Equilibrium

Last Update: 11 June 2004 (You need a browser capable of viewing tables to see this page properly)

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In a future society, citizens are prevented from expressing emotions and are controlled by militaristic police with the enforced use of a dehumanizing drug. An agent, John Preston (Christian Bale), whose job it is to administer the drug, finds himself experiencing a spiritual conversion, which puts him in direct conflict with his position and his superiors. He joins an underground resistance group in an attempt to destroy the city's ruler. Sean Bean plays Preston's first partner, Partridge, while Taye Diggs plays his second partner, Brandt. Angus MacFadyen plays the "villain" who controls the society.

Director Kurt Wimmer wrote the 104-page script for the film. Principal photography began in Berlin on 15 September 2000 and finished on 02 December 2000. Sean's scenes were shot on location between November 6th and November 22, 2000. Note: This project was originally called Librium, after Librium®, a real drug which is used to treat "anxiety, panic disorder, symptoms of alcohol withdrawal, tremor, and tension headaches." The title was changed on 19 October 2000. Equilibrium means "balance".

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Sean spoke to SciFi Wire about his character and the film.... 3:40pm ET, 26-October-01 Bean Discusses Equilibrium Sean Bean shed some light on the upcoming Dimension SF-thriller Equilibrium during an interview with SCI FI Wire. "It's set in the future, where these thought police [operate] and a very sterile society has developed where everybody is told what to think and is very reliant on Librium as a way of life," said the actor, who also plays Boromir in the highly anticipated film Fellowship of the Ring. "Everyone is very controlled and there's no real room for anything spiritual or for any passion or anything anymore," Bean said. "Everything is working very well, like clockwork, but it's a very empty world," added the actor, who co-stars opposite Christian Bale, Taye Diggs, Emily Watson and Angus MacFadyen in the film, which was written and directed by Kurt Wimmer, who previously penned Sphere. "Unfortunately, my character is very good at his work, which is keeping people in order. But I can't get away from what the world used to be," Bean said. "You're not allowed to read poetry. You're not allowed to look at art. He just can't cope with it anymore. He harkens back to the old days, when people were people were people, and he can't stand what's going on, what's happening to society. It's very 1984. There are resonances of that. It should be very interesting."

Location Notes: Equilibrium was filmed on location in Berlin, Germany. A number of interior scenes with different sets were filmed inside Berlin's Deutschlandhalle (famous, among other things, for numerous live rock concerts and recordings over the years). Other locations included the site of the old Johannisthal Airport; the Olympiastadion soccer stadium (including the Glockenturm); Potsdamer Platz, in the centre of Berlin; the Reichstag; and Tempelhof Airport. (Click on the links for maps and pictures of the locations.)

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Equilibrium: The Story

Equilibrium Production Notes

Visit the Equilibrium Press Archive

PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS:
Christian Bale		John Preston
Emily Watson		Mary O'Brien
Taye Diggs		Brandt
William Fichtner		Jurgen
Angus MacFadyen		DuPont
Sean Bean		Partridge

PRODUCTION CREDITS:
		Dimension Films Presents A Blue Tulip Inc. Production
Written and Directed by		Kurt Wimmer
Produced by		Jan De Bont Lucas Foster
Executive Producers		Bob Weinstein Harvey Weinstein Andrew Rona
Cinematographer		Dion Beebe, A.C.S.
Editors		Tom Rolf, A.C.E. William Yeh
Costume Design		Joseph Porro
Music		Klaus Badelt
Production Design		Wolf Kroeger
Release Date Video/DVD		December 6, 2002 (USA) March 14, 2003 (UK) 13 May 2003 (North America) 06 Oct 2003 (UK)
MPAA Rating		R (for Violence)

Trivia: Sean's character, Partridge, reads the last three lines from a poem in the film. The poem is called He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven. It was written by W.B. Yeats and published in the collection The Wind Among the Reeds, in 1899. The full poem is below: Had I the heavens' embroidered cloths, Enwrought with golden and silver light, The blue and the dim and the dark cloths Of night and light and the half-light, I would spread the cloths under your feet: But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet; Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

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