Equilibrium
written and directed by Kurt Wimmer

Solaris
written for the screen and directed by Steven Soderbergh
based on the novel by Stanislaw Lem


        Every once in awhile a science fiction film is released, without the event-sized promotion or fan-boy expectations, that actually invokes thought and heightens senses and above all leaves you feeling better for having seen it.  Unfortunately, films like these fall under the radars of our culture's mindless cravings.  At best, the film could be "discovered" years later as an overlooked masterpiece (ala Blade Runner).  At worst, it could be completely forgotten (Dark City anyone?).   More than likely, though, it will banally achieve a cult-classic status.
       Equilibrium is a new film which follows the paths of many before it.  It is intelligent, stylish and destined to go unnoticed.  I admit that despite my compulsive adherence to movie trailers, release dates and entertainment news, I had not even heard of the picture until a week previous to its delivery to the screen.  I went in having read no articles or reviews, being witness to no television specials or talk-show clips.  I sat in the theater with no expectations, whatsoever.  For the next two hours this gift amazed me, one scene after another.
      Interestingly enough, Equilibrium is not really that original.  The main plot is Dystopia 101 with nods to Orwell, Huxley and Dick as well as everything those writers have already influenced.  We have a totalitarian society with a protagonist who is employed by this oppressive government and eventually turns against it.  We have contraband, forbidden romance, brainwash and deception.
Here, our skyscraper filled city is called Librium, a place not so ironic as hypocritical, much like the drug of the same name.  After a third world war destroys much of the earth, humans decide to abolish feeling, believing it to be the main cause of war.  Citizens are denied art and love.  They periodically inject a drug called Prozium.  There may be some peacefulness found here, but we are only shown workings of a police-state with armored soldiers and high-ranking Clerics. 
      Like all clerics, John Preston (Christian Bale) has trained for his position since youth, excelling in areas of martial arts and detective work.  One day he drops his morning dose of Prozium and decides not to replace it.  Later, he captures the beautiful Mary O'Brien (Emily Watson), a member of the underground opposition, and is drawn to her.  With his partner (Taye Diggs) suspicious and his world turned upside-down, Preston must go all the way or fall back into submission.
      The casting of Bale is most curious.  Pairing him up with Watson reminds me of Metroland.  The environment he resides could be that of Nazi Germany in Swing Kids.  While subdued by drugs and void of emotion, he recalls his Patrick Bateman character from American Psycho.  While I'm sure that little of this was intentional, the connection between Preston and Bateman is nonetheless most obvious and intriguing.
       There is a moment where the police discover a pen full of puppies.  They are confused and ask what purpose they serve.  "Do they eat them?" one asks.  Far from the behavior of Bateman's immoral murder of a dog in American Psycho, Preston uncontrollably flinches while the dogs are massacred.  He rescues the last one, insisting that it needs testing for disease, then hides it in the trunk of his car.   There is something about this pup that seems to transform Preston even more so than the imprisoned woman.
        It is tragic that Equilibrium will fail at the box office as well as with critical acclaim.  While most audiences will be turned off by the lack of action, the fight scenes are incredibly impressive for those who wait for it.  The final showdown alone is worth the admission for the popcorn crowd.  The more serious of moviegoers, I expect, may dismiss the rest as purely derivative, but they would fail to remember that the sum of positives do not equal a negative.  From homages to Fahrenheit 451, Gattaca, The Matrix and many, many others, writer-director Kurt Wimmer creates more of a culmination, than a multi-rip-off.

         Solaris is a good example of what would be outlawed in Librium.  Steven Soderbergh's new space-set drama draws you in and evokes awareness and feeling.  While I am not completely satisfied with the film, I have to admit that I was captivated throughout the whole viewing.
         George Clooney plays Dr. Chris Kelvin, a psychologist sent to a ship orbiting the mysterious planet Solaris.  Most of the crew are dead and he is the last hope to bring back the survivors.  The planet, Kelvin discovers, has the power to create ghosts from the minds of those in its viscinity, and quickly, he falls victim to the same apparitions which have driven the rest mad. 
         His "visitor" is his late wife, Rheya (Natascha McElhone), and despite his first attempts to send the spirit away, she continues to show up in his cabin, eventually gaining the love he felt for the original woman.  The only other people on the ship are the extremely different headstrong Dr. Helen Gordon (Viola Davis) and scatterbrained Snow (Jeremy Davies). 
        When Andrei Tarkovsky adapted Stanislaw Lem's novel 30 years ago, it felt like a gigantic opus.  Soderbergh adapts the same book, in half the length of film, as if it were a short story or novella.  While very little happens in the present moment and shots linger lastingly, the flashbacks of Kelvin's past with his wife are shorter and more abrupt.  This may be intended in the distinction between real-time and the abridgement of memory, but it is also dissonant and lacks a complete awareness of these characters.
       Still, Solaris is a beautiful film to watch and witness.  With so little action going on, our eyes are left to see every nuance in the frame, all of which is perfectly attended to in the photography.  Even the actors, who I have never found to be attractive, are displayed so imperturbably appealing, even in their anger or fear.  Davies is close to being out of place, however.  His aloof Snow is humorous, but unnecessary comic relief for such engaging territory. 
      Maybe it was caused in part by me being tired and ill, but I left the theater lightheaded and extremely conscious, as if I was on some good drugs.  Everything I heard seemed more distinct than usual.  I caught details in my surroundings that I often miss.  My awareness was abnormally acute near the point of scaring me.  Rather than turning the radio on, as I might have any other time, I drove around just listening to every sound I could.  I wanted to take a long way home, appreciating the life and the world as much as possible.  For a movie to bring about this kind of reaction is uniquely gratifying and any flaws that it may have are completely dismissable.

George Clooney wonders if its still "date rape: when your partner isn't technically real.