A memorable, iconoclastic, disturbing film

Rating: 7/10 (21 September 2012)

'Fight Club' is a memorable, iconoclastic, disturbing film. Director David Fincher's visual style is really on display here - he has an exceptionally good eye, and the film is not only thematically dark but also quite dark visually. The visual darkness of this movie recalls Fincher's earlier film 'Se7en', which also starred Fincher regular Brad Pitt.
The Narrator (who remains unnamed throughout the course of the film but who is played by Edward Norton in a wonderfully neurotic performance) is an insomniac office worker who feels as though he is a slave to corporate ideals and senses that his humdrum life has no meaning. Things change drastically via a chance meeting with an anarchist soap salesman named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). Together, the two men channel their latent male aggression by forming a primal 'fight club' which meets on a regular basis in the dank basement of a seedy bar named Lou's Tavern. This cabalistic club invites fellow frustrated angry young men to find catharsis by fighting each other and rediscovering their baser instincts. But Tyler has an even more ambitious agenda in mind...
This film, while highly recommended, is definitely not for the squeamish. Special makeup effects genius Rob Bottin provides some very graphic makeups and, while the film is about a lot more than just violence, there are some pretty horrifying moments. The violence depicted here is stomach-churning and horrific, and this is precisely how violence SHOULD be presented on screen. This is, after all, what real violence is like.
'Fight Club' has become a cult classic and rewards repeat viewings. The source material - Chuck Palahniuk's 1996 novel - is an excellent read shot through with a dark vein of black humour. Returning to the film, particular mention should go to British actress Helena Bonham Carter, who is wonderful as the bonkers Marla Singer, a suicidal woman who is sucked into Tyler's world. Carter made her name in period pieces like 'A Room With a View' and 'Howards End' so it is exciting to see her play a very different role here. And she has great fun with it.
I sense that 'Fight Club' is going to live for a long, long time. For a mainstream film, it is intelligent, vital, and has a great deal to say about modern society and the way we live our lives.