Fight Club
How do you begin to talk about a film like Fight Club? There is no doubt that it is a cult-classic film for many movie fans everywhere. More impressively, it is another film that can be categorized within the action genre that involves fighting, but that brings its own unique talents to the table. Even if it may not be spoken with great regularity, movie fans want to see films that are unique and different. This is especially true with films of a particular genre like action films. How long can you witness gun shootings and explosions before you ask for more popcorn? In other words, it takes a lot talent, and a great story to keep you on the edge of your seat. Get your popcorn ready to follow this film from start to finish so that you do not get eliminated in the fight club.
One of the characteristics of films that do not get enough credit are the titles of them. Whether they are short and sweet, or long and detailed, movie titles have a lot to do with your first impressions of films. It is always interesting to see if by the end of the film, did your impressions remain true or where they completely wrong? In either scenario, the movie title served its purpose by intriguing your mind take make certain assumptions about the film. Those assumptions either lead you to see the film, or avoid it. In this instance we have the title of fight club. You can almost picture a club or group of people who make a living fighting, or a club of members who fight for something else when you hear the words fight club. While these initial impressions may be true, it would be bad directing if they were to remain true throughout the film. Without a surprise or unexpected change, it is difficult to keep your interest up throughout the movie.
Just from experience, we can all say that violence does not solve your problems. It take a different approach in film. Especially when you look at films that want to pull you into the world of their characters, it is an escape from reality that is very appealing. The rules are not the same, the people are not the same, and more importantly, you are not the same person. Your fantasies come to life in that experience, and you find yourself lost in all the action and suspense of the movie. This is the type of film where you can look at physical fighting and say that it will not solve my problems, but it can help me to be stronger physically and mentally. Perhaps you find it easier to figuratively fight your problems as you try to overcome them. It feels a lot better to knock them out of your life and move forward. That does not mean that you will not encounter more problems, because you will. However, you learn to be more disciplined and get stronger as you go from problem to problem.
Perhaps more impressive than the visual details and action of this film, is its narration and writing. The inclusion of a narrator can always help to offer you perspective on how to see a film. You may have your own, but to see and accept the perspective of the narrator is a different story. Narration in film requires a lot of detail, and in this instance, humor. You do not need to produce a comedy film to bring humor into the movie. Humor just happens to make the viewing pleasure that much more fun when you incorporate it into the narration, and into the idiotic behaviors of film protagonists. Humor challenges you to look at the film with different eyes because you may suddenly see yourself when you look at the main character. Then you have the writing and dialogue of the film. The action, drama, humor, and suspense all revolve around a brilliant script and dialogue between the characters. Regardless of the genre, dialogue makes films even greater, and it has the ability to pull you into the film because of how you can relate to the characters through reality or fantasy.
There are films where you can simply sit down to see them and relax; let everything unfold before you and cheer of how fun the experience was. This is not one of those films. Director David Fincher who already has Se7en, Zodiac, and this year, The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo to his credit, brings another physically brutal, yet psychologically challenging film. Brad Pitt and Ed Norton lead a great cast with an amazing supporting role by Helena Bonham-Carter. If there are movies that make up a must-see list of American films, this is one of them. A physically piercing, but mentally challenging film that you will enjoy.