Dark City [Region 2] dvd movie.|
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Features • NTSC In Theaters : 27 February, 1998 |
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Dark City [Region 2] description If you're a fan of brooding comic-book antiheroes, got a nihilistic jolt from The Crow (1994), and share director Alex Proyas's highly developed preoccupation for style over substance, you might be tempted to call Dark City an instant classic of visual imagination. It's one of those films that exists in a world purely of its own making, setting its own rules and playing by them fairly, so that even its derivative elements (and there are quite a few) acquire their own specific uniqueness. Before long, however, the film becomes interesting only as a triumph of production design. And while that's certainly enough to grab your attention (Blade Runner is considered a classic, after all), it's painfully clear that Dark City has precious little heart and soul. One-dimensional characters are no match for the film's abundance of retro-futuristic style, so it's best to admire the latter on its own splendidly cinematic terms. Trivia buffs will be interested to know that the film's 50-plus sets (partially inspired by German expressionism) were built at the Fox Film Studios in Sydney, Australia, home base of director Alex Proyas and producer Andrew Mason. The underground world depicted in the film required the largest indoor set ever built in Australia. --Jeff Shannon |
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| ♥♥♥♥♥ | A dark tribute to Film Noir |
| Alex Proyas's Dark City is a dark, sensual tribute to both German Expressionism (think [[ASIN:B00007L4MJ Metropolis (Restored Authorized Edition)]]) and Film Noir. It follows the alien Strangers as they seek to possess the one thing they covet the most: the human soul. The Strangers suspend time each night to implant humans with fabricated memories and new lives, changing the layout of the city with each Tuning. The only human immune to the Strangers' induced sleep is Dr. Daniel Schreiber (Kiefer Sutherland channeling an asthmatic Peter Lorre), a fearful, battered psychologist who is in charge of creating and implanting memories.
However, one of Schreiber's subjects resists implanting. We see amnesiac hero John Murdoch come to in a cold bath, wet and naked as he enters the world. Those with observant eyes will note that Murdoch's room is 614; on the included commentary by Roger Ebert, the Biblical reference to John 6:14 states "When the people saw the sign he had done, they said, "This is truly the Prophet, the one who is to come into the world," hence, a fitting entrance for our hero, who is indeed a sort of prophet against the Strangers. John discovers the brutally mutilated body of a murdered prostitute, and panics, fleeing the dingy hotel. Meanwhile, hardboiled, detail-oriented detective Frank Bumstead (William Hurt) is on the hunt for the serial killer who's been murdering prostitutes; he's fingered Murdoch for the crime, and pursues him relentlessly. His former detective partner, Eddie Walenski, is perhaps the only other human to figure out what's going on with the Strangers and memory implanting, and the knowledge has driven him insane. Murdoch's supposed wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly, A Beautiful Mind, Labryinth) is a bombshell torch singer in a smoky jazz club and also wants to make contact with John, for different reasons (her two lip-synched songs, Sway and The Night Has A Thousand Eyes by Anita Kelsey, are available on the Dark City soundtrack). Dr. Schreiber desperately tries to reclaim Murdoch, to no avail; Schreiber may be broken spiritually and physically, but he knows much more than he lets on to either the Strangers or other humans. The rest of the film traces John Murdoch's gradual discovery of his true nature and of the grim intentions of the Strangers. There is an unrelenting suspense that threads throughout the film as more of the Strangers' chilling plan for humanity is revealed. The dark, dissonant score and masterful use of sparse lighting sets a dark, pessimistic tone. The film's dark, lavish visual style borrows heavily from German Expressionism in the unusual camera angles (tilt shots, combining horizontal and vertical in the same frame) and set design (many nods to Metropolis), as well as an homage to Film Noir (the hardboiled detective, the bombshell torch singer, 1940s costuming and locales such as Automats). The sets of alien technology are retro and futuristic at the same time, with sparse lighting and carefully composed shots. The extras add the icing to the cake; two excellent commentaries by Roger Ebert and director Alex Proyas, cast and crew bios, comparisons and original 1926 critical reviews of Fritz Lang's Metropolis, the original theatrical trailer, stills of set design sketches, and an interactive trivia game round out the bonus materials. There is talk of a director's cut of Dark City being released, but until then, this is an excellent film that lovers of science fiction and Film Noir should check out. |
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