Another Columbus

Rating: 6/10 (4 December 2006)

Oh yes, this film discovered America - or the "America" of consumerism which makes the soul and people's dreams die. Real nice. Except it was not the first movie to do so. It sure became more popular than the rest, perhaps because of the spectacular fighting scenes. I agree with others that here fighting is not per se; however, we see way much more of it than needed to bring the message home. No, let's face it: all the fighting scenes (and the half-naked shots of Brad Pitt) were included to sell the movie.
There are certainly good things about it - my six stars mainly go to the acting, both Edward Norton and Brad Pitt, but also my rarely-seen favorite Meat Loaf. His character, and in fact the whole beginning of the film is really creative. The problem is, towards the end it gets too creative - the twist of the story is downright stupid, and not exactly credible looking back. To me it feels like they had to find a solution and couldn't think of a better one. It was not even a new idea - Oscar Wilde used it, to mention just one.
As for the message of the film: what disturbed me most was its stereotypical, traditional masculinity. The idea that there is some innate violence in men (not women - they are hardly present, except for sex objects or dying cancer patients), and this is supposedly a good thing, a way to escape being controlled by the System. Also, the popular (but false) belief that you can get rid of your tension/aggression by expressing it in, for example, fighting sports (whereas research shows that violence raises adrenalin levels and leads to more aggressivity). It (re?-)creates a myth of masculinity, where "real" men are fighters who torture themselves and each other; men who have emotions and even express them are so feminine they even have breasts. I see some danger in this movie becoming a cult film.
What I did learn from this film: I think it gives some insight into how people can be recruited to support an oppressive, destructive system, such as in Nazi Germany. The way the terrorist brigade evolving from the Fight Club functions is a pretty credible image of this process. I just dare to hope Fight Club-fans find this, though enlightening, just as scary as I did.