All Pretension, No Punch

Rating: 4/10 (5 March 2000)

Arguably, nihilism in films is best personified by David Fincher, who in only three films has already set his stamp on filmmaking. Of course, we didn't realize this until his second film which is the now classic "Seven." But in retrospect "Seven " was as bleak and despairing as anything done in mainstream cinema, and it was a Hollywood thriller no less. Then came "The Game," a disappointment, but with the intriguing premise of a bottled-up and unemotional man who in the course of his nightmarish "game" learns to live again. "Carpe Diem" a la Kafka. This same premise is put into a societal point of view with "Fight Club."
This is also Fincher's first literary adaptation. "Fight Club" comes to us via the novel written by Chuck Palahniuk. The film relates the story of a successful, yet depressed young man (Edward Norton) who has become an insomniac. He has a swanky apartment, catalog-ordered furniture, and a respectable position in a firm, yet he feels like he is missing out on life. He can't feel emotion anymore. On a whim, he visits a cancer-crisis group and bonds with Bob, played by Meatloaf, who now has breasts because of a rare cancer (insert laughter here). This bonding and emotional intimacy leads to catharsis and release, especially when he weeps between Bob's ample breasts. Not surprisingly, Norton sleeps well.
Things are moving along great. Never mind that he's using these victims as emotional pumps, the point is he feels again. Then comes an uninvited femme fatale played with unabashed scuzziness by Helena Bonham-Carter...and she used to do Merchant-Ivory?
Because of this fellow emotional sponge, Norton must look elsewhere. Enter Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt): Soap salesman and excrement chef who urinates in his customers' soups. These two bond by beating the crap out of each other. "I want you to hit me as hard as you can, " Durden says. Norton obliges by punching his ear.
Soon though, a friendship is formed and Norton loses his pad thanks to a freak fire. Norton stays with Durden and the two continue to pummel each other. Naturallly, other men gravitate. Finally, a club is established in which white-collar, civil, and cultured gentlemen become primal gladiators in a self-imposed ring. The object: Fight so one can feel masculine again.
As with anything purely physical (and make no mistake that is exactly what it is) Durden decides to up the ante a tad and create a full-fledged urban terrorism group. Nihilism by way of Fascism. You see, "Fight Club" is about destroying the modern spineless society so that men can go back to what they truly are, hunters. Only problem is where does one draw the line?
First off, the positive. "Fight Club" is technically brilliant. Audacious and stylistic, Fincher plays with our tale being told by Norton's narrator. So Norton talks directly to the camera, stops the film for a bit of background information on characters, and lets other characters comment as well. Durden explaining his story is hilarious and twisted. The camera swoops into Norton's brain at one point and we take a stroll around his pad even seeing the price for each item. The energy is infectious and the acting by all the principles, especially Norton and Carter are top-notch.
Is there any negative? Yep.
I felt dirty watching this film. I felt the same way when watching "Natural Born Killers." Yes, it was satire as I'm sure "Fight Club" is as well. But the satire seems to be unfocused. What exactly is the point of seeing guys pummel each other and pick fights with innocents? Does Fincher support the premise of violence to save souls or are they all doomed anyway? And I must be getting soft, but there were scenes that grossed me out, specifically the human fat scene (Don't ask). Satire does not work by exaggeration alone; there needs to be purpose. That's something "A Clockwork Orange" had. Yes, it was violent and disturbing. But there was a point to the film. Science cannot curb man's morality nor should it. What does "Fight Club" say, let's all revert back to cavemen? Sorry, not interested.
The ending is just plain dumb. I will not reveal anything, but be prepared for pretension deluxe.
A friend of mine compared this film to "American Beauty" saying that both films dealt with changing one's humdrum existence into a life full of meaning. But "Beauty" had something that "Fight Club" lacked. Humanity. At the end of "Beauty", Lester Burnham thinks he has found purpose in enjoying life again, but he realizes that his life had purpose all along because of his family. Burnham comes full circle. We never get that kind of revelation in "Club." The selfishness in achieving nirvana through nihilism remains and a hollowness remains at the film's center.
Fincher's movies are disturbing, that's just a given. But their saving grace, especially in the case of "Seven," is their imagination and story. "Fight Club" has its imagination as well. However, because of its trite story, I can't say it was a saving anything.