At the end of World War III, the world fell under the control of Father and the Tetragrammaton: a government that outlaws all forms of art and emotion. Citizens are forced to take drugs that eliminate emotions. However, "Sense Offenders": citizens who resist the laws and operate underground are continually at war with the Tetragrammaton. John Preston is a Cleric, an elite super-soldier who's mission is to hunt down and eliminate Sense Offenders with the help of a ruthless police force. One day, Preston accidentally breaks his morning dose of emotion suppressant drug and begins to feel. Soon, he begins sympathizing with the Sense Offenders and begins to understand the beauty of feeling... A beauty that the government, in which Preston spent his life serving, would like to see destroyed.  

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0238380/plotsummary

Impersonation or disguise is represented in Equilibrium through the contrast between the outward expression of the ideals of society with what is intrinsically human. The governing body which speaks of creating a better way to live is in fact degrading the human condition to something resembling a disease.

Humanist values, especially Renaissance Humanist values, perceived the creation and pursuit of beauty to be fundamental in their search for divinity. Their perception of beauty adhered to the classical texts by Greek philosophers, including Vitruvius' works on art and architecture. Classical theories of beauty regarded symmetry in form as being a divine re-interpretation of the chaos that is our world. The order of columns, their articulation and the pure symmetry of temples and temple fronts reflect this aim; to make sense of our world through symmetry and to thereby create beauty.

In Equilibrium a distinct relationship of humanism and classicism in architecture with the overall film. The new city is largely symmetrical and monumental. They are also quite bare, in a fascist type of style. It is fake classicism in that it is without the humanistic aspect completely. The idioms of the new regime that represses all forms and expressions of emotion are of unarticulated forms that oppress rather than celebrate. Ideas of symmetry and classical ideas of humanism are therefore inverted. Symmetry becomes a symbol of dominance and oppression, while fragility and ambiguity become desirable. This is not in complete opposition to the humanistic or classical idea of beauty although the architectural style of the city is a perversion of their ideals.

The director is able to effectively capture through this ambiguity the power of collective thought and the importance of emotion.

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