CriticSociety- film reviews

Review

Fight Club

Director

David Fincher

Year

1999

Rating

Reviewed by

José Ruiloba a.k.a. Morris

Review date

Sunday, October 22, 2000

Controversial. This movie has that word written all over it. Whether it was pointed by some as fascist, by others as pro-violence, there’s just one word I have for all of you: bullshit! This is a movie that has ideas, a movie that is intelligent. In fact, it might be so intelligent that it becomes scary. It is also very realistic, immensely accurate. So why bother trying to put trash on its way? Who knows?

The way I see it, this movie tells the story of a man (Edward Norton), our narrator, who is so tired of living under such a materialist, puppeteer of a world, that he just wants to know how to be a human being all over again. Of course, the way he starts doing that is not common at all. He starts going to reunions where people with sicknesses or addictions meet and by this, he tries to uncover that mask which we all wear all the time. There, he meets Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), a strange woman who suffers just as he does but faces it with quite a different kind of courage. Then, and by coincidence, he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) a man that changes everything in his life. A man so willing to be different and out-spoken that he kind of becomes his mentor, his example. They move together and before any of both can even notice it, they’ve already founded a sort of underground movement called “Fight Club”, where many men go and just bit the hell out of each other.

Of course, the story doesn’t end there, because people are not always what they seem, and many unsuspected things happen along the way. A strange love triangle takes place which defines the entire path of the story. But this movie has a lot more to offer. What it tries to do, and if I may say so, achieves it perfectly, is to satirize a society and a complete race which day by day is leading itself to its own destruction. It doesn’t respect the boundaries, but instead, breaks them all. This guys are not trying to be rebels, they are not trying to promote violence as a way to have fun. In fact, by such a metaphorical way, they try to come out, to be themselves, to say something, to give a message. By the end of the movie, all sorts of crazy and unexpected things have already happened, but still the point is clear.

The movie is not pro-violence, but on the contrary, it condemns it. It isn’t dangerous, but has a point. So anyway, all of this couldn’t have been done as good if it wasn’t for the director, David Fincher, who brings this movie an outstanding kinetic style and a fast pace that is exactly what the story needs.

The performances are, as well, some of the finest of the year. Edward Norton is, as always, excellent and brilliant as a really tormented guy trying to get out of his claustrophobic cell of a life. Helena Bonham Carter is cast here against type and succeeds in bringing to life such a unique character. And finally, Brad Pitt is just unbelievable as Tyler Durden, a character so charismatic that it’ll be difficult to forget him at all.

Full of original shots and with a great soundtrack, this movie emerges itself as a complete winner. It is funny as well as it is thoughtful. With one of the coolest plot twists ever that isn’t merely there for the fun of it, but which has a strong connection to the whole point of the movie. At the end, this picture is as brave as it could be and as brilliant as it can get.

"The first rule of Fight Club is... you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is... you do not talk about Fight Club....."

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