Why Haven't I Seen That?: FIGHT CLUB

Welcome to a new installment of WHY HAVEN'T I SEEN THAT?, where we talk about a must-see or iconic movie that we have never seen...until now. This week we take a look at the David Fincher classic...FIGHT CLUB.  Enjoy.

After being berated and told for the last two years that I can’t be a self respecting film lover if I had never seen Fight Club, I finally sat down one evening to watch the David Fincher piece that has had people raving for nearly 20 years.

The story that carries throughout is an interesting—albeit nihilistic—piece that is the true hero of the film. Watching The Narrator (Edward Norton) go through serious depression is one that becomes empathetic in nature, and finding Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) is reminiscent to people who have struggled with depression as they find someone that helps them find a way out of where they are struggling. From there its a downhill spiral. The Fight Club forms and a terrorist plot is underway to release themselves from the tyranny of the corporate world. The twist (spoiler) of Tyler actually being The Narrator in his subconscious isn’t terribly surprising—the movie was kind of begging us to realize this early on in the film. Overall, however, the story is what really drives this movie. While I enjoyed the story, it was very depressing to watch because of its desperate nihilism. 

Fight Club’s cinematography was very solid as well. The lighting really set a tone that followed the film’s story. The darkness created a mood that allowed the viewer to get into the psyche of the film, and the shaky cam made you feel part of the fights that were occurring in the basement of the bar that they were occurring. The technique of doing single frames with Tyler in them also was inspirational to many other future filmmakers as a means of editing and story telling intersecting.

Overall, I enjoyed this film, but I found it way too depressing. It kind of sent me into a spiral myself as I was thinking about what to write. It made me both appreciate and hate the movie, because it was powerful enough to make me feel things, and yet I hated the way it made me feel.

Wesley's Score: 8/10

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