Equilibrium (2002)

[Ross Barlow]

I want to recommend the movie *Equilibrium* (2002). I think some of you may enjoy it. Ari Armstrong of Colorado had recommended it a number of years ago on the [Old] Atlantis e-list, and I'm glad I wrote the title down and eventually viewed it (and then I immediately bought a copy).

Apparently, the movie never made it to US theaters, as it made enough money in its overseas showings and the producers did not want to risk losing money in the US with high advertising costs, etc.

It is a low budget film of a dystopian future, written and directed by Kurt Wimmer. Christian Bale stars, and also appearing are Taye Diggs, Emily Watson and Angus MacFedyen, with Sean Bean in a cameo. It was filmed mostly in Berlin.

It is possible that Wimmer borrowed much of his vision for this flick from Orwell, Huxley, Bradbury, Fritz Lang, etc. But his championing of individualism against conformity is very powerful and worth watching for its own virtues. I like the mood of this movie.

After a devastating World War III, the rulers among the survivors try to build a world in which war will never happen again. They see elemental human nature to be dangerous and evil (“Hobbesian” or “original sin” in our terms). To prevent war and murder, all war-like human emotions such as anger and hate must be eliminated. So everyone is required by law to take regular “interval” doses of a drug which completely kills all emotions, all feelings and all passions. All positive feelings and passions are killed also -- all emotions connected with love, art, literature, music, etc. -- but this is considered to be a worthwhile trade-off as long as murder and war are gone. It is a world of humorless zombies, sort of like my image of an Objectivist Hell run by the ARI elite.

The punishment for "sense crimes" (i.e., not taking your interval dose and thus being enabled to "feel") is prompt execution. All artworks, books or music are destroyed immediately when discovered. There is no compromise. The primary enforcers of this totalitarian rule are the Clerics, whose dedication and extreme "gun kata" martial arts training makes them indomitable.

What would it be like if you missed your daily interval dose and experienced, for the first time in your life, the ability to “feel”?

I did notice in particular one piece of artwork that was apparently allowed to be in the office of one of the top rulers (Angus MacFedyen). It was a statue of Atlas, crushed down under the oppressive weight of the world. Hmm. This makes my wonder about Kurt Wimmer’s intellectual lineage.

There is a resistance movement in this society, and they consider their best ally to be … human nature. This is the element of Jeffersonian hope.

Go and rent this movie if you have not yet seen it. It is on my favorite movie list.

-Ross Barlow.

P.S. -- Can you imagine if the very first piece of music you ever heard was Beethoven's Ninth Symphony? That would be shock therapy, indeed.

[John Dailey]

Yes. I second the motion. All you who haven't seen it yet, catch it ASAP.

I must admit that I was a bit surprised at how interesting it really was (his being a 'super-shooter' nwst) when I caught the DVD. Sheesh...Christian Bale is really getting around lately.

Actually, I'd make it a double-whammy nite with it followed by V for Vendetta.

LLAP

J:D

[Aaron]

I also heartily endorse this recommendation. I saw the movie for the first time last month and was quite impressed. A dark world but within it true heroism - I love the combination! I was also really impressed from a stylistic standpoint on this film in its simple short action scenes. Once you suspend your disbelief about the hero being an incredibly powerful fighter, it is refreshing to have the action progress as combats of one shot or slash per opponent rather than being subjected to long tedious fights.

[antihero3000]

I was searching in this forum on whether "Equilibrium" is recommended, to see if someone have watched this movie already.

It is a brilliant movie, and it is thought-provoking. Christian Bale's exceptional acting really bought out the theme of the movie about how an individual mind (and behaviors) changed from being a member of a collective to an individual.

Being someone who likes watching movies that have similar plot - a lone individual against the hostile world or universe. I will recommend other movies like V for Vendetta, Chronicles of Riddick and Shine.

The best moment in this movie is when the protagonist awaken by his long suppressed emotions when he is listening to the Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I found that movies that usually portray individuals who have long been suppressed and oppressed by the status quo of the society or world always have a connection to a theme song of some sort. In this movie, it is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, in the V for Vendetta, it is Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture and in Shine, it is Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto.

- Antihero3000

[Ross Barlow]

Anithero3000,

Glad to find yet another fan of *Equilibrium* (2002). Most Americans are not aware of it because it did not get much – or any – theater release in the States. Sean Bean’s cameo is also great.

This film reminds me of Fritz Lang’s *Metropolis* (1927) with the shuffling crowds of a humanity without joy.

-Ross Barlow.

[BaalChatzaf]

I was searching in this forum on whether "Equilibrium" is recommended, to see if someone have watched this movie already.

It is a brilliant movie, and it is thought-provoking. Christian Bale's exceptional acting really bought out the theme of the movie about how an individual mind (and behaviors) changed from being a member of a collective to an individual.

Being someone who likes watching movies that have similar plot - a lone individual against the hostile world or universe. I will recommend other movies like V for Vendetta, Chronicles of Riddick and Shine.

The best moment in this movie is when the protagonist awaken by his long suppressed emotions when he is listening to the Beethoven's 9th Symphony. I found that movies that usually portray individuals who have long been suppressed and oppressed by the status quo of the society or world always have a connection to a theme song of some sort. In this movie, it is Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, in the V for Vendetta, it is Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture and in Shine, it is Rachmaninoff's 3rd Piano Concerto.

- Antihero3000

Bethoven's 9th is also central in -A Clockwork Orange-.

Ba'al Chatzaf

[Southern Capitalist]

Yes very good and good action. i concur on the recommendation.

[BaalChatzaf]

This seems to resonate with Farrenheit 451 by Ray Bradburry.