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Fight Club (1999)

Starring Edward Norton, Brad Pitt, Helena Bonham Carter, and Meat Loaf.  Cinematography by Jeff Cronenweth.  Edited by James Haygood.  Produced by Ross Grayson Bell, Cean Chaffin, and Art Linson.  Written by Jim Uhls. Directed by David Fincher.

A twenty-nine year old man, who remains unnamed throughout the film (and is played by Edward Norton), is leading a seemingly perfect life.  Despite his successes, something is missing and he is starting to experience depression. He begins attending various support groups for ailments he does not have in search of the answers.

It seems to help temporarily, but a woman (played by Helena Bonham Carter) who is doing the same thing, ruins his cover. Then along comes Tyler Durden (played by Brad Pitt). Tyler is everything the young man is not; he is loud, obnoxious, and answers to no one.

Together they start fight club, a place where men can get together once a week to blow off some steam. Fight club leads to Project Mayhem with the objective being the destruction of the civilized world, and to fund their undertakings, they make soap.

In Fight Club, Tyler and his buddy work odd jobs to pay the bills.  One was working as projectionists at a movie theater. For amusement, Tyler would splice single frames of pornography into family films.  The audience would not be able to pick up on trick, but would subconsciously realize something wasn’t right.

David Fincher uses this technique in Fight Club as well.  There are five or six single frame shots of Tyler in the film before he is even introduced as a character, and a couple frames of nudity as well, giving it the appearance that Tyler has even tampered with the reel you are watching.  Fincher used a similar technique in Se7en.

Fight Club was released with rash of controversy and was labeled as being “socially irresponsible”.  On the surface the film appears to be bathed in aggressive masculinity and glorified violence.  In the aftermath of the horrifying events that played out at the Columbine High School just a few months before the film’s release, Fight Club looks like it could be a catalyst for further bloodshed. 

What is the film really about, if not fighting?  The majority of coming of age films focus on the later teen years; about the time that a child becomes an adult. Fight Club focuses about a decade down the road.

Our Narrator has the job he was supposed to have, he has the apartment he was supposed to get, he’s purchased all of the home furnishings that he was supposed to buy, and yet he’s not happy. So what does he need? He needs his balls back; he needs Tyler.

The story by Chuck Palahniuk, adapted to the screen by Jim Uhls (with a little help from Andrew Kevin Walker), and put on film by David Fincher, is a satire of the demasculinization of today’s male, who not too long ago needed to hunt and kill for his and his family’s survival.  Fist-fighting may seem barbaric, but it is a good metaphor for masculine behavior.  Anyway, that’s how one man sees it.

Budget: $63,000,000

Total US Gross: $37,023,395

Genre: Black Comedy

Runtime: 139 Minutes

US Release Date: 10/15/99

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Awards:
Academy Awards: 
Nominated for best sound effects editing.

Tagline: Mischief.  Mayhem. Soap.

Quote: “The first rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club. The second rule of fight club is you do not talk about fight club!”