Fight Club is 15 years old.
Posted: Mon May 19, 2014 11:01 pm
I write it and I still can't believe it. I can't believe it because I just saw it again for the, what, ten billionth time. To say it is timeless because of its message is old-school, a cheat. We could have done that back in 1999 when it was released.
But it appears also timeless in terms of movie-years. It hasn't aged one second, and if it was made today could not possibly look or sound any better.
It's the only movie I know of, with maybe the exception of 2001, and Arthur C. Clarke mumbling to himself in a closed room with a hidden microphone, that the author is on record as admitting the movie is better than his book. And Chuck's book (as most of them are) is incredible. And I still agree with him.
It will always have the distinction of having the widest distance between what the blurb on the DirecTV guide (or however people watch things 30 years from now) says it's about and what it's really about.
It's the only movie I know that the twist is so remarkable, and yet uncovering it matters so little to the viewing experience. I could tell you the twist right now, and it wouldn't make a lick of difference. Not just because you already know it, but because that is not the point. There are movies with the twist where once you know it, there's no reason to watch the movie again. This is the opposite of that. One you know the twist, the movie really gains traction, the artistry of it explodes, and now you have to watch it again.
And again.
And again.
For fifteen years.
I am Jack's worn-out VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray player.
In my old age I've learned to stop trying to make top-five lists, because if you live long enough, anything in the top five is the best thing ever once you experience it again. If I popped Apocalypse Now in the movie machine right now and watched it, I guarantee I'd come out thinking, this is the best movie ever.
But I just watched Fight Club again, fifteen years after its creation, and god fucking dammit...
...it's the best movie ever.
It is art of the highest order, and will always be.
I can tell because it's fifteen years later and I still want to jump up and shake my fist and cheer like a schoolgirl when the end credits roll, just like I did the first time.
But it appears also timeless in terms of movie-years. It hasn't aged one second, and if it was made today could not possibly look or sound any better.
It's the only movie I know of, with maybe the exception of 2001, and Arthur C. Clarke mumbling to himself in a closed room with a hidden microphone, that the author is on record as admitting the movie is better than his book. And Chuck's book (as most of them are) is incredible. And I still agree with him.
It will always have the distinction of having the widest distance between what the blurb on the DirecTV guide (or however people watch things 30 years from now) says it's about and what it's really about.
It's the only movie I know that the twist is so remarkable, and yet uncovering it matters so little to the viewing experience. I could tell you the twist right now, and it wouldn't make a lick of difference. Not just because you already know it, but because that is not the point. There are movies with the twist where once you know it, there's no reason to watch the movie again. This is the opposite of that. One you know the twist, the movie really gains traction, the artistry of it explodes, and now you have to watch it again.
And again.
And again.
For fifteen years.
I am Jack's worn-out VHS/DVD/Blu-Ray player.
In my old age I've learned to stop trying to make top-five lists, because if you live long enough, anything in the top five is the best thing ever once you experience it again. If I popped Apocalypse Now in the movie machine right now and watched it, I guarantee I'd come out thinking, this is the best movie ever.
But I just watched Fight Club again, fifteen years after its creation, and god fucking dammit...
...it's the best movie ever.
It is art of the highest order, and will always be.
I can tell because it's fifteen years later and I still want to jump up and shake my fist and cheer like a schoolgirl when the end credits roll, just like I did the first time.