Kurt Vonnegut's Harrison Bergeron is a satirical drama chronicling a society in which excellence and achievement are systematically suppressed by a secret government. The film is based on Kurt Vonnegut's short story of the same name, from the short story collection Welcome to the Monkey House.

The story takes place in the year 2053. Following decades of turmoil, violence and a Second American revolution (all perceived to have been caused by envy) a new Constitution has been written which states, in part, "All men are not created equal; it is the duty of government to render them so." Therefore, everybody is made the same--equally mediocre. Citizens are forced to wear electronic headbands which block signals in the brain, thus short-circuiting intelligent thought. Talented athletes are 'handicapped' to limit their abilities, thus levelling the playing field. television, movies and the arts are state-controlled and tailored to the lowest common denominator. In style and mannerism, society looks like it did in the 1950s, when America was thought to have been the happiest.

Against this backdrop we meet Harrison Bergeron (Sean Astin), a young man of enormous passion and intelligence. At school he is admonished for being too too smart and advised to see Dr. Eisenstock (Nigel Bennett) to have his headband increased in intensity to reduce his academic excellence. At the same time, plans progress for his arranged marriage to Alma Starbuck (Natalie Radford), a sweet but intellectually limited girl chosen by the computers to ensure progeny of no more than average intelligence.

The new band does little to overcome Harrison's mental gifts, and he is therefore condemned to mandatory corrective brain surgery to reduce forever his capabilities. On the even of surgery, Harrison is sent by his doctor to a Head House, an intellectual brothel where people of extraordinary abilities go to furtively explore complex area of human thought: philosophy, literature, music and science.

Here, Harrison is introduced to the beautiful, brilliant Phillipa (Miranda de Pencier), a chess player of extraordinary talent who works as one of the 'hostesses'. They engage in a spirited game. Phillipa tries to seduce Harrison into removing his band. When she willfully, and illegally, abandons her own band, a stunned Harrison cannot bring himself to do the same. Moments later, the police raid the establishment and Harrison heroically protects Phillipa from severe penalties by removing his band and placing it on her. Harrison is drugged and taken away.

The following day Harrison awakens, certain that the surgery has already been performed. It has not. he finds himself, instead, in the offices of the National Administration center. Hovering over him are Dr. Eisenstock and the Chief Administrator, John Klaxon (Christopher Plummer). The Head House, Phillipa, the bands, were all a set-up; a test of Harrison's character. He has been under observation for two years as a potential recruit into the clandestine life of the secret ruling elite. He must now decide if he wants to be a part of it. The price for joining is high. he must give up the right to marry and have children. he must never see his family of friends again--in fact, they will be told he died in surgery. The benefits, however, are unrestricted thought, limitless access to culture, and the companionship of the beautiful Phillipa.

Klaxon makes a compelling psychological case for the type of society he has created. He further explains that to run a nation of average people requires enormous skill and intelligence, so that the nation's most gifted thinkers are holed up in a secret underground facility. It is here that all substantive decisions are made--it is this elite that actually runs the country. Faced with the threat of a lobotomy if he goes back, Harrison joins. His first job is in the Communications Department, working to ensure the mediocrity of all television content.

Power has its price, though, and soon Harrison questions his role. Is it really better to try to erase all differences between men and to live in a society in which artistic genius will never be allowed to develop? How can real equality exist if it is based on the unequal privileges of an elite class? How can people learn to love or feel compassion with half a brain?

And then there's Phillipa, with whom Harrison has fallen in love. Without explanation, she leaves the center, but is caught and lobotomized. Klaxon is forced to reveal an awful truth--she is his daughter, a daughter his own rules dictated should never have been allowed to be born. The reason she fled was that she is pregnant with Harrison's child.

An enraged Harrison decides to engineer a Third American revolution. he commandeers the television master control room, barricading himself behind its 15 foot steel walls, and begins to broadcast to the entire nation the kinds of programs citizens have been forbidden to watch; great films, classical theatre, ballet and dance, and superior athletic achievements, all the while encouraging people to take off their bands so that they will fully appreciate what they are watching.

Ultimately, it seems that Harrison's efforts fail. America may prefer the appeal of the lowest common denominator. But a shocking ending leads us to believe that there may be some hope yet for the future.

Copyright 1995 Atlantis Films.