Other than perhaps Blue Velvet, no other film that I have watched I view as a more experimental film than Fight Club.
By Alex Richard
Ever since I started getting more into films (the last couple of years), Fight Club was added to my watchlist immediately. I had heard so many amazing things about the movie, but I had continued to put it off, passing it by as I looked for things to watch. Side topic, the list of movies I have yet to watch is EMBARRASSING as a self-titled film nerd.
Anyways, back to Fight Club. Unfortunately, the plot twist was already spoiled for me. Nevertheless, the film stands out as a unique and intriguing masterpiece.
The visual style oddly reminded me of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, one of my favorite movies of all time. Director David Fincher employs a distinct visual style throughout the film, using techniques like fast editing to create a sense of unease and disorientation, adding to the overall experimental feel of the film. It is a phenomenal way to keep the pace up on what is a pretty lengthy watch. The use of CGI had the possibility of feeling weird, but due to the chaotic nature of the film, even though it is quite janky at points it still works.
The visual style pairs perfectly with the idea that the narrator can be considered unreliable. The Narrator/Tyler Durden is an insomniac, so he is constantly tired and hallucinating. The twist is played into that so well, because as the watcher we see so many insane visuals at such a rapid pace that it is so difficult to tell what is happening. There are hints of the twist, especially through Maria Singer, but it gets passed by and ignored so quickly that it isn’t truly processed.
The film plays with a non-linear narrative structure, blurring the lines between reality and fantasy. It's not presented in a straightforward chronological order, which can disorient the viewer and challenge traditional storytelling conventions. This fragmentation mirrors the protagonist's fractured psyche and his struggle with identity.
Fight Club is also a movie that knows that it is a movie. There are moments in the film where the characters break the fourth wall, directly addressing the audience. One of my favorite moments of the movie is when Brad Pitt straight-up acknowledged that the flashback was over and that they were officially back in the present. Not to mention the idea of a narrator.
It sort of confirms that it is a movie during the final scene. In the middle of the film when the Narrator is talking directly to the camera about what Tyler does as a job, he mentions that he clips film reels together and sneaks porn clips into films without anyone noticing. At the end of Fight Club, what shows up for a single frame? A full-on dick shot.
The ending itself is unique because it is so open-ended. I did a little bit of research on the book, and in that the buildings don’t explode and the information Tyler gives out helps the police stop it. In this, who knows what happens after the screen goes black? There is no conclusion, no happy ending. Tyler is back to himself and that is all.
I think what made this movie so controversial is how many different messages that can be taken after watching the film, as comically said by Letterboxd user gal pacino.
But that is what an experimental film should be and feel like. Something that enacts a feeling and makes the viewer think about what they just watched, and Fight Club does that as well as any movie that I have ever seen.
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