by In 1999, David Fincher staged one of his most striking works: “Fight Club”. True to his habits, the filmmaker leaves us speechless with an absolutely madness outcome, as he had done for “Seven” or “The Game”.
In 1999, after having led us by boat with The Game, David Fincher returned in force with a work that was going to mark his time: Fight Club. We followed the narrator, embodied by Edward Norton.
The latter, without a precise identity, lives alone, works alone, sleeps alone, eats his meal trays alone for a person like many other single people who know human, moral and sexual misery.
This is why he will become a member of the Fight Club, a clandestine place where he will be able to regain his virility, exchange and communication. This club is led by Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), a kind of anarchist between guru and philosopher who preaches the love of his neighbor.
A speech outcome
If the feature film made the minds by its dark and nihilist tone, it is above all its end which has turned and shocked a whole generation of spectators. After a series of increasingly violent events orchestrated by the Chaos project, the narrator discovers that he is actually the same person as Tyler Durden, his alter ego, born of his mental disorders and his alienation in the face of modern society.
This revelation sounds like a blow for the spectator, who will find himself even more disconcerted and shocked by what will follow. While Tyler tries to explode several buildings housing data centers to “reset the meters to zero” (erase the debts), the narrator realizes that he must get rid of this double to put an end to this destructive spiral.
In an emblematic scene, he shoots himself in the mouth, symbolizing the rejection of Tyler and therefore the death of this part of himself. Tyler disappears, leaving the narrator living, although seriously injured.
Fox The end of Tyler Durden
A hand outstretched
The final scene shows the hero, hand in hand with Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter), watching the buildings explode in the distance, while the song “Where is my mind” resonates. With visible helplessness and an apparent detachment, the duo somehow looks at “the world” collapse before their eyes.
In a radical gesture of liberation against capitalism, consumer society and modern alienation, the narrator ends his work of destruction. After eliminating his alter ego, he is reborn in the ashes of a new world, purified of all his alienations. This nihilist act is the materialization of the fantasy of shaving everything to start from scratch, a central theme in the film.
Fox
A new hope
However, if this outcome seems absolutely terrible and cruel, it still leaves us a glimmer of hope. Indeed, the narrator ends up killing this fascination for ultra-violence as a response to existential emptiness. By “killing” Tyler, he regained control of himself and no longer rejects his vulnerability, even if it is only the beginning of a long way to healing.
In addition, in the last seconds of the film, the narrator holds Marla's hand, a rare and intimate gesture in this story dominated by violence and withdrawal. This highlights the front step of the hero towards acceptance of vulnerability and attachment. It is a direct opposition to the discourse of Tyler, which advocated loneliness, indifference, and the rejection of love.
This end thus offers us a good opening towards a beautiful human connection. Finally, as David Fincher is perfectionist and very clever, the final song of pixies, “where is my mind”, was not chosen at random. This tube perfectly reflects the state of the narrator, between loss of landmarks, dissociation, but also awareness, even in the middle of this chaos.
If you want to review Fight Club, the film is available on the Disney+platform.
