Fight Club

Rating: Null/10 (18 May 2011)

In Fight Club, viewers are introduced to the nameless narrator played by Edward Norton, a man who has become numb for the knowledge of his being trapped within a structured, white-collar life. Things take an unexpected turn for the up when he chances to meet Tyler Durden, a mysterious, charismatic, and volatile individual who, with the narrator's help, creates an underground group to which many men begin to congregate like Christians to Sunday mass so to fight against one another in intense, free-form brawls; in short, a "Fight Club." However, the premise of this group is deceptively simple, and what begins as a means of connection and freedom between individuals soon spirals out of control into something much more sinister than the main character could have predicted.
The movie places a heavy emphasis on consumerism, and does not cast the practice in a forgiving light: one scene has the main character detailing the list of items he orders from catalogs, and as he goes about enumerating his purchases the camera pans from left to right, filling out the nooks and crannies of his apartment with items that look as though they belong to the pages of a home decorating magazine. In another scene, the camera slowly retreats from inside a wastebasket, showing along the way discarded wrappers, cans, and various utensils manufactured by large, brand-name companies. In effect, the main character, as well as those men drawn to fight club, have been raised , as Tyler says, to "work jobs we hate so we can buy s*** we don't need."
It is Tyler Durden who points this out to E.N.'s character, telling him: "the things you own end up owning you," and from there on out the narrator is at Tyler's mercy, becoming but one of the many people swayed by his charming antagonism toward larger society.
The cinematography and screen angling help to support his status as icon. All of the men in the film excluding Tyler Durden himself are average looking individuals who appear no different than from someone you might pass on the street. Tyler, in contrast, possesses rugged good looks and an Olympian body, and the film's shots make no attempt to hide this. In one scene, the narrator walks past Tyler having sexual intercourse with Marla (a woman who begins as much of a social vagrant as Edward Norton's character in the beginning before falling for Tyler's charm), and when Tyler pulls open the door to ask him what he is doing we are shown everything from just above his genitals and up; his narrow hips, his rock-like abdominals, his lean and granite-sculpted arms, his broad shoulders and chest.
The lighting of the film is such that at any moment when Tyler's frame is seen, it is done so where the shadows work to the favor of his body's contours; whereas all the other men appear plain and average, everything of Tyler Durden, from his muscle tone, to his face, to his ostentatious clothing, is given room to shine; as such, he appears less like a human and more like a God, and at times, such as in one scene where he flurries his blood-streaked head back and forth like a feral dog, so that great globs of putrid scarlet are flying off his scalp, like a demon.
The music of the film is almost scant; aside from the opening and ending credits, there are few moments in the film where music is a prime factor. The gritty nature of the film almost demands its absence, for many of the scenes are presented in so stark a setting that to pepper the mood with musical notes would only cheapen the effect. However there are some instances where music does indeed make its appearance, such as the scenes wherein the narrator explains to the audience the rapidity with which fight clubs begin to emerge throughout the country. The music at such times is simple yet catchy, and lends itself to the philosophy of the film well: Just because something is not complex does not mean it cannot take hold of you and, whether you realize it or not, drag you along for the ride—even if that ride involves you holding on for dear life, kicking and screaming.