Equilibrium (film) - Production

Production

Most of the filming used locations in Berlin, due to its unique mixture of fascist and modern architecture. According to the visual effects supervisor Tim McGovern who worked alongside Kurt Wimmer, the fascist architecture was chosen "to make the individual feel small and insignificant so the government seems more powerful." In addition, the modern architecture that is also found in Berlin emphasizes the futuristic and stolid appearance of the city state of Libria. Moreover, while the city state of Libria has thick walls represented by an abandoned fortress-like East German military base, the exterior of the city is filmed in the decrepit neighborhoods of East Germany, where many of the surviving rebels reside. In addition to the geographic location, a few European art directors also made substantial contributions to the production.

Equilibrium's locations include:

• Olympic Stadium (Berlin), built for the 1936 Summer Olympics.
• Deutschlandhalle, also built for the 1936 Summer Olympics.
• Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
• Berlin Tempelhof Airport, which was built before the Nazi era, but completed during and carries lots of the Nazi trademark architecture World War II.
• The modern subway station under the Reichstag Building, as well as the long tunnels: Berlin U-Bahn.
• The decrepit East German neighborhoods, as well as an abandoned massive East German military base.
• The EUR, Rome fascist district, built by Mussolini.

Although a science-fiction movie, Wimmer intentionally avoided using futuristic technology that can become obsolete, and he also decided to set his story in an indeterminate future. “I wanted to create more of an alternate reality than get caught up in the gadgetry of science fiction,” he explains. “In fact, there’s no technology in Equilibrium that doesn’t already exist. It’s more like a parallel universe, the perfect setting for a parable.”