Fight Club Question

Explore how far the application of a particular critical approach has either reinforced or challenged your first impression of your close study film?

After watching Fight Club for the first time, my initial interpretation of the film was that Fight Club is a mainstream action thriller. Fincher uses dark toned lighting, typical action thriller actors and a plot with a premise of violence. The addition of a critical approach to Fight Club does change the tone of the film and highlights the underlying themes that Fincher brings to light within the film.

Ebert's view of Fight Club is supporting of my first impression of the film. Ebert review that Fight Club is a "thrill ride masquerading as philosophy". My initial impression of Fight Club did not look deeper than it proves to be upon a second watching. Despite this, the micro elements support both mine and Ebert's impression of the film as these enhance the"thrill-ride" aspect of the film. One main feature that does this is the sound that Fincher uses. It is extremely emphasised and prominent, typical of an action thriller film. This element is also consistent throughout Fincher's other films. For example, Seven, released earlier than Fight Club in 1995. Even though seven is more thriller than action, the sound is one way in which the film becomes high intensity for the audience therefore creating an impression of an action film, the sounds causes the audience to be immersed into the film. In the opening scene, the high intensity rock music accompanied by travelling fast through a brain, set up the rest of the film as an action film.

Upon adding auteur theory to my initial impression, changed my initial perception of Fight Club. Fincher typically looks into deeper issues within his films. Within Fight Club, deeper issues such as masculinity and the consequences of a consumerist culture are explored, furthermore, this is portrayed through the narrators and Tyler's intent. Jack's depressing living style that is portrayed is the clear result of the effect of a consumerist culture and the modern day society that is still relevant to today. We also see this exploration within Seven, Mills and his wife Tracy, are suffering under the pressure of moving upstate and it's clear to see this from Tracy, she "hates this place". Despite not knowing the location of Fight Club, it is obvious that is in a central location. This supports the auteur theory that Fincher explores deeper issues within his films. Another deeper issue that appears in Seven and more so in Fight Club is Freud's id, ego and superego theory. Tyler and Jack are a personification of this theory due to the nature of their relationship. Jack is the pragmatic id and Tyler is the irrational ego.

Fight Club

Fight Club has typically been viewed as an anti-capitalist film that challenges the constructs of a capitalist society and tries to provide a solution to the issues it creates. An overview of the film can show that Fight Club is anti-capitalist as it presents typical criticisms. Such a mainstream film that uses experimental methods and challenges a society that it is a product of can make Fight Club a radical film. Despite the fact that Fight Club does criticise the issues created by capitalism, it does not provide a long term or a coherent solution to these issues it presents and the solutions it does present aren’t rational or destined to fail. For example, Tyler ultimately plan to blow up all credit card companies to bring everyone back to 0, in hindsight this makes sense as a solution to capitalism as it brings everyone to the same level rather than having a huge gap between the rich and the poor. But in the long run it will cause mayhem that will ultimately create another capitalistic society. It does have an element of mainstream film trying to deal with major themes

Fight Club presents the issues with capitalism rather than provide some form of a solution. From a white, hetrosexual male perspective we can see a few of the issues and effects caused by being a victim of a capitalist society, specifically from Jack’s perspective. Jack is a young, white collar worker. Having a protagonist with these characteristics and surround that character with similar male individuals to challenge and convey issues marjonalises the amount of people that are affected by the way society works and therefore prevents the film from being as radical as it pretends to be. Even in Jack’s office, there appears to be a majority of white males, with a lack of women or a lack of any other ethnicity. Therefore this cuts out a lot of problems in society that should be represented such as; inequality or a lack of workers rights. The cinematography can present alienation that is an issue for many working class individuals. There is a large focus on Jack in the shots before he meets Tyler, which was when we are introduced to him when his life was simpler and miserable. One shot in particular is when his boss comes into his office to speak to him about work. We do not see the boss's face for a majority of that scene and our focus is on Jack. This can be a representative of the alienation the typical white collar worker suffers from. Furthermore we are presented the effects caused by these typical white collar jobs. 

Exam Question

How far is the way evidence is presented by the documentary filmmaker important in determining the spectators response? Refer in detail to the films you have studied for this topic.

 

Bowling For Columbine directed by Michael Moore, A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures directed by Chris Waitts and The Imposter directed by Bart Layton, all present evidence in different ways in order to gain an emotional response. Despite using different techniques such as reenactments or interviews, these techniques are important as they gain engagement from the audience whether that be relating to the the topic or empathising with those within the documentaries.

 

Moore uses many different techniques that effectively gain engagement from the audience. The topic of gun crime is more relatable to that of an American, so an international audience would be more likely to sympathise with the topic and the victims. One of the techniques that Moore uses to determine the spectator response is interviewing two victims of the Columbine shooting, Mark taylor and Richard Castaldo. Moore continues to use his hand held camera movement and informal interviewing method to talk to the two boys. We are given a personal view of the effect of gun violence, presenting specific evidence in this way is effective way because it allows the topic to be easier to sympathise with due to the informal tone. Moore uses interviews throughout the documentary with many of them being relatively informal. The interview he conducts with Charles Heston has a more serious tone than the rest. It is clear that Moore is presenting evidence against gun violence and the relaxed laws in America, so his interview with Heston, the head of the National Rifle Association, was presented a lot more seriously than others as Charles Heston is condoning the behaviour that has cost 11,127 incidents per year (during the time the documentary was shot). A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures does not carry a tone that is as serious as Bowling For Columbine, in fact it is a comedic mockumentary. The evidence that Waitts presents is creates a personal link for the audience to become involved with. He shows the audience, pictures, phone calls, videos and interviews with his mother to prove his sexual failures. Proving the point he is failing in his love life makes the audience shocked but also makes them laugh. Both Bowling For Columbine and A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures creates a personal link to the evidence to determine the spectators response.

Fight Club 1999- David Fincher

What is Fight Club about? 

Fight Club is an extremely complicated film, with different theories about what it is about. The protagonist, a depressed office worker with insomnia, meets a "soap maker" called Tyler Durden on a business trip, after this the plot thickens. It is clear that Tyler Durden is an alter ego caused by hallucinations from having insomnia. This possibility is posed during the end of the film before Tyler blows up city buildings. The existence of Tyler is also questioned when Marla comes to see Edward Norton's character but shortly leaves in anger after Norton's character states that "Tyler isn't here" whilst holding a bottle of alcohol. 

The Imposter 2012- Bart Layton

The Imposter stands out in style compared to other documentaries I have looked at. Using stylistic features to tell the story of the missing; Nicholas Barclay. Using sit down interviews and stylised reconstructions, we are shown all sides to the story.

Initially, Barton portrays the missing boys family as innocent by subtly revealing their side of the investigation. The audience feels sympathy due to the telling of how Nicholas went missing and how Frederic Bourdin began to spiral into taking the identity of the missing child. By Frederic explaining how he pretended to be child and eventually stealing the identity of a missing child, Barton shows us just one element of an extremely complicated plot. Barton lays the plot out in a specific way in order to add more questions for the audience. By the end of the documentary, we are left questioning the integrity of the family rather than the man that has been stealing the identity of children for years.

Similar to The Act Of Killing, The Imposter includes the main people in the events retelling the story. Despite this, the two documentaries differ. Oppenheimer's The Act Of Killing includes different ways in which the main people retell a story, for example: Anwar and his colleagues making a film to create a reenactment of the mass killings, visiting old sites to recount memories and sitting down to talk about the past. On the other hand, Barton uses the very personal method of a sit down interview to give the audience detail on what happened. With this method we can see their body language and facial expression which can be another way to gain perspective rather than just speaking.   

Comparing Production Context

Director, Budget and Box Office

La Haine directed by: Mathieu Kassovitz
City Of God directed by: Fernando Meirelles and Katia Lund
Rust and Bone directed by: Jacques Audiard

Rust and Bone has the highest budget of €15.4 Million out of the three films, City Of God is the second highest with a budget of €2.7 Million, La Haine had the lowest budget of €2.3 Million. It is not surprising that Rust and Bone has the highest budget out of the three films as the director needed to use CGI in order to give the impression that Stephanie has no legs. The use of the killer whales can also be another factor that would increase the budget. Despite having the highest budget, Rust and Bone did not make the highest in box office, it made 25.8 million dollar compared to City Of God that made the highest at box office, it made 30.6 million dollars. La Haine came in at 15.3 million dollars, which was way above the budget.

History and Information

Critical reception

Reviews and Awards

National and Global Production Information

Production Stage

A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures 2008- Chris Waitt

A Complete History Of My Sexual Failures takes a more personal approach to documentary. Chris Waitt documents his journey in finding out why he such a terrible boyfriend. He uses a gonzo style of documentary in order to effectively create an invasive feel into his life.

The personal element effectively ties together Chris' issues and the light humour of his misfortune. A majority of the film takes place in his flat. The mise en scene of his flat gives the audience an insight into his personality despite creating an extremely personal feel to the documentary. The messy interior of his flat connotes his is unorganised and furthermore doesn't have much about himself. His messy flat is an issue later addressed by his mother. 

The documentary creates a sense of catharsis for the audience. Leading to one issue to another, such as; mental health issues, erectile dysfunction, failing to successfully fix his erectile dysfunction and just the overall sense of loneliness he gives off, makes the audience sympathise for him rather than empathise as he appears pretty hopeless.