Willa's Flic Pic: Equilibrium * * * ½

Equilibrium
2002, Kurt Wimmer
Action/Sci-Fi
* * * ½



Mary: Let me ask you something. Why are you alive?
John Preston: I'm alive... I live... to safeguard the continuity of this great society. To serve Libria.
Mary: It's circular. You exist to continue your existence. What's the point?
John Preston: What's the point of your existence?
Mary: To feel. 'Cause you've never done it, you can never know it. But it's as vital as breath. And without it, without love, without anger, without sorrow, breath is just a clock... ticking.

Equilibrium has been compared to The Matrix. They have similar massive, rapid fire gun sequences and the main characters go to the same tailor. Some even say Equilibrium is better than The Matrix. Overall, I don’t agree but it is better in one respect.

One of my criteria for judging a movie is whether it sparks a great discussion. In The Matrix, the world, as the human race lives it, is actually only in their minds while their bodies are really warehoused and used as “batteries” for the machines that have taken over the real world. To me, this was an exciting ride but the discussion afterward was mostly about how cool the special effects were. The premise in Equilibrium, as science fiction, on the other hand, was very hard for me to accept but I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the symbolism and message.


In an effort to eliminate mankind’s tendency for war, human emotion is made illegal. “The true source of man’s inhumanity to man is his ability to feel.” It is not discussed in detail but this was not decided and implemented overnight. It started with hate crime laws and evolved rapidly from there to the point that the enforcement includes mandatory inoculations, brainwashing, the elimination of independent thought and creativity, and a religious policing regime.


At first, the film seemed like a commentary on religion. The fascist government has its own symbology that looks very much like a cross or swastika. There is a Father that preaches a brainwashing mantra. He is in an inner sanctum that no one has access to, a holy of holies, if you will. They train cleric, the highest order of their police enforcement. They even burn violators akin to the stake. But after reading some of the interviews with Wimmer, it’s obvious he was not targeting religion. He was motivated by what he feels is “the current trend in America to regulate what people can and cannot feel”.


I recommend watching the movie keeping the religious tones in mind. Even though Wimmer may not have intended it, humanity equals creativity equals God may be inextricably connected. And you might also ask yourself if our various churches and faiths justly or unjustly dictate feelings (guilt, shame, piety, hate, indignation, love, tolerance, acceptance, care, kindness, genuineness).


"I always thought that 1984 was about socialism and Fahrenheit 451 was about McCarthyism while for me this particular film was about numbness. It's about numbness I think as brought on by over saturation potentially from the media. It's about numbness that is brought on by self-medication, whether it be over the counter or under the counter...any of the ways that we have made ourselves insensible to the environment around us." –Kurt Wimmer

NOTE: This is a violent film - mostly gun fights, though, with little to no blood involved, much like The Matrix. I do not consider it violent on the level of Braveheart or Sin City. If I were to rate the violence on a scale from 1 to 5, I only give it a 2.