Fight Club

If I were to do a list of my 'Top 20 Favourite Movies', it would include some of the movies I have previously reviewed on this blog, such as Leon and V For Vendetta. Well today I'm going to look at another one of my all time favourite films, Fight Club.

Released in 1999 under the direction of acclaimed director David Fincher (The Social Network, Seven) and starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter, Fight Club follows the story of a white collar worker whose life is changed dramatically by violence, rebellion, mayhem and soap. It's one of cinemas finest works, and one of my all time favs.

The movie opens with a rather unsavoury confrontation between our 2 main characters. We then listen to the movies narrator (Norton) recalling how he got to this event. The Narrator (his name in the movie is never mentioned) has chronic insomnia, and leads a monotonous and uneventful life. He begins attending support groups under the false pretence of having various ailments. By venting his emotions within these groups, he is suddenly able to sleep. But when another 'faker', Marla Singer (Carter) begins to attend these groups, the Narrator cannot cry, and once again, loses his ability to sleep.

While returning from one of his many business trips, he meets a man named Tyler Durden (Pitt), a charismatic soap salesman. After their brief encounter, the Narrator gets home to find that his apartment has been destroyed. He calls Tyler, and the 2 meet up in a bar. The Narrator is fascinated by Tyler's philosophies and ideaologies. He thinks that the human race has become a brain-dead rabble of consumers who have no real independence and are driven only by the want of material possessions. After they leave the bar, Tyler makes an unusual proposition:

'I want you to hit me, as hard as you can.'

Before long, the 2 are beating the crap out of one another, with the Narrator feeling that same catharsis that he felt in his support groups.

To introduce other commercial-driven men to the joys of physical violence, our protagonists form  Fight Clubs. Over time this creation develop, with Tyler's desire to bring down the corporations becoming evermore intense.

I won't DARE spoil the ending for you, or the twist, regarded as one of the best in cinema history. As the movie progress we see the development of one of films most complicated relationships, comparable to the likes of Leon. At times our characters seem to be as close as brothers, at others times it's like a huge gaping void has opened up between them. The dialogue is witty, interesting, and at times, very profound. Whether you agree or disagree with Tyler's twisted and often cynical outlook on the modern world and what man has become, there's no denying how well it works in shaping and driving the movies plot, and the motivation of the characters. Carters' Marla Singer is wonderfully crazed, yet shockingly vulnerable, as if the world is crashing down on her, and she is just letting it fall.

I've never been a big fan of glorified violence in films, but in this movie it is actually works. It's integral to the story, and isn't just thrown in for the sake of attracting attention.

Overall, I love this film and all it has to offer. I love the characters, concepts, the way the story develops, and everything we learn along the way. I loved it when I first seen it, and I still love it today. You've almost certainly seen it, but if not, do it now.