Fight Club

Based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club is the story of a troubled white-collar corporate worker who meets a mysterious man where the two form a fight club as an outlet for their rage. Directed by David Fincher and screenplay by Jim Uhls, the film is a study of a man becoming discontent with his world as he turns to violence as a way to act out only for things to get more complicated. Starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, Jared Leto, and Meat Loaf Aday. Fight Club is a gripping and intense film from David Fincher.

The film is an exploration of a man whose life as a white-collar corporate worker has made him unhappy until he meets a mysterious man where they form a secret fight club where the two and several other men engaging in fights under a bar. There, they live this life in secrecy where it would eventually morph into something bigger that would make the film’s unnamed protagonist (Edward Norton) uneasy. It’s a film that isn’t just about this growing discontent with a world that has become corporate but also filled with ads and the need to consume products where this man who is also its narrator. It’s also about a man’s reaction where he would get the help of this mysterious man named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) who is this very odd yet intelligent figure that represents this idea of anarchy and nihilism that the narrator needs in a world that has stifled him.

Jim Uhls’ screenplay has this unique approach to not just the narration in how the narrator doesn’t just react to his situation but also deal with the fact that he lives in this ultra-consumerist world which is nearly soul-crushing and also unsatisfying. The first act is about the narrator’s life and how he got himself into these group meetings with people suffering cancer and all sorts of disease where he would also see this woman named Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) doing the same as the two reluctantly make a deal. Singer would be this character that would pop up in the narrator’s life as she would later be integral to the film’s second act as she sleeps around with Durden and then wonder what these two guys are doing. The second act isn’t just about the formation of fight club but also its evolution into something that becomes this haven for men who are disgusted with this ultra-corporate and ultra-consumerist world where they fight as well as antagonize the status quo.

There is also a lot of ambiguity that occurs as it relates to the narrator’s friendship with Durden where it does start off as two men dissatisfied with the ways of the world but Durden is the one who is doing something. It’s that sense of action that intrigues the narrator who needs something as he had lost his home in a fire and starts to act out against his own boss (Zach Grenier). The film’s third act isn’t just about the fight club’s evolution but also in Durden’s view of the world as it evolved into something bigger in an act against the world of capitalism. The result would lead to a lot of things but a view that has made the narrator uneasy as well as deal with these men who had become this community that are all about chaos.

David Fincher’s direction is quite stylish but also very daring for the fact that he’s making a Hollywood studio picture that is about anarchy and anti-corporatism, anti-capitalism, and anti-consumerism. The film opens with Durden putting a gun into the narrator’s mouth as much of the film is told in a reflective narrative of sorts where it plays into the narrator coping with his life and what it had become. Shot on location in Los Angeles, the film plays into this world that is very modern as well as very consumerist where it is overwhelming in how ads and products are being shown to create something that is scary. Fincher’s usage of wide and medium shots help play into the world while he would also create some unique camera angles and movements to play into some of the chaotic elements including the fights.

The fights do have this air of brutality but also a beauty that is presented underneath its ugliness and graphic violence. There are also scenes that are quite surreal as it relates to some sex scenes involving the narrator and Marla where the former isn’t sure if he really had sex with her. One key moment during the second act is where the narrator sees the many jobs that Durden does including being a film projector where there is a moment where the fourth wall is broken. There’s also these little moments early in the film that serves as a sense of foreshadow where there’s a strange object that emerges on a frame as it plays into the narrator’s growing disdain towards his environment. The film’s third act is quite intense but also displays a lot into aspects of surrealism into the world that the narrator is in and what Durden is about to do forcing the two to have a showdown. Overall, Fincher creates a rapturous yet haunting film about a man’s disdain with the world of consumerism and capitalism that forces him to team with another man and form a fight club.

Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth does amazing work with the film‘s very stylized yet somewhat de-colored cinematography the intentionally bland look of the narrator‘s life in his semi-posh condo and the office he works at to the more grimy look for many of the interior/exterior scenes at night as well as the home that he shares with Durden. Editor James Haygood does fantastic work with the editing in not just creating some unique rhythmic cuts and stylish usages of jump-cuts and slow-motion cuts but also in the way these mysterious objects would pop up early in the film. Production designer Alex McDowell, with set decorator Jay Hart and art director Chris Gorack, does brilliant work with the look of the condo that the narrator lived in to the dilapidated and decayed home that Durden lives in as well as the basement in the bar where many of the fights at the fight club happens. Costume designer Michael Kaplan does nice work with the costumes from the bland look of the narrator early in the film to the stylish clothes that Durden and Marla wear to play into their anti-conformist attitude

Special makeup effects supervisor Rob Bottin does excellent work with some of the makeup from the design of the big breasts that one of the narrator‘s friends in Bob sports to look of some of the people that are beaten up at fight club. Visual effects supervisors Kevin Tod Haug and Kevin Mack do superb work with some of the visual effects in not just some of the set dressing but also in some eerie scenes at relates to how soap is made and other surreal moments in the film. Sound designer Ren Klyce and sound editor Richard Hymns do incredible work with the sound in the way some objects sound as well as the atmosphere in the fight club. The film’s music by John King and Mike Simpson, aka the Dust Brothers, is phenomenal for its mixture of drone-heavy electronic music with some industrial and ambient textures to play into the drama and violence while the soundtrack features music from Tom Waits, Marlene Dietrich, and the Pixies.

The casting by Laray Mayfield is wonderful as it features some notable small roles from Zach Grenier as the narrator’s boss, Rachel Singer as a cancer-stricken women at a group meeting, Peter Iacangelo as the bar owner who is from the mob that isn’t keen on having the fight club in his basement, Thom Gossom Jr. as a detective who investigates the arson of the narrator’s apartment, Pat McNamara as the police commissioner, Joon Kim as a convenience store cashier Durden threatens to kill, and Jared Leto in a small yet terrific performance as a fight club member whom Durden takes a liking to late in the film. Meat Loaf Aday is excellent as Bob as a man with massive man-breasts who deals with the loss of his testicles as the narrator befriends him during a meeting as he would also become part of the fight club.

Helena Bonham Carter is fantastic as Marla Singer as a troubled woman who attends to a lot of group meetings for strange reasons as well as be someone who is also an addict as she befriends Durden while somewhat antagonize the narrator. Brad Pitt is remarkable as Tyler Durden as this mysterious soap maker who is the embodiment of complete and absolute anarchy where is he also quite intelligent about the ways of the world and how consumerism has ruined the world as Pitt just owns the part with his charm and the ability to be cool. Finally, there’s Edward Norton in a tremendous performance as this unnamed narrator as this white-collar corporate worker for an automobile corporation who suffers from insomnia and depression who finds himself taking part in a world where he gets into fights and stands up for himself only to deal with the severity of what he and Durden created as it’s a very grounded and visceral performance from Norton.

Fight Club is a magnificent film from David Fincher that features incredible performances from Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter. Featuring an inventive script, dazzling visuals, and an eerie score, the film is truly a dark yet intense film that explores anarchy and nihilism at its most profane. It is also a film that manages to critique this world of corporate and consumerist culture that has take hold of humanity in the worst ways. In the end, Fight Club is an outstanding film from David Fincher.

David Fincher Films: Alien 3 - Se7en - The Game - Panic Room - Zodiac - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - The Social Network - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011 film) - Gone Girl

Related: 15 Essential Videos by David Fincher - The Auteurs #61: David Fincher

© thevoid99 2016

Rescue Dawn

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 11/27/07 w/ Additional Edits.

Based on a true story about Dieter Dengler's escape from a Laos prison during the Vietnam War, Rescue Dawn is a dramatic version of a story that German filmmaker Werner Herzog made back in 1997 in a documentary entitled Little Dieter Needs to Fly about Dengler and his escape. Playing the role of Dieter Dengler is Christian Bale. Also starring Steve Zahn and Jeremy Davies. Rescue Dawn is a thrilling yet engrossing film from Werner Herzog.

It's 1965 at the Gulf of Tonkin as Dieter Dengler and a few pilots are to take part in a classified mission to bomb a secret bases in Laos. For Dieter, it's his first mission as a flight lieutenant as the German-born man has dreamed of flying ever since seeing planes bombing his German village up above back in World War II when he was a child. Just as he arrived into Laos for the bombing, Dieter's plane is suddenly hit and crashes as he wanders around into the jungle. Trying to evade Vietcong troops and Laotian farmers, Dieter eventually gets captured as he endures a series of tortures and such. After being interrogated, Dieter refuses to sign a document that would've guaranteed his freedom as he's sent into a prison in the middle of the jungle.

He meets six prisoners from Air America that included Duane Martin (Steve Zahn), Eugene DeBruin (Jeremy Davies) and four Thai prisoners. After enduring months of imprisonment, Dieter plans an escape but Duane and Eugene tell him that outside the prison is the jungle that's a prison in itself. Despite the harsh times he stayed in the prison, he befriends Duane while making his plans slowly to try and escape. Finally, with the rain season starting to come, Dieter and his fellow prisoners prepare for their escape as they immediately succeed. With Eugene and the Thai prisoners splitting up to escape, Dieter and Duane make their way to the treacherous jungle as they battle a physical, mental, and emotional journey against the harsh world of nature. Yet, Dieter's optimism would be the catalyst for the journey as he hopes to come home.

While most films about the Vietnam War were often filled with grim themes and subject matters that were always cynical. A film like Rescue Dawn proved to be different since it's the story of an individual and his experience as a prisoner-of-war and his escape. For Werner Herzog, it's not a war film but a tribute to a friend whom he profiled back in 1997 for the documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly. While he made dramatic changes for the story, Herzog is really paying tribute to a man whose lack of views about the war is overshadowed by his innocence and optimism that is rarely seen in a lot of war films.

The script by Herzog is told very simply with the first act being about Dieter's plane crash and his journey to prison with the second act being about his imprisonment and eventual escape. The third act is really about Dieter and Duane escaping through the treacherous jungle that becomes a part of Herzog's continuing theme of man vs. nature. While some audiences, particularly Herzog's more art-house film crowd, might complain about the film's ending which was dramatized. The ending works in ways for Herzog to pay tribute to Dengler, who died in 2001, by celebrating him as this great man whose optimism proved to be inspirational. Particularly in a war like the Vietnam War that was always filled with cynicism and unpopular.

The film isn't about the Vietnam War but a man maintaining this sense of optimism and hope in a moment that is harsh and cruel. Through his direction, Herzog goes deep into the jungles of Thailand and all of its landscape including treacherous rivers filled with snakes and such. Still, Herzog is willing to walk into the snake-infested rivers that are also filled with leeches to tell the story. More importantly, Herzog like his main actors was willing to shed pounds for the project in order to gain their trust. Through his observant camera and unconventional style, the film has a bit of cinema verite in conveying the action and drama of the film as if he makes it up along the way just for the story. Overall, Werner Herzog's work in both the writing and directing is his strongest feature-film work to date since 1982's Fitzcarraldo with Klaus Kinski.

Cinematographer Peter Zeitlinger does some amazing, evocative camera work to convey the beauty of the Thailand jungle with little style for a more documentary-like feel that is beautiful. Zeitlinger also uses a lot of hand-held camera for the action and dramatic sequences to maintain the verite style as he and his camera operator would go deep into the rivers and in the rain for the action of what is to come. Editor Joe Bini is superb for its meditative, elliptical style, even in the film's second act to convey the sense of boredom that goes on while a lot of the cutting in the film's plane crash in the first act doesn't fall into traditional, action-film style edits. Bini also uses stock footage from the original Laos bombing to open the film that works to convey when the film is taking place.

Art director Arin "Aoi" Pinijvararak and set decorator Peter Mayer do great work in creating the bamboo prison that Dengler and his fellow prisoners were staying including the houses and such. Costume designer Annie Dunn does great work in creating the look of fighter-pilot clothing as well as their decayed look throughout the entire film. Sound editor Peter Austin does some great work for the film's sound to convey the sense of violence in some scenes as well as the atmosphere of the jungle throughout the film. Music composer Klaus Badelt brings a contemplative, subtle score led by piano to convey the film’s drama without any kind of dramatic arrangements and such for the entire film until the end as Badlet's score is very memorable through and through.

The film's cast is wonderfully assembled with Abhijati "Meuk" Jusakul and Lek Chaiyan Chunsuttiwat as Dengler's fellow Thai prisoners, Francois Chau as the interrogator before Dengler's sent to prison, and as the prison guards, Teerawat Mulvilai, Mr. Yuttana Muenwaja, Mr. Kriangsak Ming-olo, and Somkuan "Kuan" Siroon as the quirky yet violent guards who each have a distinctive personality. Other notable small performances from GQ, Pat Healy, and Toby Huss are great as Dengler's fellow pilots while character actors Zach Grenier and Marshall Bell play Dengler's superiors. Jeremy Davies gives a phenomenal performance as the creepy yet cautious Eugene DeBruin who is hoping for the Americans to save him while not wanting to risk himself into the jungle. Davies' performance is superb for being a cynical, antagonist-of-sorts to Bale's unwavering optimism.

Steve Zahn delivers what has to be one of his best performances to date as Duane Martin. Zahn, known to many for his comedic performances, does bring a bit of humor to his character but his range as a dramatic actor is indeed a revelation. Notably for a man who no longer could take his imprisonment and becomes Dengler's friend in this horrific experience as Zahn captures his despair in the jungles as represents the struggles that soldiers go through as prisoners-of-war. Christian Bale delivers another solid performance that is no doubt inspiring as the late Dieter Dengler. While sporting a North American accent instead of a heavy, German-American accent, Bale proves his range as an innocent, optimistic fighter pilot who isn't wanting to give up. Bale, who is often criticized for his lack of humor, brings some humor to the character while his eerie performance as well as his look shows that he's an actor willing to take risks into any character he plays. It's a performance that will hopefully, won’t be overlooked by the end of the year.

Rescue Dawn is a sobering yet inspiring from Werner Herzog helmed by Christian Bale's exhilarating performance. With a great supporting cast, haunting imagery and locations, it's a film that fans of Herzog will enjoy. While the film would make a great companion piece to Herzog's 1997 documentary Little Dieter Needs to Fly. While it doesn't come close to Herzog's other feature-film classics like Aguirre, the Wrath of God or Fitzcarraldo, Rescue Dawn proves to an unforgettable film that shows that even through dark times and the treacherous jungles that there is hope. For a film that is inspiring and filled with hope, Rescue Dawn is the film to go see.

Werner Herzog Films: Feature Films: (Signs of Life) - (Even the Dwarfs Started Small) - (Fatana Morgana) - Aguirre, the Wrath of God - - (The Enigma of Kasper Hauer) - (Heart of Glass) - Stroszek - Nosferatu, the Vampyre - Woyzeck - Fitzcarraldo - (Where the Green Ants Dream) - Cobra Verde - (Scream of Stone) - (Lessons of Darkness) - (Invincible (2001 film)) - (The Wild Blue Yonder) - (Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans) - (My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?) - Queen of the Desert

Documentaries: (The Flying Doctors of East Africa) - (Handicapped Future) - (Land of Silence and Darkness) - (The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner) - (How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck) - (La Soufrière) - (Huie's Sermon) - (God's Angry Man) - (Ballad of the Little Soldier) - (The Dark Glow of the Mountains) - (Wodaabe – Herdsmen of the Sun) - (Echoes from a Somber Empire) - (Jag Mandir) - (Bells from the Deep) - (The Transformation of the World into Music) - (Death for Five Voices) - (Little Dieter Needs to Fly) - My Best Fiend - - (Wings of Hope) - (Pilgrimage) - (Ten Thousand Years Older) - (Wheel of Time) - (The White Diamond) - Grizzly Man - Encounters at the End of the World - Cave of Forgotten Dreams - (Into the Abyss) - (On Death Row) - From One Second to the Next

© thevoid99 2012