Equilibrium- Kurt Wimmer

Equilibrium is based upon the strict government of a dystopian city named Libria which has eliminated war by suppressing humans emotions. Artefacts from the old world are destroyed and the “sense offenders” are incinerated. The remaining population are required to take sedatives named Prozium. Grammaton cleric john Preston is a man trained to arrest those guilty of expressing emotion, who finds himself drawn into this world of oppressed society.
I am analysing the use of mise-en-scene in this film, particularly in the context of how this relates to establishing the genre, creating mood and giving a believable sense of time and place.
Firstly I am beginning with the opening sequence. This shows a montage of short clips which explains the film’s premise and who a Grammaton cleric is and what one does. It also narrates history regarding war that has occurred previously and how it plans to eliminate future possibilities of war. It does this with its use of voiceover, which gives the audience a narrative to follow. Along with the voiceover is a set of visual images Each images connotes war and destruction. There are images of leaders of war e.g. Saddam Hussein, and images of the destruction war has. The images are in black and white which connotes a historical aspect, this is particularly effective as the images are showing previous events. They have a grainy quality to them which suggest they are old film footage, this gives a sense of realism. The voiceover narrates the action to reinforce the visual aspects. Also reinforcing the images is a title, the titles are in white contrasting heavily with the black background this makes the viewer concentrate solely on the text.
The images then progress to show what a Grammaton cleric is, and what it entails. It displays a cleric practising Gun-Kata, which is the use of martial art incorporated with guns. This image is lit using backlighting so only the figure is silhouetted against a light background to make the man’s figure stand out. See fig 1. It then shows sweepers, getting out of a van. This clip is fast paced connoting a sense of urgency which makes the audience feel panicked. These frames are mainly black and white but include certain tones of colour to contrast with the old film footage and to connote a sense of the future. The screen then fades to black, this is used to show time has passed. A painting of a girl is then shown held by a man, the man is concentrating on the picture and has a sorrowed expression. This connotes that he can feel and that he is unhappy. As by this point the audience know the premise for the film, they will draw empathy with the man that can feel.

Fig 1.

The city of Libria is established through a location shot set in Germany. It is symmetrical in framing with a wide angle positioning. The shot is an high angle extreme long shot. By including the buildings towering over the people it creates a sense of oppression, which is what the government of the city is doing to the people of Libria. It has a bleak setting giving a sense of the atmosphere of the city. There is a large balloon type aircraft positioned to come towards the audience this aircraft connotes technology and therefore the future. See fig 2. This also suggests the movie is a science fiction film. Other codes and conventions to signify that this film is a sci-fi is the use of special effects and the computer human interface. The buildings have large screens projecting images of ‘The father’ onto them also giving a believable sense of place and time, which is in the future. The image of ‘The Father’ gives a ‘Big Brother’ type of effect and gives the people of Libria a feeling of being watched therefore it is setting a tense, oppressive mood. All of the people in the frame have similar uniform which connotes that they have been stripped of their individuality.

Fig 2.

Colour is one of the main aspects that is used in Equilibrium. A particular scene reflects this. That is the scene of Preston’s dream sequence where he is dreaming of his wife being captured. Dream sequences are used to show time has progressed. This dream sequence also gives a sense of the past and progresses the narrative. It shows a series of medium camera shots of Preston and his wife. See fig 3. Preston’s wife is in rich, vivid colours and Preston is in grey tones, as they kiss they are both shown in colour, and as she is taken away Preston returns to grey. The grey tones connote oppression as it is the same colour show through the city, no colour penetrates it. The rich, vivid colour connote feeling. In this scene, the camera focuses on a close up of Preston’s face where his facial expression connotes he is distressed. The setting of this enhances the colour and tone of the characters as it is white therefore the bright colours and grey tones contrast starkly with the dull walls. Another example of colour, is in Mary’s costume, Mary’s dress is colour saturated as time goes on, as Preston is feeling more, he is more aware of colour therefore there are slight enhancements of colour in Mary’s dress so it becomes slightly brighter.

Fig 3.

This is a frame of Mary’s incineration. This scene implies the mood throughout the film. This is shown through Mary’s facial expression which is tense and almost emotionless. Her eyes are focussed on something outside of the frame. See fig 4 . It is a medium shot which focuses completely on Mary, the sweepers are blurred emphasising that she is the main focus. Her position surrounded by the sweepers gives a feeling of oppression and that she has a lack of control. She is facing away from them indicating that they are not on the same side. The sweepers are completely in black which is a complete contrast to Mary’s red costume making her the main visual point. The colours are a binary opposite. The red cloak connotes innocence like ‘the Little Red Riding Hood’ but it also connotes danger and death. The lighting is backlighting, it is coming from the lights in the tunnel behind Mary. The silver, winding tunnel implies the setting is futuristic as silver connotes technology and the future.

Fig4.

The gunfight nearing the end of the film is Preston’s fight against the Sweepers. It has a completely blue tint to the scene giving it a cold, tense atmosphere. See fig 5 It uses backlighting, directing the light towards the camera silhouetting Preston’s character. This emphasises his body’s shape and outline. The shape of his body connotes Jesus on the Cross. The theme of religion is prevalent throughout the film. His Cleric uniform echoes the look of a Priest’s attire, ‘Father’ is a reference to this and Tetragammation is a word in Judaism in reference to the name of God. This shot is also symmetrical in framing. Preston is in the centre of a long shot with two rows of sweepers on either side. The image is hazy, giving it a sense of atmosphere.

Fig 5.

This scene establishes the subgenre of the film which is action. Preston looks like a ‘Bond’ type character in this frame. In terms of costume, there is also a binary opposite in this clip with the enemies all dressed in dark colours and Preston in a white costume. See fig 6. White connotes ‘good’ emphasising the good/bad binary opposite. These costumes are similar to that of ‘The Matrix Reloaded’. The costume’s differing colours are used to mark the opposing characters implying to the audience that they are on opposing sides. Preston’s white costume is used to signify that a change has occurred within the film. This scene is warmly lit, using key lighting. It is a complete contrast to most of the other scenes which are almost lit entirely with a blue tint. This scene is also a contrast in terms of setting to the rest of the film. The other scenes are set in bleak settings whereas this setting is semi-classical and shows more colour. The lighting and the colour change with the action. This frame is a mid shot, and the viewer is always placed in the positioning of 3rd person throughout the film, this gives a sense of being there in the action. As Preston is the main character in the film and goes through the greatest journey, it is his character that you emphasise with most as the audience is made to experience the journey with him. This shot is framed so the audience can see dead bodies scattering the floor, as the figures are dressed in dark colours, it signifies that Preston is victorious. There is a large, black sign on the floor which signifies Libria’s Government as Preston is in the centre of the sign and has killed all the opponents, it suggests that Preston has overruled society and emphasises the good/bad binary opposite.

Fig 6.

Levi Strauss is a particular theory that can be applied to this text. From analysing this text, it can be seen that there are many binary opposites within it.
Good/Bad- this can be seen through use of costume, language etc.
Light/Dark- this can be seen through use of lighting, colour etc
Love/Hate- this can be seen through use of props, language etc.
There are many cultural references through use of props in this film, such as the Beethoven music which is played at the beginning of the film and is linked when Preston begins to feel, another is the Mona Lisa painting which is burned near the start of the film. The Mona Lisa painting is used as it is a universal piece of art and is widely known. Roland Barthes theory of semiology imply these codes and signs make meaning possible and allows humans to interpret them.

Bibliography
JENGE, Equilibrium Trivia, http://www.equilibriumfans.com/trivia.htm
STRINATI, D. An Introduction to Theories of Popular culture, London, Routledge,1995