Fight Club (1999)

 ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Fight Club (1999) – D. Fincher

I’m not sure why I watched this again; the primary emotions elicited are disgust and fear (anxiety). Perhaps it was the result of all that free-floating angst just before y2k? In any event, 20+ years later, the moral quandaries raised by the film are even more fraught. If Edward Norton’s unnamed Narrator sees “disruption” as freedom from the constraints of society and perhaps a Good Thing, is this acceptable now, in the context of the Trumpian disruptors? Was it even acceptable in the context of the film itself in 1999 when pitched ultimately as terrorism (albeit against economic systems rather than people)? But those culture jammers (such as Negativland) were such heroes! Moreover, if Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), who starts a no holds barred “fight club” with the Narrator, represents unfettered masculinity, is this what we want now, when the toxic variety has clearly made life worse for everyone anywhere on the gender continuum? (Hard to say how love interest Helena Bonham-Carter feels – ambivalent to say the least?). Director David Fincher took Chuck Palahniuk’s novel and made it into a hyper-stylised film (music by the Dust Brothers) that doesn’t pull its punches (so to speak) – it’s violent and unrelenting, looking into the gaping hole in the average consumer’s heart and trying to find something to fill it, something more primal and yes, amoral. This is probably not the answer we need.  But the film itself is visceral and daring, encouraging viewers to identify with its flawed characters and to become morally compromised as a result. Or not -- if you accept that the Narrator is insane, which he may very well be.

 

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Eyes Wide Shut (1999) – S. Kubrick

I decided to rewatch Kubrick’s last film to see if there was something that I missed on first viewing 15 to 20 years ago. I think, in fact, that there wasn’t.  Which is not to say that the film doesn’t plumb some depths – it has a fair bit to say about sexual desire and jealousy and how these might be expressed in relationships.  Then married couple, Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise, describe their fantasies, acted on or not, to each other and witness the pain they inflict.  Based on the source novel by Arthur Schnitzler (Traumnovelle, 1926), sexual desire has a Freudian feel, consciously repressed (or just lied about?) and/or sublimated into dreams.  In fact, we don’t quite know whether the majority of the film is one of Tom Cruise’s dreams.  It certainly is an outlandish story (he discovers a secret meeting of the high and mighty, all dressed in masks and robes, and engaged in an orgy) and there are threats all around for anyone, Cruise in particular, who seeks to be unfaithful (the superego battling the id, no doubt).  As a cinematic experience, the film certainly is dreamlike, rambling from episode to episode (often in Kubrick’s studio-recreated version of Greenwich Village), filled with great chunks of emotionally laden speech and, yes, sexually suggestive moments. The colour template is warm oranges and chilly blues (often set against each other in the same shot), perhaps representing closeness and distance and the easy way we can slip between them. However, despite all the nudity and sex, it isn’t a particularly erotic film – there is too much anxiety for that, too much fear and jealousy.  The use of sex for domination by the powerful (i.e., the wealthy; such as Sydney Pollack’s evil host) or to control one’s spouse is too overt here and too uncomfortable. Of course, if you haven’t seen it, this is well worth investigating – I wouldn’t see it on a first date, however.    

The Matrix (1999)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ½

The Matrix (1999) – The Wachowskis

So, yes, at its heart The Matrix is an action movie – and the various scenes of kung fu fighting (including the climatic battle between Keanu Reeves and Hugo Weaving) are great fun, especially because the actors were really trained by Hong Kong veteran Woo-Ping Yuen and also because special effects allow them to defy the laws of gravity.  But just having a few great fight scenes wouldn’t be enough – the Matrix is special because of the mystical acid-trip it lays on the viewer (written by Lilly and Lana Wachowski, who also directed).  Keanu Reeves is a computer hacker who is contacted by a mysterious group led by Laurence Fishburne (as Morpheus) and Carrie-Anne Moss (as Trinity) who then reveal to him that our reality is not what it seems and that we are really slaves subjugated to heartless masters.  If only the scales could fall from our eyes!  Of course, viewers could easily be thinking about the 1% who control resources and the world and keep us down but The Matrix is much weirder than that – and if our success with AI holds up, perhaps prophetic.  For those who haven’t seen this film (anyone?), Keanu is Neo, a.k.a. the One foretold to be the saviour who rescues our species.  Of course, the world is trashed in this version of the future, so it’s hard to say whether we are worth saving and where we would live if we were (underground, I guess).  But the quasi-religious sci-fi dystopian overlay here is enough to keep the brain tickled until the next action set-piece rolls out.  Seen on blu-ray, the run-down green-tinged cityscapes and ruined/underwater futuristic vistas aren’t particularly beautiful but they are effective and the costumes are mighty stylish.  I watched the two sequels back in the day but I don’t feel the need to see them again now – with luck, the 4^th film now in production will remember to fill in the gaps.  If you’ve never seen this, the first time is probably the best (but remarkably it still holds up).

The Iron Giant (1999)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Iron Giant (1999) – B. Bird

Set in the 1950s, this animated film might have enough (American) references for adults as it has action designed for kids.  A 100-foot-tall robot crash lands on Earth and is discovered by a young boy (voiced by Eli Marienthal) who befriends him and teaches him to be good, not evil (“guns kills”).  It is cute and often beautifully animated (taking place in Maine with lovely fall foliage).  When the robot gets hurt, his various parts are able to crawl back together to rebuild him. With the help of a beatnik artist (voiced by Harry Connick, Jr.), Hogarth (the boy) successfully hides the Iron Giant from the American authorities, specifically the CIA agent Kent Mansley (voiced by Christopher McDonald) ... for a time.  Soon they discover that the robot has been designed to defensively destroy anything that attacks it (with laser weapons of the future) and soon the US Army shows up to do just that (believing it may be a Russian attack).  In the end, for all its violence (including an atomic bomb which scared my 6-year-old), I felt a rather hard-to-miss Christian theme – after all, the robot dies for our sins (and may be resurrected, which reassured everyone).  Setting this aside, the film’s message that it is better to be good than evil and that guns/violence are horrible is worthwhile indeed.  Still, my 9-year-old gave it only 2 ½ stars (“too boring”) but the younger boy was much more impressed (4 stars).  I enjoyed it a lot, particularly for the early scenes where the robot is learning about its environment and some silly humour.  Yes, it brought a tear to my eye but I’m a pushover.

  

The Virgin Suicides (1999)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

The Virgin Suicides (1999) – S. Coppola

Sofia Coppola was born in ’71, so it isn’t plausible that she has genuine memories of 1974 when this film takes place.  I’m not sure I do either.  But the music from this period carried on for quite some time, particularly on the radio. Coppola makes good use of music in the film, both as sonic wallpaper and to cue important moments, as Scorsese is also wont to do.  It also becomes part of the plot when the boys trade songs with the Lisbon girls over the telephone later in the movie.  I’m remembering Heart, Styx, maybe early Bee Gees or Carpenters.  Even now, these songs trigger a lot of sentiment in me, even a sort of free-floating kind without real memories attached.  Of course, Coppola wrote her script about the five young girls who eventually commit suicide from a pre-existing book.  But the style with which she imbues the film is her own and it is refreshing and a delight. Kirsten Dunst takes a star-making turn or at least the camera gives her significant air time in a hazy sunlit seventies way so that she is the de facto star. James Woods and Kathleen Turner make good constipated parents who cause all the problems.  Now that we’ve seen the trajectory of Coppola’s films, I guess we can say that her focus on style might have diminishing returns but you never can tell.   

Rosetta (1999)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Rosetta (1999) – J.-P. & L. Dardenne

This is a portrait of a teenager who has taken on far too much responsibility (because of an alcoholic mother and missing father) at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder in French-speaking Belgium.  It’s shot in the Dardennes’ unique style, which involves a handheld camera held very close to the protagonist.  This creates a certain amount of suspense and/or anxiety – you can’t see a lot of the context or even the people immediately surrounding Rosetta in some shots. Because Rosetta is tough, often running, fighting, stressing, the close camera on her back brings the viewer along for a hyper-kinetic visceral ride.  The viewer is also placed in a morally compromised position – you want to identify with Rosetta, particularly because you have sympathy for her plight, but she doesn’t always act nicely or morally.  Perhaps this is explicable psychologically, or perhaps not.  The film is open to interpretation – this gives it greater impact.  I wonder, though, how many films the Dardennes can make in this vein – truly there are some great ones, but watching this early outing, I can see that there is some later retread.

Ratcatcher (1999)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Ratcatcher (1999) -- L. Ramsey

Seemingly cut from the Ken Loach cloth of UK social realism, with a gritty hard look at a Glasglow tenement slum during a garbarge strike in the mid-70s, but then you start getting these "enhanced" emotional moments that feel more poetic (as reality can sometimes be, but the camera can highlight and hone in on).  Some of these moments are dire and distressing, as you would imagine this social and physical environment might facilitate, but others are more elevating and touching.  The focus is a young boy, not quite coming of age, but dealing as best he can with the accidental (and self-wrought) fortunes and misfortunes that come his way.  The Scottish accents are near impossible to understand but the feelings are evoked nevertheless.  Moving, but always with that knot in the pit of your stomach.

Beau Travail (1999)

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

Beau Travail (1999) -- C. Denis

Taking Melville's Billy Budd (which I have not read) as a launching point, Claire Denis transposes the action to Djibouti and the French Foreign Legion. Denis Lavant (more recently the star of Carax's Holy Motors) conveys the story of his own expulsion from the Legion in flashback and voiceover from a disillusioned point in the future where he escapes into extreme dancing at the local discotheque. The story focuses on his jealousy toward a younger Legionnaire who has captured the attention of the commanding officer and Lavant's attempts to discredit him. However, the story is only a loose framework that allows Denis to show her complete mastery of film language. Indeed, this film triumphs in a glorious visual style dotted with beautiful abstract patterns, carried along by superb editing that mixes and matches segments shot differently into a vibrant whole.  True, I drifted at times, but a second viewing or one on the big screen might curb that tendency.