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First rule of Fight Club, you do
not talk about Fight Club, Second rule of Fight Club, you do not
talk about Fight Club.
If you have been to a David
Fincher's movie before, this show is a continuation of the exemplary
directing of "Seven" and "The Game". The Fight Club is
a rare film that challenges the viewer to come up with his own interpretations
especially the fact that the show seems to follow that of an MTV clip.
It depicted a typical working person,
known in the show as narrator(Edward Norton) who live life as that of any
other person we know. He suffered from insomnia and achieve solace
with the many self help groups he attended( even though he doesn't have
the sickness or problem). In came Marla Singer( Helena Bontam
Carter) who have been gatecrashing into his "self help group
meetings" and disrupt his search for peace and sleep. His life
made a turnabout when he meet Tyler Durden( Brad Pitt), a supposedly soap
maker, a humourous, clever person who does not bother himself with the
"regulations' of society. With him, in an almost juvenile way,
they invented fight club, a no hold barred fighting fiesta where
barebodied men indulged themselves in a purposeless fight. It may
seem purposeless but it does provide the people a sense of delusion and
escape in an exhibition of pure brawn. Only when thing seems to get
out of control did the narrator, realise what was going on with him and
his life......
Faithfully following Chuck Palahniuk's acerbic satire, Fight Club presents the vast
emptiness of modern existence- ridden as it is with shallow values, rampant
consumerism, empty of meaning, feeling and life itself- in a slick and ironically consumer
oriented fashion. In a different vein from American Beauty, Fight Club explores the
solutions to the veritable sleepwalking existence that plagues modern life.
It is especially relevant to city-dwellers like us as represented by the
narrator starred by Edward Norton. The most hearttugging line which I feel
was the one when the narrator mentioned that when he saw the new coffee
table on the newest home-decoration book, he must have it. It is as
though people now live not for the purpose of living but for the purpose
of good living. Isn't this a reflection what we are in Singapore?
The film is violent, but it is not gratuitous violence, and any reviewer who claims that the film is
promoting violence has missed the entire point of the film. A very black comedy, it is
sure to provoke much conversation- it is definitely a film to see with friends. The film is
fast-paced, densely packed and merits a second viewing, just to take it all in, especially
if you haven't read the book.
In characteristic Fincher style,
the cinematography choose to put appropriate zooms on angles unspectacular
yet refreshing. Notice the zoom on the telephone numbers and the
slow motion video tour on the gas cooker to the refrigerator, it is
vintage cinematography unseen in recent Hollywood flick. Indeed a
movie kaki which saw the movie, draw the comparison with another movie,
"Blown Away" starring Jeff Bridges, which used the same effect
to create a moment of tension and anticipation on the part of the
audience.
In typical Fincher style, you, the viewer are left to draw
your own conclusions. He feels no impetus to tell you how to interpret what you've
seen, appropriate since the film condemns falling victim to the strictures of what society
tells us to think and to value. Although personally I felt that the
ending is too open ended for a show of that high quality. My other criticism is that the editing is not as tight as it
could be in the middle section of the film, the pace somehow drags just a bit then picks up again. Other
than that, it should definitely be an Oscar contender. Or will it?
"A" A
Sai
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Norton: Are you sure the chemistry teacher told
you that those two are supposed to be mix together?
Norton: Hm.. Thai massage never work so well for
me. Maybe Osim should try to invent something like this...
Batman and Robin in an attempt to steal the
prints for the Blair Witch Project". You will need this to raise
the box office of shows such as The Fight Club.
The sequel for "Saturday Night
Fever" never get on the way when Brad insist on wearing the red
jacket for good luck
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