Gaining insight about fight club

Rating: Null/10 (6 July 2001)

`Fight club' is a tantalising chronicle of a sad, yet dedicated personal fate. However, little is to find in the reviews about the personal qualities of the `hero', the Narrator. This enigmatic film has been read as a criticism of contemporary unimpeded consumerism or a problematisation of the cathartic benefits of violence. In the mind of a psychiatrist, however, the film turns out totally different. Those who want to see the film with a fresh eye of their own should probably stop reading here, since this comment may serve as a `spoiler' to some.
Somewhere in the film, the spectator realises that some things we see represent a pseudo-reality, distorted in the Narrator's mind. The film does not tell us, however, where to draw the line between reality and fantasy (and this is essential for my perception of the film). Exactly this, a blurred boundary between reality and fantasy (delusions, hallucinations), is the hallmark of psychosis, e.g. schizophrenia. When it strikes you that some of the things you see are mere delusions, and you reconsider the entire plot, it becomes clear that this film is not at all an outrageously twisted fable, but rather a reasonably realistic psychiatric case report. The course is typical of a psychotic break-through in an individual suffering from schizophrenia. In `Fight club', however, the director coerces his audience to experience the `psychotic reality' from within, thus differing from most clinical literature (this also accounts for difficulties to come to terms with the film, experienced by many). When you observe a psychotic individual from the outside, you can always cling to reference points in your own reality. This is not the case in `Fight club' (except for the scenes on supervision monitor), where the spectator is mesmerised into a violent maelstrom, approaching psychotic perception.
A few points to support this interpretation: Schizophrenia is usually heralded by a prodromal phase (before the `schizophrenia proper' sets off) that may include insomnia and confusion of identity. Joining sup-port groups for ailments he doesn't suffer from and having difficulties to separate his own apartment from that of IKEA commercials are typical examples. Since Tyler Durden is an imaginary person, his gradual incarnation make sense, but this also implicates that probably all the Fight club-activities are imaginary; fights of the same kind as the Narrator's boss came to witness. At this stage, when a set of delusions and hallucinations are fixed, a nod of the head or a few commonplace words from some strangers may suffice to convince the psychotic mind that they are part of the plot, i.e. they corroborate his delusions. In the end, struck by truth like Oedipus, the Narrator says: `You are just a voice in my head!' Persistent hallucinated voices, commenting on the individual's actions are a cardinal symptom of schizophrenia. This present, little doubt about the diagnosis remains. In schizophrenia, violence and destructiveness directed outwards or inwards are common, often commanded by `the voices'.
Thus, `Fight club' provides a highly imaginative enquiry into the nature of psychosis that, as far as I know, is unprecedented in film history. `The sacrifice' by Tarkovskij, has some of this, but also more anchors to `ordinary reality'.
The title `Fight club' probably does not attract the audience this film deserves. The film may prove valuable in psychiatric education.