Equilibrium (film)
| Equilibrium | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Kurt Wimmer |
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| Written by | Kurt Wimmer |
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| Music by | Klaus Badelt |
| Cinematography | Dion Beebe |
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| Distributed by | Miramax Films |
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Release date
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Running time
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107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $20 million |
| Box office | $5.3 million |
Equilibrium is a 2002 American dystopian science fiction film written and directed by Kurt Wimmer and starring Christian Bale, Emily Watson, and Taye Diggs.
The film follows John Preston (Bale), an enforcement officer in a future in which both feelings and artistic expression are outlawed and citizens take daily injections of drugs to suppress their emotions. After accidentally missing a dose, Preston begins to experience emotions, which makes him question his own morality and moderate his actions while attempting to remain undetected by the suspicious society in which he lives. Ultimately, he aids a resistance movement using advanced martial arts, which he was taught by the very regime he is helping to overthrow.
Equilibrium is set in 2072 in Libria, a city-state established by the survivors of World War III, which devastated the world, where a totalitarian government requires all citizens to take daily injections of "Prozium II" to suppress emotion and encourage obedience. All emotionally stimulating material has been banned, and "Sense Offenders" – those who fail to take their Prozium – are put to death, as the government claims that the cause of all wars and violence is emotion. Libria is governed by the Tetragrammaton Council, led by "Father", who is seen only on giant video screens throughout the city. At the pinnacle of Librian law enforcement are the Grammaton Clerics, who are trained in the martial art of gun kata. The Clerics frequently raid the "Nether" regions outside the city to search for and destroy illegal materials – art, literature, and music – and execute the people hiding them. A resistance movement, known as the "Underground", emerges with the goal of toppling Father and the Tetragrammaton Council.
John Preston (Christian Bale) is a high-ranking Cleric. His wife, Viviana (Alexa Summer and Maria Pia Calzone), was executed as a Sense Offender. Following a raid, Preston notices his partner, Errol Partridge (Sean Bean), saving a book of poems instead of turning it in for incineration. Preston tracks down Partridge, who is hiding in the Nether region reading the book. Partridge confesses to Preston that he believes he was wrong to serve the government. He acknowledges that the consequences of feeling emotions are a "heavy cost", but remarks, "I pay it gladly" as he slowly reaches for his gun. Preston is forced to execute him.
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