Discher 1 Katie Discher McCormack English T-125 4 February 2011 We have lost cabin pressure Near the end of Fight Club, the narrator, Edward Norton, finally makes the connection that he and Tyler Durden, Brad Pitt, are the same person. David Fincher does a phenomenal job as the director during the hotel room scene showing the pivotal moment in the movie, as well as the narrator s entire life. Fincher elegantly illustrates the narrator s internal conflict; he wishes to be everything he is not. His life consists of meaningless material things and a monotonous job, all of which he despises. He and his counterpart, Tyler Durden, show two opposing outlooks on life based on mise en scene, shots and angles accentuating their power struggle, the use of dramatic, formalistic flashbacks, proxemics, as well as exemplifying the slightest sounds. In this scene, Fincher depicts the two main characters, Tyler Durden and the narrator, with three key aspects of mise en scene: costume, body language and acting, and makeup. The narrator s true nature is personified strongly by his body language and acting. He appears to be tense and extremely high strung. Dressed in his dull attire, his narrow frame slouches with a lack of confidence. The narrator s makeup is also done in a way to accentuate the fact that he is an insomniac, making him appear to be exhausted. These combined characteristics portray the narrator as a weak individual: swayed by society s consumerism and those surrounding him. The narrator has lived his entire life according to society and it has taken a toll on him; he has fallen into the habit of living only for material possessions. On the other hand, Tyler Durden is the narrator s polar opposite. When describing himself in comparison to the narrator, he articulates:
Discher 2 all the ways you wish you could be, that s me smart, capable, and most importantly, I m free in all the ways that you are not (Fight Club). Durden s ideology of freedom, and therefore a lack of materialism, is exemplified by his haphazard and flamboyant attire as well as his laid back attitude. Tyler does not live for Calvin Klein labels or Ikea furniture, he lives to be free. He reclines in the hotel room chair with airs of confidence. There is no difference in lighting on the two characters to signify good and evil because by this point in the movie, they meet on a level playing field and confront each other as equals. In addition to mise en scene, Fincher uses shots and angles as a major feature in the hotel realization scene of Fight Club. As the scene opens, Edward Norton runs into the hotel room and picks up the phone in an urgent manner. He is shot from a bird s eye view perspective. This shot allows us to feel as though we are following along with him through his endeavors. Also, since he is shot at a slightly high angle, he is shown to be insignificant, or out of control of his own life; the idea that his world has just been flipped upside down puts him in a frantic state of mind. This feeling is furthered by the following shot of him off center with nothing to balance the shot, leaving the audience with a feeling of unease, the blank space representing the void in his life. Marla, on the other hand, and other end of the phone, is shot center frame in order to portray her as a stable individual. Showing Marla in such a manner is ironic since, throughout the film, we have known her to be an instable individual, stealing and making attempts at her own life. As soon as the phone conversation is ended, Durden enters the shot. The two main characters are displayed in a face off. Each individual takes a stand against the other in an attempt for power. At first, the narrator takes a literal stand against Tyler Durden. In doing so, he is shot from a low angle, giving him a sense of control as he attempts to defy his opponent. However his attempt proves to be a failure and does not last long; Durden refutes the narrator and levels the playing
Discher 3 field once again. In doing so, the narrator, being a weaker individual, gives in and drops to the bed. Thus being shot at a high angle, Tyler Durden proves to be the more dominant of the two personalities. As the film progresses, Durden s character is expanded upon and so is his power over the narrator. Instead of listening to the influence of materialism and society, the narrator is now succumbing to the will of the power hungry Tyler with a desire to destroy everything society promotes. Amidst the narrator and Tyler Durden s argument, Fincher splices in several flashbacks. This editing style proves to be formalistic. The purposes of these specific flashbacks allow Edward Norton to recall certain memories. Memories which Norton had previously convinced himself to be the work of Tyler Durden, he came to realize were his own actions. When the audience had first seen these clips, it was Tyler yelling at people, instructing fires upon buildings as well as fighting the narrator and drinking on the curbside with him. Due to the jump cut editing, it is now apparent that those orders were in fact given by the narrator himself and in scenes of the narrator and Durden, it was actually the narrator alone with his own mind. One such flashback depicts the narrator fighting himself outside Lou s Tavern. As the Tyler Durden side of the narrator explains, Edward Norton talks to himself and becomes who he wants to be, meaning Tyler. Tyler Durden tells the narrator, you re still wrestling with it (Fight Club). This symbolic flashback pairs a valuable piece of information with a memorial reminder, which makes things begin to click for the narrator. The narrator s internal conflict puts him between a rock and a hard place; at times, he is himself, a weak member of the common society, and at others he is Tyler, trying to destroy everything. Before the narrator has made the realization that he and Tyler Durden are in fact the same person, the two talk and shift in proxemics. To begin with, they are at opposite ends of the frame.
Discher 4 Their relationship starts out on a public level of intimacy. This is because they are uneasy with each other and lack the ability to be comfortable around each other. As the conversation begins to heat up, their proxemics shifts to a social level. Their proxemics alters only in the emotional change of the argument. Finally, as they reach the climax, when the narrator makes the realization that he is in fact also Tyler and is talking to himself currently, they are shown at a personal level. This closeness allows the viewer to see their emotions more intensely and is symbolic of the two halves of one whole person; they reach a level of understanding. Throughout this scene of Fight Club, all senses are heightened due to a feeling of being on edge from the situation, especially sound. For this reason, even the most minute sounds are audible. For instance, the sound of Tyler Durden lighting a cigarette and later dropping the lighter are of equal volume as the conversation. This is also significant because we see Tyler smoking since it is in his nature, and therefore not that of the narrator s, who denied a cigarette on the basis of he did not smoke in the beginning of the film. As time progresses, however, the narrator slowly becomes more and more like Tyler and also picks up the habit of smoking. These little noises draw attention to more differences between the narrator and Tyler Durden, showing how opposite they truly are. In addition to ambient noise, this scene has a reoccurring theme of plane references laid over by a narrator. When the narrator is given the first inkling that he may in fact be Tyler Durden, his voice narrates the statement, please return your seatbacks to their full, upright and locked positions (Fight Club). This quote is paired with sounds of a plane taking off, signifying the beginning of a long a bumpy ride for Edward Norton. Shortly after this, the narrator hears Marla address him as Tyler. Hearing himself called by that name ensures that it must be true, however this fact has shaken the foundation of his basis of reality. At this point in the scene, his voice again comes on as a narration: we have just lost cabin pressure (Fight
Discher 5 Club). The narrator is in for a crash landing and faces the daunting task of reestablishing his entire life. In addition to ambient noises and narration, the soundtrack adds a great deal to this scene clip. The music is a culmination of digital sounds, intensifying the ideology of the technological and material control over the world. The noises cut out for crucial moments and flashbacks, but steadily increase in speed and volume as the tension in the scene rises. With no true purpose in life, the narrator struggles with his mundane tasks at work and attempts to find comfort in things, such as those in his apartment. His foil, Tyler Durden, is everything he is not: spontaneous, rebellious, and against everything the narrator stands for. These two represent the extremes of members of society. Members of today s society are often battling similar internal conflicts as that which the narrator is faced with. Without a meaning in life, many are left unsatisfied at the end of the day. David Fincher was able to represent much of this into such a short clip in his movie, Fight Club. Based on his depiction of the narrator and Tyler Durden, the audience comes to the same realization as the two main characters and their internal struggles right along with them. The world surrounding the narrator, Edward Norton, is full of material possessions, advertisements, white-collar influences, and an endless desire to be complete. These ideologies were accentuated by the sounds throughout this scene; plane references, important material things, and the concept of the digital world are all implemented in making this scene as symbolic as it is. The combination of proxemics, mise en scene, shots and angles also are used to describe the narrator and Tyler Durden s relationship and therefore the internal conflict. Having a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde complex, the narrator struggles with being a consumer and having the desire to break out of the every day mold of a meaningless life. This is depicted by the use of editing and flashbacks, showing the changeover of personalities. In the
Discher 6 end of the scene, however, Tyler proves to be the more dominant character, proving that being a weak individual and giving into consumerism is not enough to be satisfied in today s society.
Discher 7 Katie Discher McCormack English T-125 4 February 2011 Works Cited Fight Club. Dir. David Fincher. Perf. Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bonham Carter. 20 th Century Fox 1999. Gianetti, Louis. Understanding Movies. 8 th New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1998.