Dark City

1939 is often regarded as Hollywood's peak year. "Gone With The Wind", "The Wizard of Oz", "Mr. Smith Goes To Washington", and "Stagecoach" among others all were released in that short period of time along with France's "The Rules of the Game" along as a bonus. Those are all bonafide classics, but I've always thought of 1998 as a year filled with top notch entertainment. "Saving Private Ryan", "Pleasantville", "The Truman Show", "There's Something About Mary", "Out Of Sight", "The Big Lebowski", "Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels", "Rushmore", and "Blues Brothers 2000" have all made lasting impressions on me, and that's not counting the other great 1998 films I haven't yet watched. I'm aware now that 1998 was the year I started to notice non-Disney films so those 12 months of movies hold a special place in my mind.

"Dark City" was Roger Ebert's pick for "Best Movie of 1998", (Siskel's was "Babe: Pig In The City", another 1998 classic I haven't yet seen). It's also one of the few DVD's he's done a commentary track for, indicating his support and love for it. I've always been interested in seeing it; I'd only heard that it was similar to "The Matrix", but better and released earlier. I also dig those mindbending sci-fi thrillers in the vein of "Minority Report", "Vanilla Sky", and the 1960's classic "Seconds" (See Seconds NOW).

Anyway after not only watching "Dark City" for the very first time, but also choosing to indulge in the 11 minute extra "Director's Cut" for my first taste of the movie, I feel like the case for 1998 being a golden year for cinema has just gotten a little stronger. This movie is a trip. The title is pretty literal, the setting is a "Dark City", and this dark city is home to some of the most engrossing effects I've ever seen. You can keep your Avatar, here director Alex Proyas has buildings grow and shape themselves like organic objects in his 1930's film noir town. You are thrown right in without a net right from the start as it seems to be a noirish detective story. A man wakes up in a hotel tub with amnesia, next to a dead body. As he struggles to figure out what's going on, we do too..., but all of a sudden things go kind of crazy and you realize this is a totally different world you're dealing with. Answers don't come fast and they don't come easy. By the end, there is a bit of exposition to fill in some of the blanks that appear, but while that helps answer some questions, it also raises lots more.

As I watched more and more, I realized what made "Dark City" stand out from other similar movies of its time period was its overall feel and design. Proyas was hugely influenced by the silent German expressionistic movies of the early part of the 20th century. The city in this movie is vast and mysterious, and becomes almost terrifying once you see it grow and morph. There is no sun and the constant electrical light adds a lot to the atomsphere. There were times where I was reminded of Terry Gilliam's "Brazil", especially during the chase scenes. Thinking your safe, but then realizing you are not where you supposed you were is a terrifying feeling.

There's a great cast including Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connolly, Kiefer Sutherland, and William Hurt (who, like Michael Caine, makes any movie better; example: Mr. Brooks). Sewell and Connolly both do fine work, but their characters aren't very interesting. Hurt is a police detective and no one plays a noble authority figure like William Hurt. He fits perfectly into this mashed up film noirish world. Kiefer Sutherland, in between his roles as the raging a-hole in "Stand By Me" and Jack Bauer is almost unrecognizable as a sort of Quasimodo psych doctor who knows the secrets of the city. He's really fun to watch and even as his character is somewhat over the top, he manages to underplay that. There's also a character who's a former policeman, who's going crazy because he's started to realize what wrong with their world. Apparently Proyas was going to base the story around this character, but flipped it to focus on Sewell's "fugitive" character instead to make it less analytical and more emotional. Well the crazy police guy is also fun to watch and fills his scenes perfectly.

The plot itself is more a story to ponder than to watch. Halfway through I realized I wasn't that interested in what was happening, I just wanted to find out the answers to what was going on. It also stuck me fascinating just how many "This isn't what you think it is" stories were produced in the late '90s-early '00s period. At various points I was reminded of the inferior "Thirteenth Floor", "The Truman Show", and "Vanilla Sky". There's also a fantastic "Twilight Zone" episode referenced in "Vanilla Sky" that also falls into this sort of genre. "Shadow Play" with Dennis Weaver, about a guy on death row claiming that the world is only his recurring nightmare he has over and over. As a piece of art, "Dark City" is 5 stars, fantastic. It wasn't nominated for any Oscars, not even an Art Direction one, which is ridiculous. As a story however, it has its faults, which is why I still love "The Truman Show" and "Pleasantville" much more