shots of color are introduced, such as a symbolic red ribbon or a rainbow seen through a window; surrounded by such unrelenting colorlessness, they gain far more intensity. Lines are smooth, sleek, hyper-modern. The "new," government-sanctioned buildings are large, monolithic cement structures with an almost obnoxious lack of personality.
The style of the film has been compared to just about every martial arts/sci-fi flick made in recent memory, particularly to "The Matrix." This is largely due to the fight scenes, which are long, choreographed martial arts sequences similar to those found elsewhere. If you're looking for an "original" martial-arts picture you won't find it here; the only new thing introduced really is the "gun-kata," a form of martial arts using guns. However, I find "Equilibrium" immensely more satisfying than "The Matrix", largely due to the strong performances of the cast and the far smarter dialogue. The philosophy is actually meaningful in "Equilibrium," although it is pop-philosophy to be sure. Still, it is intriguing, and richly ironic in places, particularly the idea that the only murderers left are those who are government-sanctioned; the only people who kill now are those determined to keep anyone else from killing. In perhaps the greatest irony in the film, the Clerics are asked to "put their faith" in Father, though faith would be a feeling and should therefore be outlawed; they do the Will of the Father based on their faith in him, which sounds very much more like a religion than a government.
"Equilibrium" is not a particularly deep-thinking film, but it is certainly more thoughtful than much of what passes as philosophy nowadays. More than that, though, it is purely entertaining, with fast-paced gunfights, slick swordfights, a funky soundtrack, and an utterly exhilarating climax that will take your breath away. Bale is an absolute pleasure to watch. It is disappointing this film never got a wider release in the States - I watched in dismay as release date after release date got pushed away, perhaps out of fear that the American public at large wasn't ready for such a film - but if you can get it on DVD, by all means see it. It is entertaining, but also thought-provoking; a rare and enjoyable combination in films today.
Description of Equilibrium
Delivering awesome high-tech action in the power-packed style of THE MATRIX and MINORITY REPORT, EQUILIBRIUM stars Christian Bale (REIGN OF FIRE) and Taye Diggs (CHICAGO) in a thrilling look at a future where the only crime is being human! In an attempt to end wars and maintain peace, humankind has outlawed the things that trigger emotion -- literature, music, and art. To uphold the law, a special breed of police is assigned to eliminate all transgressors. But when the top enforcer (Bale) misses a dose of an emotion-blocking drug, he begins to realize that things are not as they seem! Also starring Sean Bean (THE LORD OF THE RINGS) and Emily Watson (RED DRAGON).A broad science fiction thriller in a classic vein, Equilibrium takes a respectable stab at a Fahrenheit 451-like cautionary fable. The story finds Earth's post-World War III humankind in a state of severe emotional repression: If no one feels anything, no one will be inspired by dark passions to attack their neighbors. Writer-director Kurt Wimmer's monochromatic, Metropolis-influenced cityscape provides an excellent backdrop to the heavy-handed mission of John Preston (Christian Bale), a top cop who busts "sense offenders" and crushes sentimental, sensual, and artistic relics from a bygone era. Predictably, Preston becomes intrigued by his victims and that which they die to cherish; he stops taking his mandatory, mood-flattening drug and is even aroused by a doomed prisoner (Emily Watson). Wimmer's wrongheaded martial arts/dueling guns motif is sheer silliness (a battle over a puppy doesn't help), but Equilibrium should be seen for Bale's moving performance as a man shocked back to human feeling. --Tom Keogh
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