Fight Club

Fight Club



I'm scared about reviewing this, my favourite film, because nothing I say can do it justice. My words can't tell you how brilliant this film is.

Edward Norton's Nameless Narrator has everything a young aspiring white-collar worker needs; the plush Condo, the ikea furniture, The rewarding job. But, something is inherently missing. There is no substance beneath the surface. In an attempt to fight his relentless insomnia Norton starts attending support groups for Lukemia and other life-threatening diseases. It's here that he learns to let go of all his yuppy concerns in the face of their real concerns. 'Babies don't sleep this good'.
This works until another 'Faker' appears at the groups in the form of Marla Singer(Helena-bonham Carter). Norton can't attain the same level of escape if he sees another faker there; she reflects his lie.

It's only when he meets enigmatic soap-sales man Tyler Durden(Brad Pitt) that he finds a true source of escape, Bare-knuckle fighting. Tyler leads Norton on a downward spiral to full spiritual freedom telling him that "the things we own, end up owning us." and "It's only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything."
Together they create Fight Club; a bare-knuckle boxing circuit where angry young men come and vent their primal male agrression. Unused in this world of sexual equality.

Most people will have seen this by now and will, no doubt, know the final twist at the end, but I don't want to spoil it for the few that haven't. Suffice to say the revelation at the end was the first of its kind and has been copied to the point of ridicule. It even slightly detracts from repeat viewings of Fight club itself. Slightly.

The dark, surreal tone to the film gives it an ironic feel; not to be taken too seriously. But, for me, the irony was wasted.

The film has a particular resonance for me(probably most men) when I'm trailing my girlfriend around Ikea or shoe shops. Standing nodding deferentially at lamp-shades or rugs or the colour of her new shoes. In a consumer society this is commonplace and I can't deny that I enjoy buying things for myself, but when you think about man as a hunter-gatherer then consumerism goes against his very being.
He shouldn't just have to pick things out of a selection, he should have to cut down the tree and make it himself. We're like tigers in a zoo, gradually losing our hunting abilities. This film, for me, grabs men buy the scruff of the neck and screams "look at what you've become".

The Fight Club's develop into a huge organized underground movement intent on destroying the consumerist culture by destroying all the credit companies and taking us all back to zero debt. Who can't familiarise with that? Durden envisages a future where we live off the land once again, unconcerned about how we look or the latest fashions. A simple life.
If only there were such a movement, it would have me amongst its number.

A film that spoke to me and shaped my perceptions on life.

Verdict 10 /10
No words to sum it up