'Fight Club' directed by David Fincher

This film is a bit different. It is contrary, self-satisfied and a bit smug. Nonetheless, Fight Club has much to be smug about, featuring stellar performances from Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter and a plot that borders on indie self-parody yet successfully avoids that pitfall.

All of this takes place in the rarefied atmosphere of an unnamed American city that is beset by urban decay. Amongst the ruins, Edward Norton's narrator attempts to figure out what he is doing with his life, stuck as he is in a dead end job that funds the purchase of various possessions that bring him no satisfaction. To add to these woes, he is a chronic insomniac whose only relief is in support groups for conditions he does not suffer from.

This all changes when he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), who is a feckless, iconoclastic soap salesman living by his own rules. With the help of Durden's take on life, the narrator slowly realises that his job cannot give him the excitement he craves and it is in this spirit that the two of them form the first Fight Club. This Fight Club gives the narrator a sense of purpose, a purpose which is revealed later in the film to be very dangerous indeed.

Added to these elements is an explosive performance by Helena Bonham Carter as Marla, a damaged lover of Durden's whose death wish almost matches her morose cynicism. Her role is never entirely clear, except as a counterpoint to Norton and Pitt's characters. The narrator is obsessed by her as she always seems to stand between him and what he wants - sleep before he meets Durden and her after he does.

Whilst this bizarre combination of circumstances plays out on screen, it should be noted how distinctive the film still appears nearly 15 years after its release. Its grimy, greasy colour scheme has often been copied since but rarely bettered. The corruption it portrays in both the conventional narrator's lifestyle and Durden's anarchistic approach are memorably captured. It is, despite its cult status, just as critical of counter-culture as it is of the mainstream that Durden, the voice of the film, claims to detest.

All of these elements, along with a very accurate and somewhat chilling take on the dynamics of male group behaviour make for an interesting film, even if it is a little too pleased with itself and perhaps slightly undeserving of the esteem in which it is held. Nonetheless, it is an entertaining watch with a script that has kept it feeling fresh several years after its initial release.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the photograph used in this article and will remove it at the request of the rights holder.