How the Society Had Changed with Time in the Fight Club - Movie Review Example

Running heading: Fight club Fight club Name Course Tutor Task Date Introduction Fight club is a movie which was directed by David Fincher with the main stars being, Brad Pitt who acted as Tyler Durden, Helena Bonham carter who acted as Marla singer and Edward Norton who was the narrator. The aim of this essay is to depict how the film industry has evolved with time through cinematography, sounds and editing. It also shows how the various personality adopted by men and women in the society are affecting the society more so on protagonist personality. The movie was done to show how there was a conflict in business pertaining advertising of products and its relationship with the young generation .Advertising here was being condemned as it created a definition of happiness that did not exist thus making people aspire and chase material items which made them forget the pursuit for happiness that was spiritually related. It showed how the society had changed with time from good to bad and at some point this movie was described as a cult movie due to the fight club aimed at facing fear of the pain. Am going to discuss the genre and sequence of the film and reasons as to why it was classified under that genre. Then, am going to discuss mis en scene followed by cinematography, editing and sound. This will then be followed by a conclusion which will define the key findings about this movie, whether it achieved its main targets. Genre and sequence Fight club falls into the category of thriller and mystery movies because at the beginning of the movie we see a character being held at gun point , and the viewers wonder how he got there and it is at this point that the narrator who is Edward Norton takes us back in time to where it begins. Other examples of this genre are paranormal activity, Seven and a Knight’s tale. The sequence of this film is that of plot, theme, surroundings and focus. This sequence is good because it brings out the intentions of the director and helps the movie appear unique from all others. On the plot we saw the narrator (Edward Norton) to suffering from insomnia, he went to see a doctor and the doctor declined to give him medication and instead advised him to join a suitable support group. That was when the narrator became a member of the testicular cancer support group, he used this group to reduce his emotions and hence his insomnia was relieved. It was at these support groups that he encountered an imposter like himself who was Marla Singer and this bothered him a great deal. He arrived at a decision with her not meeting with each other in the same groups1. After this that he met Tyler Durden who introduced him to a fight by first asking him to punch him and a fist fight between the two ensues. A large crowd of people formed due to this fight and later the two open a fight club. The theme of this movie was that of violence for the members of the society so that they could be able to feel things such as pain. This film it had many ideas, also had offensive and dark parts to represent the society. Surrounding and focus were used to show that people had become so numb in the society and that was why they choose to live as imposters and hence corrupting the society. Also it showed that being materialistic was not being able to be happy and displays the harm of following ones direction because they turn one into an undesirable person. This was because the narrator walked into the footsteps of Tyler and he became very violent. Focus was on seeking the reasons as to why we feel dead on the inside even when we have money and get solutions. Mis en scene Mis en scene puts so many things together and hence Fight club is best suited to describe it because of how it is stylerized in this way. In Fight club we have a character who plays two roles at the same time, that of an antagonist and as a protagonist. However the audience only gets to learn about this until when the movie is coming to an end. Clues are realized throughout the film the moment the revelation is out. Using an illustration we find that the role of a protagonist was played by the narrator who was disturbed and had become disillusioned with his routines of every day, following his work and in general his life. At the beginning of the movie we saw how the narrator recounted about a habit that he has adopted of buying items from IKEA that he never used which included appliances and some furniture. This scene was best shown with his apartment being with price tags lying on the furniture and catalogues too. The narrators life was existent of shopping that he never used and at one point when he was away doing business his apartment was destroyed by fire and this destroyed all his possessions. The fire was caused by gas emitted from a stove that was faulty which led to the ignition of the refrigerator .The character that he had clung on goes with the fire. Another instance of mis en scene was when the narrator moved to a new house which was a big contrast to where he lived because it was very humble. In that house he found books which talked about how body organs thought for their own. Cinematography Cinematography is best suited to show the ideas behind the film and also the themes of the movie. It clearly brought out the protagonist behavior between the narrator and Tyler Durden. Fight club has digital cinematography which has effects that are special. These special effects are shown when we are shown the over priced items bought by the narrator and also the catalog of furniture and this was shown when we saw text captions which were in a white appearance, when he described and prices the properties that he owned .Cinematography here brought out the personality of being materialistic and also of consumerism2. Also we found the narrator imagining a collision in the mid air when he was on an airplane where he pictured the plane busting open and plummeting in the ground. This just depicted how much the narrator lived in a life of fantasy .Then the narrator (Edward Norton) met Tyler Durden; he was enlightened using a chemical burn. In description we were shown the narrator trying to picture a forest that was so calm and cave that was frozen .He was shown to do this because he did not want to come to reality with burning which flashes in the screen .A conflict was displayed between the narrator and Tyler Durden .Tyler Durden here tried to show the narrator that he should be willing to accept pain that life brings forth due to imperfections which the world brings on. The narrator was shown through cinematography, mentally trying to escape reality and this gave him the character of being afraid and being non confrontational about realities of life . Another instance, where cinematography was said to be displayed is when Tyler Durden got involved in a car accident on purpose. A lot of intensity was created in the situation and this makes the viewer sympathize with the narrator who is shown to be very hysterical. The differences between the narrator and Tyler Durden are shown using cinematography. Later in the film we see Tyler Durden holding a gun at the narrator but we then realize that it the narrator holding the gun on Tyler Durden. Cinematography also displays the various colors throughout the film to show various color effects and personalities. For example, in the paper street house where Tyler Durden lives the color scheme is regular is we see a dingy yellowish brown color and also the outfits that the actors wear. Cinematography creates the anticipated atmosphere to the audience and also makes the movie interesting. The disillusionment of the narrator is also showed using cinematography in fine images. Finally cinematography here shows the Americas social structure which is characterized by differences in personality. Editing In order to return the thoughts of the narrator, David Fincher works well with editing. The narrator suffers from a serious case of insomnia which causes his brain to be in a form of decay. He suffers hallucinations due to this condition and David Fincher uses editing techniques that are simple to show this transition of hallucination to paranoia. Naturally, Tyler Durden edits pornography frames which are simple and also does the cutting of the filmstrips and hence the style of editing is outlaid to the audience at an early stage. The main goal is to match the effects of the narrator’s insomnia condition in line with the editing of movies3. It is as if the condition of the narrator cuts his mind and replaces it with someone else because it alter rates who the narrator is and even the environment around him. Editing choices on this parts show how it can have an impact on what is finally accomplished out of the movie. At a time when the narrator and Tyler Durden do not know each other, we are shown instances when the narrator discusses about his condition. Looking at the movie in one piece instead of looking at from a view that is minute, editing is also done better because we find that the movie starts with its ending thus creating mystery. And that where the narrator repeated in order to bring Marla Singer into the picture where we were showed how she destroyed him. While he rewinded he showed us how his condition of insomnia led him into the hands of Marla Singer. The Narrator discussed Marla singer for some time and then changed the topic to avoid talking about her importance so that could he can have time to bring Tyler Durden who was a projectionist on the narrators life .He did this about more than half an hour and some more minutes, its after this that he then continued to tell more about his condition about what led to his situation. At the end of the movie we were shown a pornography frame which had been simplified. The aim of this edited part was to break the monotony of the audience watching other movies within the movie. This was just a typical editing of the movie. Editing in this movie tried to put the viewers in the state of the narrator’s condition so that he could communicate a high level of his condition. Simple editing on this movie had been applied and it brought out tremendous results. Sound There are recorded sounds when Tyler Durden punched the narrator. Here Norton looked back at the events that had happened to him previously, when the plot of the movie started which was at the end of the movie this sound was put in there because there was a very good sound that was made by the chest cavity because it sounds like a drum especially when one thumps up himself on the chest. Chickens were also heard and they make great sounds. This was done by filling chickens with items that would help facilitate in the developments of good sounds. This involves chickens playing near the microphone so that their sounds could be tapped. There was also kicking of bottles and cans and also there sounds made from the metal slabs. Sounds also helped to show sex and nudity and it was shown through a picture frame. Sounds have been established overwhelmingly which helped add a great deal of realism in the film. Also there are sounds made when Tyler Durden and the narrator fought. Conclusion Fight club depicts the way in which Americas fail to integrate their actions with the emotional components especially where men are involved. It shows lack of culture and a very big void in the community and people try all things in order seek satisfaction. This void which has been created is solved through the use of movies, violence and crying .This is where fight club comes in, in order to address this problems. Also the society is depicted as having lost its contact with God and also it has become very antisocial because people do not care about their neighbors and hence there treat each other as stranger’s .The people in the society are seeking liberation but the guidance is poor. It shows how individualism can deconstructed because of consumerism. In this film a person is described by the quality of items that he or she owns and not personal attributes that are connected to human aspect of a person. The culture of consumer based society is very much widespread. The current man has been enslaved by properties that he owns. Societal vices such as murder, poverty and rampant crime are not issues to bother the modern man because he is so busy focusing on being a celebrity who wears designer clothes. This movie even though with so much violence in it achieved its targets. Reference Thompson, Kristin & Bordwell David. Film Art: An Introduction. New York. McGraw-Hill, 2009. Read More