Fincher's best film along with Se7en

Rating: 10/10 (29 June 2012)

"The first rule of Fight Club is you do not talk about Fight Club"
I will go ahead and break the rule and simply talk about Fight Club; the 1999 film that I recently added to my favorite movie list. In my opinion this is one of Fincher's masterpieces along with Se7en. David Fincher has made some great films, but none have ever rivaled his work in the 90's with these two films. Both Se7en and Fight Club are among my favorite films and consider them superior to Fincher's other great recent films like Zodiac, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. Fight Club is an extremely violent film, but I don't think it's gratuitous because the movie really works as a satire and raises several philosophical questions about how enslaved we've become under the capitalist and advertising system, but it also points out the danger of anarchy as well. We've become materialist beings finding our purpose in our possessions and have left out the spiritual part. Sometimes we need to feel pain to remind ourselves that we are alive, and in a way this film works as a highly crafted metaphor. I loved the way the story was presented and how this surrealistic film worked. Based on Chuck Palahniuk's novel of the same name, and adapted for the screen by Jim Uhls, Fight Club is a masterpiece thanks to Fincher's direction and the performance from the excellent cast which includes Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, and Helen Bonham Carter. I really loved this movie from beginning to end, including the twist in the final act. 1999 was the year of great twists considering this is when The Sixth Sense was released as well (my all time favorite film). Fight Club is a must see film for all.
The movie begins with a scene where the narrator (Edward Norton) has a gun forced down his throat by Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), to which the narrator begins to tell the viewer what has led him to this point through voice over narration, and so the film is told in flashback. He takes us back to the days when he was an office worker who experienced severe insomniac problems. The doctor recommended that he visit a support group with men who have suffered from testicular cancer in order for him to really see the pain other people have gone through. Despite not suffering from this condition, the narrator decides to do so and discovers that going to these therapies allows him to finally being able to sleep for the first time in months. After this, he decides to attend a different support group every night and everything seems to go well, until he discovers a manic depressive woman named Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter) who is doing the same thing he's been doing: jumping from one support group to another. Seeing her as an intruder and a liar, the narrator can no longer find peace in the support groups and so his insomniac problems begin again. His life will change dramatically when he meets Tyler Durden, a soap maker, in an airplane and has an interesting conversation with him. They exchange numbers and when the narrator arrives home from the airport he discovers his condo has been blown up. He then decides to call Tyler and ends up moving in with him at an old abandoned complex. The two start a very different support group which they call Fight Club since they have to fight one another. The movement becomes popular and little by little they begin to form a revolutionary movement known as Project Mayhem, but things begin to escalate too fast and dangerously.
Edward Norton appeared in the big movie screen during the 90's and this was when he made his best films (American History X, Primal Fear, The People vs. Larry Flynt, Rounders, and Fight Club), although I would have to argue that his best performances were in American History X and The 25th Hour. However he is still excellent in this film as well. Brad Pitt is at his best playing the sort of chaotic and anarchic character who in some ways is similar to the narrator, but in others very different and more dangerous. He has a strong pull on Norton's character and influences him deeply. Helena Bonham Carter also plays one of her best roles as this sort of manic-depressive character who stands her own ground in this mostly male dominated film. The performance from the cast is one of the best things about Fight Club which works in every level. The visuals and special effects are also fantastic. It is a dark film with a lot of violence mixed with satire that had me laughing quite a bit. I absolutely loved this movie and the ending was just brilliant.
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