Equilibrium
I finally saw Equilibrium-7 years after its original release. I knew all along there was such a movie because I’d seen the DVD in stores but neither really knew what it was about nor ever felt like filling that gap…until recently when I not in the least accidentally ran across a fan music video for “Touched” made entirely of Equilibrium cuts.
The movie is far from exceptional-the plot is a mash-up of the 1984’s/Fahrenheit 451’s ideas of controlled society and anti-Utopian prognostication on the future of mankind and the Matrix visual style. Nothing wrong with that.
It’s a violent fairytale revolving around the never-ending battle between good and evil. Never-ending because evil is an inseparable part of human nature as breathing is. After all the evolution of the species is nothing but a life-and-death struggle in the most literal sense with only one prize-survival, which can not be won by kindly asking the other species “please, would you mind stepping away?” because yes, they do mind and the answer can be no other than brutal. And, although people have come a long way since those fierce ages, I guess that even in the most civilized specimen of the human race there’s a prehistoric beast still roaring for blood. Instincts have great powers of endurance which could explain why all fairytales are violent. Progress only makes means of violence more sophisticated. “The pen is more powerful than the sword” sounds catchy but in the end people always choose swords when it comes to defending their ideals.
Equilibrium has all the binding elements of a classic fairytale-an evil tyrant, a wretched kingdom, a hero destined to save it and a love story (well, sort of). I did expect a little bit more attention to details-some of the battle scenes look somewhat cheesy as if taken from a Van Damme movie, the characters lack depth-we see Cleric John Preston’s transformation from a vigorous “law and order” guard to a rebel “going to cause the system to fall” but the process seems rushed and unconvincing to me. And yet I liked the movie-justice was served in the end (even though that was no surprise), it was my personal pleasure to watch Christian Bale (heroic roles fit him fine), there were some visually very beautiful scenes and last but not least-Yeats and those breathtaking lines from “Aedh Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven”:
“But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
The movie is far from exceptional-the plot is a mash-up of the 1984’s/Fahrenheit 451’s ideas of controlled society and anti-Utopian prognostication on the future of mankind and the Matrix visual style. Nothing wrong with that.
It’s a violent fairytale revolving around the never-ending battle between good and evil. Never-ending because evil is an inseparable part of human nature as breathing is. After all the evolution of the species is nothing but a life-and-death struggle in the most literal sense with only one prize-survival, which can not be won by kindly asking the other species “please, would you mind stepping away?” because yes, they do mind and the answer can be no other than brutal. And, although people have come a long way since those fierce ages, I guess that even in the most civilized specimen of the human race there’s a prehistoric beast still roaring for blood. Instincts have great powers of endurance which could explain why all fairytales are violent. Progress only makes means of violence more sophisticated. “The pen is more powerful than the sword” sounds catchy but in the end people always choose swords when it comes to defending their ideals.
Equilibrium has all the binding elements of a classic fairytale-an evil tyrant, a wretched kingdom, a hero destined to save it and a love story (well, sort of). I did expect a little bit more attention to details-some of the battle scenes look somewhat cheesy as if taken from a Van Damme movie, the characters lack depth-we see Cleric John Preston’s transformation from a vigorous “law and order” guard to a rebel “going to cause the system to fall” but the process seems rushed and unconvincing to me. And yet I liked the movie-justice was served in the end (even though that was no surprise), it was my personal pleasure to watch Christian Bale (heroic roles fit him fine), there were some visually very beautiful scenes and last but not least-Yeats and those breathtaking lines from “Aedh Wishes For The Cloths Of Heaven”:
“But I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I have spread my dreams under your feet;
Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
Music Videos by VideoCure
posted by balance at
1:08 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home