David Fincher
Fight Club

When a movie is inspired by a book, critiques in both directions can be extreme. If it strictly adheres to the text, merely handling shots, soundtracks, and casting, it risks coming across as a potential script lacking originality; conversely, someone who excessively reinterprets risks seriously and unpleasantly overturning a plot. How to navigate such a context? A possible solution is notably proposed by director David Fincher in 1999 with "Fight Club," inspired by the book of the same name written by Chuck Palahniuk three years earlier.

The book, contrary to what one might think, initially had no commercial success, only positive reviews; similarly, the film was a real box office flop, I believe due to its gory images and its excessive nihilism. Only over time and with the release of the DVD did it become a true cult film.

The story experienced by the unnamed protagonist (don't be fooled, there is no Jack!) lies on the edge of the dreamlike, involving the viewer (reader) right from the start in an attempt to understand the plot itself. In truth, the text goes even further: it often becomes difficult to understand the sequence of events, the chapters intermingle, bringing the reader the protagonist's mental disorder: both the reader (or the viewer) and the protagonist will need to clarify their ideas until the end to have a clear overall picture.

In this context, the mission set by the director cannot be simple. The facts need to be reordered, presented with the right premises, in short, a plot needs to be reconstructed, starting from the nightmares of a nameless character who is so keen to narrate them to the listener and himself.
The clear facts, therefore real, all appear to be the offspring of a man's insomnia. An ordinary man for whom Ikea furniture and a monotonous life that "ends an hour at a time in the office" are now standards that make him live in total insomnia. Only listening to the true sufferings of others gives him sleep; until she arrives, Marla Singer. Hatred mixed with a perverse desire, the return of insomnia and mental chaos, until the explosion of his own apartment. And then the fragmented appearance (those who have ears to hear, let them hear) of a new friend, Tyler Durden, capable of creating around him a true army of ordered-disorder.

The plot is left to you viewers/readers. Honor to the director, given the same comments from the writer who complimented him on the choices made in representing his story. And honor to an exceptional Edward Norton, a Brad Pitt at his best, and a "burned out" Helena Bonham Carter. As always, it is seriously advisable to watch certain films in their original language to appreciate the expressiveness of the protagonists. Truly appropriate and timely is the soundtrack by The Dust Brothers, Michael Simpson, and John King.

My personal point of view strongly advises also reading the book, just to compare the two proposed versions. The book deserves 5 stars, it reads really fluently; the film, which I appreciate so much, I tend instead to give a 5-- (which still remains a 5). However, I fear I am in the clear minority in thinking such a thing.