Visceral, Film Studies Fodder

Rating: 9/10 (12 January 2015)

I've probably seen this film more times than any other, having studied it on two separate film studies courses. The plot is so well written, that whether it actually makes perfect sense isn't really relevant, it's completely absorbing. Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter all do fantastically well here, especially as they interact with each other. The film in it's entirety is uncomfortable, the fights themselves are filmed in a brutal, uncompromising way, but scenes where characters simply talk can be enough to make you squirm.
This is visceral film making. It's nasty, it's scrappy, it's stylistically inconsistent. Morally it's a mind bender, with numerous theories as to where the director is coming from here. You'll want to watch this multiple times to get a complete understanding of what's happening, and where you stand.
This is far braver than any of Fincher's other films, and it's also far more all over the place, and I love it for that. Fight Club gets under your skin, and it does it through the strange structure and atmosphere, and that's a powerful approach to film making, one that's rarely attempted and even more rarely pulled off.