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1999: Fight Club
1999 is my all time favourite year for film, with many great movies released. David Fincher's brilliant social commentary on male aggression remains my #1 for 1999, but it had some close competition. Other runner-ups were Toy Story 2, my 2nd favourite animated film ever, American Beauty, which featured Kevin Spacey's career best performance, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, which remains the best of the prequel trilogy, The Wachowski Brother's mind-blowing The Matrix, M. Night's fantastic chiller The Sixth Sense, Spike Jonze' head trip Being John Malkovich, clever satire Office Space, Tim Burton's dark Sleepy Hollow and the best of the trilogy, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. I have not yet seen Magnolia (although I do want to), Arlington Road or Three Kings. All in all, a fantastic year for film.
The young, unnamed narrator works at a car company and is having trouble trying to sleep. He is advised to go to support groups to see "what real pain looks like". The narrator takes this advice and sits in at testicular cancer support group. While there, he lets himself go and crys. This opening up helps him sleep. The narrator starts going to all support groups to help him sleep, until a tourist named Marla Singer shows up. She's not plagued with any sicknesses or diseases. She's just a big tourist. With the presence of Marla, he can't sleep.
While on a business trip, the narrator meets a man named Tyler Durden on the plane. Tyler is a rebellious soap-maker and the two engage in conversation. Tyler gives him his phone number. When the narrator returns from his trip, he finds his condo has been destroyed by an explosion. Finding himself with nowhere to go, the narrator calls Tyler. They meet at a bar and Tyler allows the narrator to stay with him, but on one condition... the narrator has to hit him as hard as he can.
The fighting proves popular with other local men and Tyler and the narrator start a secret Fight Club. Fight Club is meant to be a place where men can let out aggression and feel power. But soon it evolves into Tyler's secret agenda and Marla Singer comes into the mix...
Fight Club perfectly conveys themes of aggression, power and eventually, fascism. David Fincher has described it as "a coming of age film, but for people in their '30's." Fight Club contains one of the best screenplays ever written, fusing power philosophy and black humour, with some of the greatest instances of comedy ever put on film. The scene that most notably stood is "the single serving friend scene." This scene is, as Tyler puts it, clever. Of course, the best dialogue is saved for Tyler, who is the most well-written character and my all time favourite character (spoiler for my unfinished favourite character thread). This screenplay is possibly my favourite script ever, probably tied with Pulp Fiction.
Fincher's direction keeps this film's mood grungy, aggresive and almost anti-social. David Fincher is a visionary and this remains the best film of his career. Under the hands of another director, Fight Club wouldn't have the same feel or look that many have to come to enjoy and love.
Then there is the acting. The acting in this film is all round solid to brilliant. Meat Loaf is fun to watch as Bob Paulson, a former body-builder, now plagued with testicular cancer and "b---h t-ts". Helena Bonham Carter is stunning as Marla Singer, a dissolute woman who seduces Tyler, leaving the narrator unhappy and annoyed. As the narrator, Edward Norton creates one of the best performances of his career, effectively playing the narrator with a quiet, disturbed attitude. But, of course, Brad Pitt steals the show in his career best, scene stealing performance as Tyler Durden, the rebellious image of what men want to be. There is no other actor who play Tyler the way Brad Pitt did, again showing that his acting skills are underrated in a performance that should have won him an Oscar.
Fight Club is not for every taste, but it sure is a visually dazzling, entertaining and all round excellent film to watch if you can understand it's themes and appreciate the performances, writing and direction. I loved Fight Club, as proved in my top 10. Fight Club is the second best to come out in the last 20 years and the second best of the 1990's.
1999 is my all time favourite year for film, with many great movies released. David Fincher's brilliant social commentary on male aggression remains my #1 for 1999, but it had some close competition. Other runner-ups were Toy Story 2, my 2nd favourite animated film ever, American Beauty, which featured Kevin Spacey's career best performance, Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, which remains the best of the prequel trilogy, The Wachowski Brother's mind-blowing The Matrix, M. Night's fantastic chiller The Sixth Sense, Spike Jonze' head trip Being John Malkovich, clever satire Office Space, Tim Burton's dark Sleepy Hollow and the best of the trilogy, Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. I have not yet seen Magnolia (although I do want to), Arlington Road or Three Kings. All in all, a fantastic year for film.
The young, unnamed narrator works at a car company and is having trouble trying to sleep. He is advised to go to support groups to see "what real pain looks like". The narrator takes this advice and sits in at testicular cancer support group. While there, he lets himself go and crys. This opening up helps him sleep. The narrator starts going to all support groups to help him sleep, until a tourist named Marla Singer shows up. She's not plagued with any sicknesses or diseases. She's just a big tourist. With the presence of Marla, he can't sleep.
While on a business trip, the narrator meets a man named Tyler Durden on the plane. Tyler is a rebellious soap-maker and the two engage in conversation. Tyler gives him his phone number. When the narrator returns from his trip, he finds his condo has been destroyed by an explosion. Finding himself with nowhere to go, the narrator calls Tyler. They meet at a bar and Tyler allows the narrator to stay with him, but on one condition... the narrator has to hit him as hard as he can.
The fighting proves popular with other local men and Tyler and the narrator start a secret Fight Club. Fight Club is meant to be a place where men can let out aggression and feel power. But soon it evolves into Tyler's secret agenda and Marla Singer comes into the mix...
Fight Club perfectly conveys themes of aggression, power and eventually, fascism. David Fincher has described it as "a coming of age film, but for people in their '30's." Fight Club contains one of the best screenplays ever written, fusing power philosophy and black humour, with some of the greatest instances of comedy ever put on film. The scene that most notably stood is "the single serving friend scene." This scene is, as Tyler puts it, clever. Of course, the best dialogue is saved for Tyler, who is the most well-written character and my all time favourite character (spoiler for my unfinished favourite character thread). This screenplay is possibly my favourite script ever, probably tied with Pulp Fiction.
Fincher's direction keeps this film's mood grungy, aggresive and almost anti-social. David Fincher is a visionary and this remains the best film of his career. Under the hands of another director, Fight Club wouldn't have the same feel or look that many have to come to enjoy and love.
Then there is the acting. The acting in this film is all round solid to brilliant. Meat Loaf is fun to watch as Bob Paulson, a former body-builder, now plagued with testicular cancer and "b---h t-ts". Helena Bonham Carter is stunning as Marla Singer, a dissolute woman who seduces Tyler, leaving the narrator unhappy and annoyed. As the narrator, Edward Norton creates one of the best performances of his career, effectively playing the narrator with a quiet, disturbed attitude. But, of course, Brad Pitt steals the show in his career best, scene stealing performance as Tyler Durden, the rebellious image of what men want to be. There is no other actor who play Tyler the way Brad Pitt did, again showing that his acting skills are underrated in a performance that should have won him an Oscar.
Fight Club is not for every taste, but it sure is a visually dazzling, entertaining and all round excellent film to watch if you can understand it's themes and appreciate the performances, writing and direction. I loved Fight Club, as proved in my top 10. Fight Club is the second best to come out in the last 20 years and the second best of the 1990's.