equilibrium

Director: kurt wimmer

Actor: christian bale,sean bean,emily watson,taye diggs

Data Published: Fri Dec 06 2002

Genres: Action,Drama,Sci-Fi,Thriller

Key Words: dystopia,suppression of emotion,gun fu,law,brainwashing

IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238380/

WIKI: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equilibrium_(film)

Description: Equilibrium is a movie starring Christian Bale, Sean Bean, and Emily Watson. In an oppressive future where all forms of feeling are illegal, a man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system and state.

Plot: Libria, a totalitarian city-state, was established by the survivors of World War III, where all emotions and emotionally stimulating objects have been forbidden as they are believed to have led to the war. The population suppresses all emotion by injecting themselves daily with "Prozium II", and "Sense Offenders" –those who choose to experience unlawful emotions or possess objects likely to stimulate emotion– are put to death. Libria is governed by the Tetragrammaton Council, led by "Father", who is only seen on giant video screens throughout the city spreading propaganda messages. At the pinnacle of Librian law enforcement are the Grammaton Clerics, trained in the martial art of gun kata. Clerics frequently raid properties in the city and 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. In 2072, John Preston is a high-ranking Cleric whose wife, Viviana, was executed as a Sense Offender, leaving him a single father of his daughter and son. Following a raid, Preston notices his partner, Errol Partridge, saves a book of poems instead of turning it in for incineration. After tracing Partridge to the Nether and finding him reading the book, Partridge explains that he gladly pays the heavy price of feeling emotions; Preston executes him as he slowly reaches for his gun. Preston accidentally breaks his daily vial of Prozium but is unable to replace it before going on the next raid. He begins to experience brief episodes of emotion that evoke memories, stir feelings, and make him more aware of his surroundings; he intentionally skips more doses of Prozium and hides them behind the mirror in his bathroom. Partridge is replaced with career-conscious Brandt, who expresses his admiration for Preston's "uncompromising" work as a cleric. On a raid, they arrest Mary O'Brien, a citizen identified as a Sense Offender. To Brandt's surprise, Preston prevents him from executing O'Brien on the spot, saying she should be kept alive for interrogation; he grows suspicious of Preston's hesitation to do his job completely. As Preston feels remorse for having killed Partridge, he develops an emotional relationship with O'Brien and uncovers clues that lead to meeting Jurgen: the leader of the Underground resistance who plans to have Prozium production disrupted -to spark a populace uprising- and convinces Preston that Father must be assassinated. Vice-Counsel DuPont meets with Preston to reveal that there is a traitor in the upper ranks of the Clerics. Although DuPont appears to know it is Preston, he assigns him the task of uncovering and stopping the traitor. Relieved, Preston accepts and renews a promise to locate the Underground's leadership. O'Brien is set to be executed and Jurgen advises against interfering, as it could sabotage plans for the revolution but, unable to bear her death, Preston still unsuccessfully tries to stop it. As he has an emotional breakdown in the streets, Brandt arrests him and brings him before DuPont; however, Preston tricks DuPont into believing that Brandt is the traitor. Following Brandt's arrest, Preston is informed that a search of his home will take place as a formality. He rushes home to destroy the hidden vials, only to find his son –who stopped taking Prozium after his mother died– already has. Jurgen has Preston capture the leaders of the resistance to gain the government's trust and get close enough to Father to assassinate him. As Preston is granted an exclusive audience with Father -really just a projection of Father-, he discovers that Brandt was not actually arrested, but was part of a ruse to expose Preston and the Underground. DuPont reveals that he is the real Father -having secretly replaced the original Father after his death- and that he does not take Prozium and can feel emotions. He taunts Preston, asking how it felt to betray the Underground. Enraged, Preston fights his way through an army of bodyguards to DuPont's office and kills Brandt in a katana battle. DuPont and Preston have a gun kata showdown; Preston wins and DuPont pleads for his life, reminding Preston that he represents life and feeling and asks, "Is it really worth the price?" Responding with Partridge's last words, "I pay it gladly", Preston kills DuPont. He destroys the command center that broadcasts the propaganda from Father; as the Underground carries out the destruction of Prozium manufacturing and storage facilities, he watches the revolution with satisfaction.