You're not the contents of your wallet!. Review on Fight Club (1999)

?You're not your job. You're not how much money you have in the bank. You're not the car you drive. You're not the contents of your wallet.?

-- Tyler Durden from Fight Club

Fight Club is an extremely violent and disturbing movie with a powerful message for young people. Watching this movie is itself an enjoyable experience. Male aggression and discontent with corporate consumer culture have been dealt with in many movies before. But they have never been as provocative as this movie... Based on a novel written by Chuck Palahniuk , this film launches a direct attack against all existing political and social institutions.

Like all great movies, it can be highly misunderstood too... What is so special about this movie? And why is it considered to be one of the most unique films of the twentieth century? Read on!

The story begins with the narrator ?Jack? (played by Edward Norton) explaining how miserable, boring and mechanical, his life has been. As he is suffering from insomnia, he tries to distract himself by attending support group meetings where people afflicted with pain and suffering console each other. He finds comfort in these meetings and gets addicted to it. His peace is shattered by Marla Singer, whom he considers as a ?big tourist?. He is shocked to see her in all meeting exactly like him.

Strangely, he is also attracted to her. But since her lie reflects his lie too, he decides to distance himself from her.

?Jack? makes a second acquaintance, Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) who is a soap salesman. His nihilistic attitude towards almost everything captivates Jack and they become close pals. Slowly, Tyler starts dominating him and influences him a great deal. In order to combat boredom, they start fighting aimlessly before a bar. This attracts a lot of guys who are bored and sick of their life and who need a big change in their life. Tyler soon starts a fight club which meets regularly in parking lots and godowns. It soon becomes an underground organization with Tyler as the head. Without the knowledge of Jack, they plan a huge operation called ?Project Mayhem?. They believe that after its successful execution, they can start a new life?a new beginning...

The rest of the movie deals with Jack coming to terms with who he is and what his relationship with Tyler Durden is.

The movie works on different levels. One has to watch this movie multiple times to understand what it actually is saying. The story seems to be very simple but this is just the tip of an iceberg.

On a deeper level, it deals about a man?s quest for truth about what is happiness?? Jack believed initially (like all guys) that money can buy anything, even happiness. But, even when he had all material comforts, happiness still eluded him.

That is why, when Tyler makes him realize that he is not ?defined? by the job, car or any of the materialistic things which gave him peace of mind for a limited amount of time.

The movie also talks about how pain and suffering has to be handled. We feel pain when our desires and expectations are not fulfilled. But these desires are based on a fundamental delusion that we would be here forever. We don?t realize that everything is temporary and changing. We don?t realize that death is inevitable. That doesn?t mean that we should keep worrying about our eventual fate... It just means that we are not bound by the materialistic things.

So, when Tyler convinces Jack that he is actually free and not bound by anything, Jack realizes that pain and suffering can be easily handled with this knowledge. ''Fight Club'' teaches him how to endure pain and go beyond it.Thus, going to support group meetings or anything similar to it is just a temporary way of handling pain. The actual answer to handling pain and suffering is within us!

The problem comes when we use this knowledge as a weapon or an excuse. That is when love turns to hatred and hatred makes us do crazy things. The same knowledge which gives us realization, if applied wrongly, leads to self destruction. ?Project Mayhem? is an example of how things could go wrong.

Brilliant acting and amazing visuals make this film a memorable experience. The role of ?Jack? is extremely complex and is handled very well by Edward Norton. Brad Pitt is also amazing as Tyler Durden. Helena Bonham Carter plays Marla Singer. She looks like a character from a Japanese animation movie and plays it perfectly. Initially, you wonder what she is up to... but then her intentions become clear in the end.

A must-see for everyone!!!