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 "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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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 |
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Written and Directed by |
Kurt Wimmer | ||
Produced by |
Jan De Bont Lucas Foster |
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Executive Producers |
Bob Weinstein Harvey Weinstein Andrew Rona |
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Cinematographer |
Dion Beebe, A.C.S. | ||
Editors |
Tom Rolf, A.C.E. William Yeh |
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Costume Design |
Joseph Porro | ||
Music |
Klaus Badelt | ||
Production Design |
Wolf Kroeger | ||
Release Date |
December 6, 2002 (USA) March 14, 2003 (UK) 13 May 2003 (North America) 06 Oct 2003 (UK) |
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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,
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