(Fight Club, David Fincher, 1999)WARNING: HERE THERE BE SPOILERS
When Jack and I decided we were going to embark on this adventure we struggled to decide which film from the list we'd watch first. We had no trouble deciding what the last film will be (I won't reveal that now, the information will come when the time is right), but choosing a first was a challenge. I can say that the film we will finish with is one neither of us has seen, so it seemed fitting that the first would be a reviewing of a film we'd both seen. Not long after that decision was made, we settled on Fight Club, an extremely logical choice considering our history with it.
When we began dating we were brought together by a common love for author Chuck Palahniuk, who penned the novel on which Fight Club is based. The special edition DVD of Fight Club was also one of the first gifts Jack ever gave me, and tonight we once again sat down to watch that very copy of the film. It's hard for me to critique Fight Club because of my undying love for it, and I suppose my only real criticism is that the end of the film differs fairly significantly from the end of the book. Ultimately, though, it's not really that big of a criticism because the film couldn't really end any better than it does, and Palahniuk himself has said that Fincher's film is an improvement on his novel. You can't really argue with that.
For those of you not aware of what happens in Fight Club, be warned, because I can't go much farther without revealing the end. I myself had the twist ending spoiled for me by VH1. I knew before seeing the film or reading the book that Tyler Durden was not a real person. Clearly, it didn't affect my deep affection for either work because, in the end, that's not really what it's all about. It's not really clear to me who or what Tyler Durden is, but I've deduced that he lands somewhere between being Edward Norton's imaginary friend and his alter-ego. Whoever he may be, Norton's manic revelation that the man he's been spending all of his time with is actually in his head is one of the most satisfying moments in film.
For a film that centers mainly around guys with daddy issues beating each other up and later blowing things up, Fight Club is shockingly nuanced when it comes to revealing its ultimate secret. Throughout the film, Edward Norton (whose character is never named) and Tyler Durden speak to each other mainly when no one else is around. They are also rarely seen in the same frame unless they are alone. It's only when Norton's character really begins to descend into psychosis and absorb Tyler's personality into his own that they begin to speak to each other while other people are present, thus creating some confusion (for example: in those scenes, is Durden's voice inside Norton's head? Is Norton openly conversing with himself? Is Norton acting as Durden?). The film also incorporates subtle hints that Durden doesn't exist, such as when he and Norton beat up a car, and though Tyler strikes first, the car alarm only goes off after Norton hits it. But it's the final confrontation between the two that really highlights the depth of Norton's madness and the brilliance of the filmmaking.
Norton and Durden fight a spectacular fight in a parking garage that cuts between the "real" view (where both are present), and the view from a security camera (where Norton gives himself the beating of a lifetime). The scene is an intricate dance, brilliantly acted by Edward Norton, who flails around as if someone else is actually clobbering the living daylights out of him. The fight ends when Tyler -- who has begun to show somewhat superhuman abilities -- throws Norton down a flight of stairs and knocks him unconscious. When he wakes up we're back where the movie began: in the top rooms of the same building with Durden holding a gun in Norton's mouth. Finally, Ed Norton fully realizes that Tyler is completely within his own mind and that the gun is actually in his own hand. He ends by shooting himself in the mouth (which is still uncomfortable for me to watch, no matter how many times I've seen it), thereby killing Tyler Durden.
Now, how shooting yourself in the mouth can manage to kill your alternate personality without killing you is way beyond me, but that's not quite the point. What's really significant is Edward Norton's realization that he is in control, and firing the gun is his way to physically manifest that knowledge. Additionally, despite the insanity and the extreme violence, the ending of the film is oddly beautiful, with Norton and Marla Singer (played impeccably by Helena Bonham Carter) holding hands and watching Durden's final act of destruction while The Pixies' Where is My Mind plays in the background.
I've inexplicably reached the end of this post without mentioning the actual fight club aspects of Fight Club, or even mentioning the now infamous rules that Brad Pitt recites at the beginning of every club meeting. I guess it's because, to me, those things are important, but not what make the movie great. For me, it's all about Edward Norton decipher a code that, even after innumerable viewings, I can't even begin to understand.
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What can be said about David Fincher's Fight Club that hasn't already been said? The movie spawned a whole cultural phenomenon that involved young men getting together in basements and back alleys to beat the heck out of one another. They all seemed to take the movie as an endorsement of unbridled violence, and the overwhelming benefits it can have on someone's life. What they failed to remember from the film is that the main character is, while hyper-violent, wracked simultaneously with multiple personality disorder and insomnia. Hardly a hero for our age.
Fight Club was unlike anything I had ever seen when I rented it from my local video store back when I was in 1oth grade. I was used to your average stupid teen-comedy, classic black-and-whites, and just about every other stereotypical genre. I'd heard great things about the movie, and I finally broke down to see what all the fuss was about. The end result was that I'd seen a movie that I liked A LOT, but I couldn't quite place why. I think that's what's kept bringing me back all these times: trying to figure out exactly what Fight Club is.
Along with Pulp Fiction, another inclusion on this list, Fight Club introduced me to an idea that my parents I'm sure would not be too proud of: violence does, in fact, solve problems. Granted, the way it solves those problems can often be counterproductive, but that's beside the point. Fight Club (again like Pulp Fiction) would be just another stupid action/comedy if it weren't for the superb writing, and that's where Fight Club truly clicks. Chuck Palahniuk's novel is simultaneously twisted and hilarious, the kind of laughs that stick in your throat because while you enjoy the gleeful abandon the characters have with their lives, you also realize that they are lashing out against the very things that define our society.
But what really gets me about Fight Club is just how good every single actor is. We've come to expect greatness from Ed Norton, Brad Pitt and Helena Bonham Carter (and they certainly don't disappoint) but the bit players are just as entertaining. Who knew Meat Loaf could act? And even though Jared Leto's biggest scene involves him getting his face getting beaten to mush, he has an innocence about him that is almost palpable when he shucks it off.
Ultimately, however, Fight Club owes everything to director David Fincher. It's not the grittiest thing he's done (see Se7en, Alien 3) nor is it the glossiest (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button). Fight Club occupies this very distinct middle ground, balancing the dirt and grime that Tyler Durden and his Space Monkeys inhabit with the sheen of the corporate world they are rebelling against. Fincher keeps these elements separated right up until the film's climax, when the curtain is pulled back, the blinds are raised, and the audience sees that the two worlds aren't nearly as far apart as we thought.
In short, Fight Club is a gateway drug. It's the marijuana of movies. After seeing this, I (and I know many others) was hooked on the surreal/violent/comedic movie style, and that led to so many more choices. It's the perfect jumping off point to any budding film enthusiast. I guess that's why it's our number 1.
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