Fight Club

“It’s only after you’ve lost everything that you’re free to do anything.”

- Brad Pitt, Fight Club

Any filmmaker or screenwriter will tell you that the goal of any film is to make you think. They want you to think about anything that the movie touches on, the plot, the plot twists, the theme of the film, the main characters, whatever. In my opinion, while making you think is a great trait for a film to have, the most important trait is rewatchability. Because of the story and plot of Fight Club, this aspect of filmmaking is beautifully exploited.

Based on the novel of the same name by Chuck Palahnuik, Fight Club is actually a simple story to boil down. It stars Edward Norton (my personal favorite actor) as the unnamed Narrator, who struggles with insomnia. This leads him to attend support groups for people with diseases, sporting fake names like Rupert, Travis and Cornelius. It is there he meets Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter). She too is a faker, going to the groups because “it’s cheaper than a movie and there’s free coffee”. Since he’s in the presence of another faker who can expose his lie, he can’t sleep once again. On a plane during a business trip, he finds himself seated next to Tyler Durden, a slippery soap salesman with a mind for useless knowledge (like how to make homemade dynamite from household items). Through an explosion at his condominium, the Narrator ends up shacking up with Tyler. There, they realize they receive some peace and gratification from fighting. They form a fight club, and it grows in popularity. So much so that Fight Club gets out of hand and becomes Project Mayhem, a terrorist organization run by Tyler himself. The Narrator finds himself as a spectator and becomes angry at Tyler. While trying to stop project mayhem, The Narrator realizes the situation between he and Tyler is way more serious than he thought and has much more work to do to fix things.

This movie is famous for its plot twist. Many people call it a twist ending, but if you think about it, it’s really not. It’s a twist, no doubt about it. But it’s not the ending. Once the audience finds out the twist, too much happens afterward to consider this twist the ending. Still, if you haven’t read the book, the twist can be blindsiding. Because of this twist, the movie has numerous re-watches to its life. You’re constantly picking up clues and nuances you never saw the last time you saw the film. Another great thing about this movie is the whole philosophy of it. The movie is filled with philosophical statements that really do make sense and aren’t being said for effect of having quotable lines in a movie. For instance, the quote at the top is my second favorite movie quote I’ve ever heard. There is also a whole scene where Tyler is “initiating”, shall we say, the Narrator into Project Mayhem with a dash of lye. He goes on this entire speech and makes a parallel between their fathers and God that really does make sense. Tyler is saying throughout the film that worldly possessions and luxury items do not need to define the individual. To me, the house the two live in is a perfect example of this. It’s a run down, dilapidated shack. This symbolizes the bare essentials, the very least a person needs to survive.

Being in the process of reading the novel myself, I was surprised at how faithful the movie is to the book. I obviously saw the movie first so I’m able to pick out the lines in the movie while I read it. Much of the narration in the film is made up of the prose and imagery in the book, and rightly so. Speaking of the narration, I have to point out how perfectly executed it is. The narration in the film is so boring. Edward Norton’s pitch perfect, droll, monotone voice hits the nail right on the head. The character has a droll, tedious life so it’s perfect. If you were being read a story made up solely of this narration, it would put you to sleep. But, in the context of the film, it works. It’s one of the few times an actor can put absolutely zero emotion into his voice-overs and actually be successful because of the method of story-telling the film employs. Brad Pitt perfectly contrasts Edward Norton’s monotony with his spontaneous and mischievous portrayal of the slippery and resourceful Tyler Durden.

The film is shot fairly nicely. It really isn’t much to brag about. Films that are based on novels are more plot driven than anything else. I’m no director, so I could be wrong but the film isn’t very special in terms of visuals. The greatness of this film lies in the plot and story more than the visual presentation of the plot and story. If you have a good story, as this film does, you really don’t need to try that hard to make it translate well to film. I don’t mean to knock David Fincher, he did a great job with the story he had, but I wasn’t blown away. The talent of the cast brings a great story to life, which is more than enough to make the movie great and really cancels out the need for mind-blowing visuals.

Even though the film is two and a half hours long almost, it does what every good movie does. It grows. It escalates. The movie builds to a crescendo which keeps the viewer guessing and wanting to figure out exactly what’s happening to Fight Club and how it became Project Mayhem, and just how to stop it. The re-watch factor plays heavily into why this movie is considered by many to be a masterpiece. Four out of five stars. If you like plot driven thrillers with action thrown in at the exact right times with tension throughout, then watch this movie. Watch this movie anyway, but if any of the aforementioned description tickles your fancy, then it’s a must see.

Next week: Memento