Dark City (*** 1/2 out of four)
Written and Directed by Alex Proyas Starring Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly
Dark City is such a rare treat: itıs a stunning, hyperkinetic vision of a place where our reality is fused with noir, science fiction and the darkest nights in Manhattan and London. To boot, it is accompanied by an intense, well written and thoughtful story. Movies of this caliber and idea arenıt made too often, and itıs unfortunate that I waited this long to see it. Alex Proyas, whoıs previous film The Crow looked good but couldnıt cover up the terrible acting or story, here shows a near masterpiece; a combination of Metropolis, Edward Hopper and Phillip Marlowe, fused seemlessly. At times it moves beyond film into artwork.
It is the story of ³strangers², aliens from another planet (and we know theyıre aliens because they shave their heads and wear overcoats one of the detractions of the film) who experiment on humans to discover what makes them live, what makes up our ³soul². These aliens are superior to humans because they have mastered the ³ultimate technology² of shaping matter with their mind, called ³tuning. They are aided by a human scientist, played by Kiefer Sutherland, who has ³betrayed his kind² and at the start of the film watches as the entire city stops at exactly midnight. During this time, John Murdoch, played swiftly by Rufus Sewell, wakes in a bathtub in a room with a swinging overhead light (a terrific visual effect - not only is Murdoch confused, but so is the audience). Without a memory and a strange guilt that he may be a killer, he receives a phone call to flee, as the strangers are after him.
I donıt want to proceed to much further with the explanation of the story; One of the pleasures of the film is watching it develop, in a way regaining Murdochıs ³identity² along with him. Itıs a pleasure to watch the characters develop through the cinematography. Murdochıs wife, Anna, is introduced through a stunning beam of light: she is a lounge singer who sings into a bright spotlight. Shadows, outlines of men in hats watch, as she gently curves through the shine. We see the outline of her body from behind, an hourglass, as she sings a slow, rhythmic song. A great entrance.
However, a film such as this is only successful if the morals and themes behind it are strong enough to leave the viewer satisfied. The city is nice to look at, but if itıs a poor story then itıs not worth watching. Blade Runner was popular not only because itıs visuals, but itıs story and themes were thought out and provoked strong response from the audience. It is discussed it and argued, therefore a success. Other science fiction films of recent times, such as the Fifth Element, are nice to look at, but are dropped and forgotten because the cookie cutter moral behind them is so flimsy. Weıre left with ³love conquers all² after finishing the Fifth Element. Dark City is not so easily explained away. As the strangers discovered, locating the human soul and discovering what makes us survive is not such an easy task. Where is reality?
Dark City is certainly the best science fiction film of the 90ıs, and ranks along with the best made in the 80s, such as Blade Runner and the two Aliens films. Perhaps itıs the best of the both decades; it had the darkness of the Aliens films, as well as the visuals and compelling story of Blade Runner, but moved beyond, I think, because the themes behind it were much stronger. Anyone who wants to make an argument for better science fiction films please feel free to write, Iıd love to hear it.
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