The Most Distubing Movie I have Ever Seen

Rating: 7/10 (19 October 1999)

Slowly the face of film has been changing. I guess it may go back to the structure of Annie Hall and that one little scene that was entirely animated. Recently, the generic structure of films has been changing with the success of both Rushmore and Election; it is obvious that the look of movies is changing. Then comes Fight Club.
If this is what we have in store for the next millenium, count me in. The look alone is worth the $8.25 I paid for this film. From the microscopic, CGI tracking shots through the strange interludes and fantasy sequences, David Fincher took me on a wild ride from which I'm still trying to recover.
The cast all gave brilliant performances. There wasn't one point in the entire film that I thought "hey, that's (stick name of star here)!" They became their character. Even Meat Loaf who has had a string of crap recently is awesome in his role as a testicular cancer patient who is looking for a release from his frustration and anger.
Thus is the point of the film. Fincher paints us a portrait of a group of men who are sick and tired of their lives. Like Kevin Spacey in American Beauty, they are frustrated with their jobs and their bosses and their lives in general. Everyone knows what it's like to be just so stressed out and pissed that you just need to hit something!!! ... and hit something they do. Fight Club gives these men an outlet to let out their aggression in an orderly fashion. They move from Superego to Ego; their fights have rules!!!
Now (SPOILER ALERT!!!!)... this movie does not glorify violence. Once Fight Club becomes out of hand and starts moving into the realm of anarchy, any idiot can see that this is not cool. These men, these Ego figures, become the Id - they essentially become Nazis. They make soap out of humans, they all shave their heads and they are totally dressed in black. I think of fascism. Again, they become tools except now, instead of being tools of society, they are tools of their own collective Id.
The disturbing part of this film is that the line between healthy aggression and unhealthy aggression is so finely drawn. The characters move from one to other so seemlessly that you almost don't even notice it (like the subliminal frames in the movie). In addition, why do you think Edward Norton's character isn't given a name?
Put yourself in his position... that could be you.