In case the title is no indication, Fight Club is a "guy" movie. Sorry for the support for stereotypes, but I can't put it any other way. And despite being a gal myself, I can see what appeals. It's a cool idea to think about fighting for the sport of it, getting out frustrations, building your toughness in a situation where you aren't judged for wont of it. Fight Club starts off on a very funny, dry note. The main character, who serves as the narrator, is played by Edward Norton, and he is engaging enough to keep us interested in his sad, dull life. He is trying to fix a problem of his: insomnia. He can't sleep for days on end, and he's desperate. A doctor gives him little help, and in response to his pleas to end his suffering, tells him to go visit the local support group for men with testicular cancer to see what real suffering is.
Willing to try anything, he goes, and finds it very therapeutic. He was free, accepted, and encouraged to express emotion. And even better, he started sleeping. So begins the addiction. He starts attending as many support groups as possible, whether they apply to his specific situation or not (mostly not). It seems as though he's found the cure, until someone catches on to his scheme. Her name is Marla, and she's a fraudulent group attender as well. Suddenly his freedom is stifled, and he starts the downward spiral all over again.
And then, he meets Tyler (Brad Pitt). Pitt's character is quite a unique personality, and his free, uncaring attitude towards life attracts Norton. Their lives quickly become intertwined, and after an evening of fighting each other for the heck of it, Fight Club is born.
Now, this is the part of the movie that appeals to most guys. The idea that he could get together with a group of men to practice fighting for the sport of it--almost for the therapy of it. Fighting overtakes their lives, and causes them to see everything differently. They begin sizing people up and thinking about who they could pummel if they got the chance. They go through each day in anticipation for the next fight. Norton is satisfied again.
Then it all goes spiraling out of control, and in the process, it lost me. The first part is very different from the second, and as a viewer I didn't feel as though it worked. Fight Club keeps growing, and those who attend are faithful in their membership. It's a secret society, but inevitably, rumors start. They begin vandalizing public property and terrorizing innocent people. They do have a purpose, and that purpose is to set people free to truly experience life by letting go of things that don't matter. A great idea in theory, but in practice things get more and more sketchy. It all gets very unreal, and it quickly becomes clear that no one knows where the line is, or whether or not it has been crossed. Pitt and Norton become almost dictators to this group, and before long things start to get really ugly. Norton starts to get uncomfortable with everything going on, understandably, and then: the twist. I'm left with half of a movie with great potential.
**SPOILER**
I had actually heard what the twist was a long time before seeing the movie, but as the film unfolded, it seemed less and less possible to me, so I forgot about it. But it still came: we learn that Norton and Tyler are actually the same person. And as I sat there watching, I thought (as I frequently say), "seriously?" I mean, I guess they made it work, but to me it was like one of those kids' toys where you have to put the star-shaped block in the star-shaped hole. It won't fit in the square hole. Director David Fincher hammered it into the square hole.
My biggest question is, why did the film go in this direction? The main guy losing his mind is decent material, but it was totally out of the blue. And...seemingly without greater purpose. We get a very subtle sense throughout the movie that there's more to Tyler than meets the eye, but nothing in the way of identifying him as the other personality of the narrator. Sure, in hindsight you can look back and say "Oooh, I can see why she said that..." but there was no light bulb moment. I guess it was more of an explosion moment.
At first, I thought Fight Club had something to say, a character to redeem, or something. It was headed in good direction. The problem is, in the end, the filmmakers allowed the crazy plot twist to take over and drown out the real point. They, like Tyler, suffered from split personality. Unfortunately, the insane side won.
**END SPOILER**
Rating: 4
What the heck was the second half about?? There were some decently funny parts, involving his boss and where he lives. Norton and Pitt were also great personalities to play these roles. But it started off funny, surprising, intriguing, and purposeful. It ended disturbing, crazy, mutilated, and pointless. Fight Club began as a fresh film, but turned faster than milk on a hot day.
15 comments:
Don't get me wrong, I don't think the film deserves the reputation it has, but I do think you can understand why it's heading the way it's heading given Norton's lifestyle of buying the latest IKEA furniture on a regular basis and working as the person in charge of deciding whether cars are dangerous enough to merit a recall (and I'm only saying that because you had a spoiler there).
I would say the film is about disillusionment and the search for a meaning in a modern man's meaningless life. Since there are many films dealing with this subject, it had to find some way of making itself unique...
Excellent review, WLC. I agree that Fight Club is a really great movie with two pretty big problems, the same ones you mentioned, a second half that loses the audience and too-out-there plot twist. Still, the acting in it is excellent, it's shot very interestingly, and it does manage to tap in to a primal portion of the human psyche. I'd be quite interested to read the book to see how much the film deviates from the source text. Has anyone else read it? If so, can you give us a quick Cliff's note?
on one hand, i like Fight Club. the acting in it is spectacular, the hipness and cool of it is very appealing, and it makes it very easy for me to put myself in the place the movie wants me to be. on the other hand, i don't like Fight Club. it veers way off-course near the middle, and becomes about something it wasn't about when it started. also, it makes some statements, particularly about the male urge and the nature of primal forces, that i frankly just don't agree with. David Fincher has an amazing visual style, but i tend to not like his pessimistic/masochistic outlook on things.
also, it's not a good idea to see the DVD of this on somebody's coffee table and say "ooh, that has Brad Pitt in it! he's cute! i wanna see that!"
I agree with you, PM, about the male urge issues and the glamor the film gives them. However, I think denying these male urges exist is like me looking at the mirror and telling myself I'm not fat; these urges are there, like it or not, a leftover from our reptilian past (just have a look at the crowd in a football game for ample evidence).
I think the great thing about us that sets us apart from the rest of the animals is that we have enough intelligence, we have the capability, to tell these urges where to go. Most of us don't, sadly, and I think that all of us - when put under enough pressure - go back to those urges.
I only bother making this point because I think a lot of the world's problems would be gone if we were able to control these urges. But I'll shut up now.
I'm not saying that Fight Club was entirely without meaning. I just think that it wasn't filmed in a way that really captured the meaning. I was so distracted by Project Mayhem, the violence and the insane turns the plot took that the meaning didn't come through. I mean, his love of IKEA and what his job actually entailed was really miniscule and forgettable in comparison. And honestly, I really don't understand the point of the twist at the end. Maybe this is just me being thick, but I don't see it. I've read other reviews, and people say "In means something!" I just want to know what that meaning is, and why I missed it!
I'll admit that there are some aspects of the movie which put it in the catagory of good filmmaking...however, I tend to be very turned off by films in which I feel uninvited to join the characters in some way. Ironically, Ocean's 13 was the penultimate example of this. It felt like nothing more than a transatlantic party I wasn't invited to. It's ironic because Pitt was in that one too, so I can't help but give him at least partial blame.
Selah.
i don't deny, Moshe, that those urges exist; i just don't think they're entirely male. i've seen lots of women get like that watching football games, including WLC and my own mother. also, i don't think they exist in the exaggerated form that Fight Club testifies. but the real problem that i have with the film is that it seems to say those urges are something to be accepted, used, and maybe even embraced. in general, my experience with those urges says that they're something to be suppressed.
I could write a book about this film, but I'll keep the comments to bare bones. WLC, would it help if I said the film is NOT supposed to be realistic in any way? That it needs to be approached as a kind of satiric fable?
Also, I think this movie has more meaning if you're a white American male who's been poor and underemployed. Not to say that I would love to join Project Mayhem or anything, but there are a lot of sentiments expressed in this film that have a lot of meaning to me.
I fully agree, PM.
And I'll keep my distance from the WLC family entire from now on.
"get like that watching football games..."? Like what, PM? Please explain. I'd love to get an outsider's view of my interest in football.
And YRF, a satiric fable? No, I don't know if that would "help," for a couple of reasons. 1) Are you saying that the movie doesn't mean anything? 2)Where are you getting this, aside from your interpretation of the film? Basically, is this based on a reliable source, such as the director's words about the film?
I'm not trying to be difficult, I just would love to understand what everyone already seems to know.
And yes, YRF, I can definitely see how certain aspects of this film appeal more strongly to a specific population, most likely the one you describe.
let's just say you get very passionate about football, WLC. i get passionate about music, but not in as immediate a sense as you do about football. my mother is a better example for the "male urge" thing, though. sometimes i'll be in the room while she's watching a football game, and i'll be talking to her about something, and she'll interrupt me in mid-sentence by shouting at the top of her lungs "GET HIM, GET HIM!! KILL HIM!! OH COME ON, KILL HIM!!! i'm sorry, what were you saying?" most of you know my mother, so you know this behavior is pretty much the opposite of how she is normally.
i'm sorry if i offended you, WLC. i certainly didn't mean the derision implied with the "get like that when watching football" comment. also, i think you may be trying a little too hard to understand this movie. it's kind of like a bar of soap, to use something from the movie. the harder you grasp, the quicker it slips through your fingers. my suggestion would be to remember that everyone has different interpretations of the same film, and to know that your own isn't any less valid.
No offense taken. And thanks for validating my opinion. :)
What I'm saying is that the surface plot of the film is mostly a vehicle for the ideas it presents, namely a mish-mash of Zen Buddhism, anarchy, Existentialism, and the aforementioned white male "rage", frustration, commercial society, etc.
The comment that I think sums up the movie comes from Ed Norton on one of the commentary tracks of the film in which he says that he thinks the main idea of the film is like Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, where nihilism seems really sexy and cool at first, but isn't really all it's cracked up to be after further examination.
Also, I found Fight Club to be one of the best films in terms of rewarding repeat viewing.The Subliminal Tylers, subtle hints that Jack and Tyler are one and the same, etc. One aspect that multiple viewings of the film reveal is that Marla really isn't that much a whackjob, but becomes more sympathetic. I was pretty burnt out with Fight Club because I've seen it so many times, but this discussion makes me want to watch it again.
PS: The film doesn't necessarily support, or condone ALL of the aforementioned philosophies....in my opinion. Different people will have differing opinions on this, I think.
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