Everybody loves a good dystopian, socially thought-provoking flick. Well, at least, I do. Given today’s global political climate, they seem to enjoy a more receptive audience. (I’m thinking of Good Night, And Good Luck, V for Vendetta, Syriana etc.)
I can’t believe I’m about to give credit to cable/pay television, but without it, I most certainly would not have discovered the film of this discussion, Equilibrium. Not long after, I ordered it on DVD. Written and directed by Kurt Wimmer, the story centers around John Preston (played by Christian Bale), who is part of the Grammaton Order, in a future not too far removed from our own.
As a First Order Cleric in the Order, he is responsible for upholding laws designed to obliterate the possibility of world war and its associated destruction and death. In order for peace and for its continued existence, drastic measures have been adopted by society. Art in all forms has been outlawed and the supposedly enlightened citizens must take a daily dose of a drug called ‘Prozium’ to suppress feelings and emotions. It is argued that our extremes of emotion have caused past atrocities, such as the Third World War, which we presume has occurred in the recent past of this society.
Preston is an ideal within his order. He genuinely believes in his role within society and its importance. This leads to countless discoveries of hidden stockpiles of paintings, musical recordings, and other belongings that betray their owners to be experiencing emotion and thereby leading to the arrest and extermination of persons, or ‘sense offenders,’ those who deliberately cease taking their Prozium in order to remember what being human is really like.
But all good things must come to an end. When Preston is forced to convict and exact justice upon his own Cleric partner Partridge (played by Sean Bean) as a sense offender, he is finally forced to question and eventually oppose the ideas of the supposedly enlightened society he is a part of.
I don’t really want to spoil it for anyone who has not yet seen it; I’d like to focus now on why I love this film so damn much. When friends ask me to sum up why I’m so keen on it, I tell them that it’s one of the more thought-provoking, intelligent action films I’ve ever seen. Yes, at the risk of being crucified, it is even more so than The Matrix trilogy of films. Admittedly, the action scenes in Equilibrium require some serious suspension of belief, but it’s hard not to be impressed, as they’re really slick. It’s not really helped by the fact that Bale is somewhat aesthetically pleasing to look at...
Anyway, before I get distracted, a look at some crucial scenes before Preston’s eventual rebellion that hint to us that he may have experienced emotion, even as a Cleric. I can’t confirm this but am fascinated endlessly by the ambiguity in the storytelling. Perhaps I’m just easily amused.
In the first of such scenes Preston witnesses Partridge commit a sense offence. The two are in the backseat of a car, Yeats poetry volume protruding from Partridge’s pocket (seized after busting an art ‘stash’) and Preston says something about the raid reminding him why he does the job he does, to which Partridge replies:
Article comments
1 - Catana
Sadly underrated film. Worth watching on many levels.
2 - reggie von woic
yeah, just for the action. Once you watch the movie more than twice, you lose all the respect you had for it.
This movie reminds me of Commando and how Arnold finishes off everyone single handedly.
"...tread carefully, because you step on my dreams.." -Yeats
3 - vanillafluffy
I enjoy this movie for all the reasons you've mentioned--it's eye candy from the cast to the sets to the stunts. All that usually serves to distract me from the gaps in narrative and the unanswered questions. I won't enumerate because that would spoiler the film, and it's a good one. Yeah, it owes a lot to other source material, but it also offers its own interesting take on post-apocalyptic Utopia.
4 - Snarkattack
Thanks for the comments, people! This is actually my first piece here *bites nails*.
Yeah, even I can appreciate the Commando thing. Plus, you've got to love a film that can feature a poem and wicked action scenes that make the Matrix look like Playschool.
Just for reference's sake, the poem by Yeats is called 'He Wishes For the Cloths of Heaven' and according to my massive tome of his poetry, from my good old lit days, it was the type of poem that would make a woman run from you (i.e. you wouldn't be able to woo her with it).
I rather think the opposite!
5 - lg
This is a pretty solid flick--definitely worth checking out.
6 - Snarkattack
Please note, dear readers, that although I first saw this film on cable TV, it is the DVD I am reviewing, even if there is little mention of the features on the DVD.
When writing the review, I rewatched the film in DVD format, and then as stated with the director Wimmer's commentary.
Just clarifying, wouldn't want to mislead or confuse anyone.