Fight Club....

[fajrdrako]

I'm about to go to bed, as I've been up since 5 a.m. and I'm getting very bleary. (I still have to meditate, too. And tomorrow will be busy.)

I spent the evening watching Fight Club. Movie from 1999 with Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helena Bonham Carter.

No wonder I had no idea what the movie was about, from the descriptions I'd heard from people who had seen the thing. It is almost indescribable - for one thing, almost anything one could say about what it's actually about would be a spoiler. It reminded me of Memento, and The Sixth Sense and even Brazil.

It's about paranoia and primal urges versus the frustrations of the consumer society. It's about the defences the psyche puts up against frustration, fear and apathy. It's about survival and destructive drives and the meaning of life and perception and - well, I could get more and more symbolic in my description and it still wouldn't mean much of anything.





Did I like it? Well, I found it fascinating. Brilliantly acted. Diabolically clever. I couldn't anticipate what was about to happen from moment to moment, not until the very end; and even that, I am mulling over in my head regarding what happend and why. A lot of scenes made me laugh out loud in appreciation - not genuine humour, but surprise, and being impressed by how witty and clever the twists were.

That doesn't answer whether I liked it. Yes and no. I was certainly glad I watched it, but the pleasure was mixed. It wasn't exactly a sit-back-and-enjoy sort of movie. I wasn't bored - it was way too stimulating, if anything - but I also thought it was a little longer than it needed to be; about two thirds of the way through, I was getting impatient with it, especially when certain twists of plot and theme were becoming clear.

I'd like to read some commentaries on it.

Brilliant cinematography right from the beginning. Amazing concept, on several levels.

Comments

[dargie.livejournal.com]

I had exactly the same response!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes. If nothing else, it was thought-provoking?

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

I've never watched it. Mainly because I thought it was just a movie about fight clubs. Which is a phenomenon I find distasteful. Brad Pitt, hmmm... put this one on my list to watch, I think. Thanks for the tips!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

What is a fight club? I know what it is in the movie, but the movie is fiction.

Watch it when you're feeling brave.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

A fight club is a usually-loosely-organized group of guys, usually young, focused on the purpose of pairing off and beating the crap out of each other. For fun. Like boxing, but with no rules. I don't know if they sprang up after the movie came out, or if the movie was done because someone found out about fight clubs and wanted to cash in on their strange allure. Fight clubs serve the god of Young Macho Dick-headedness, as far as I can tell. Is that what was in the movie?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Uh - close enough. That's what it was in theory in the movie, though what anything actually *is* in the movie tends to shift and twist as the movie continues so it's difficult to say anything in the movie is a certain way; it's elusive. That's why I thought clarification of the concept would be a good idea.

[judymoe.livejournal.com]

I avoided it for the longest time, because I paid attention to the ads for it, which completely mislead you about the plot. Then again, like you say, you can't really talk about the plot much.

"Enjoy" isn't the right word, but I own the DVD, and like watching it. Though it's really not a 'casual-view-for-fun' kinda thing.

The first time I saw it, I was watching on a tiny t.v., and missed several visual flashes that would have clued me in earlier (I'm sure you know what I mean, but I don't want to say it for those who haven't seen it). When I saw it again on a larger television, I LOVED those clues.

It's definitely worth multiple viewings to take it all in.

(BTW, this is Taylor, from the Chicago LotR bunch. Hi!)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Taylor! Terrific to see you here! I friended you, happily - hope that's okay.

No, not for casual viewing, but a very strong, impactful movies. A very unsettling movie. Scary in ways you wouldn't expect, but delivered with a deceptively gentle scalpel.

About the 'slashses" - yes! On first viewing (before understanding) they were confusing. Then they made such sense. So to speak. The plot was being telegraphed but we didn't know how to interpret it.