#498. Dark City (1998)

Directed By: Alex Proyas

Starring: Rufus Sewell, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly



Tag line: "They built the city to see what makes us tick. Last night one of us went off"

Trivia: New Line Cinema forced Alex Proyas to include the opening narration by Kiefer Sutherland, which Proyas objected to, saying it was unnecessary

Drector Alex Proyas' Dark City is a marriage of genres: the harsh reality of film noir and the fantasy of science fiction. Yet despite its pairing of these often conflicting themes, the movie works. 

In fact, I'd say Dark City does more than just “work”...it flourishes.

John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) wakes one evening in a state of utter confusion. Suffering from a sudden bout of amnesia, he doesn’t remember anything; not who he is, not how he ended up in a seedy motel room, or that he even has a wife, Emma (Jennifer Connelly), from whom he was recently separated. 

More importantly, Murdoch has no idea whether or not he’s the one committing a series of grisly murders. 

Yet it seems there’s more than memory loss and homicide afoot in this particular part of town. After meeting the bizarre Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland), Murdoch discovers the the city he and his fellow citizens call home is being controlled by an alien race, which, for quite some time, has been conducting experiments on the human population. These beings are so advanced that they can alter the layout of an entire city block just by using their minds, a power they call “tuning”.  

When Murdoch discovers that he, too, possesses this unique ability, he and Dr. Schraber concoct a plan to beat the aliens at their own game. 

Film noir (a French term which, translated literally, means ‘black film’) is a genre that caters to the darkness, not only in style, but subject matter as well. By opening the movie with the storyline of a homicidal maniac, one who gets their kicks carving up prostitutes, Dark City aptly earns the ‘dark’ of its title. Moreover, Proyas successfully recreates the noir atmosphere made popular in the films of the 40’s and 50’s, and builds a bleak, sinister world in the process (a detached, often sarcastic detective investigating the murders, played by William Hurt, is yet another link to the world of film noir). 

But this world is a lie, thus ushering in the science fiction of Dark City, and as sci-fi tales go, this one's a beauty. 

The gloomy surroundings that Murdoch and the others believe to be real are actually manufactured by a race of creepy aliens, who have secretly imprisoned the population in order to study them. Wielding incredible powers, the aliens can stop time, modify the landscape, and - with the help of the unwilling Dr. Schreber - alter an individual’s memory. Skyscrapers spring from the earth like trees, and the lives and personalities of an entire family can be changed in a matter of minutes. I was impressed with Dark City's noirish ambiance, but it's the sci-fi that makes it so damned engaging. 

Gaining points for originality and style, Dark City is essentially two movies in one; as crafted by Proyas, either of the film’s genre manifestations could function as their own feature-length motion picture. But just wait until you see what happens when they get together!