Film Opening

Fight Club is a psychological thriller about an unnamed insomniac (often referred to by viewers as The Narrator as there is an undiagetic narration by him throughout the whole film, the source of information for much of the plot of the film) who struggles with his issues with consumerism and sets up a fight club, initially as a way of dealing with his daily life.

The opening starts with the camera moving backwards through what we find out to be the brain of The Narrator. The dark, flashing lights and fast rhythmic music immediately anchor the overall eerie and fast-paced atmosphere of the film. The camera eventually comes out, up the barrel of a gun and The Narrator is seen for the first time in a very graphic way with sweat pouring down his face and his eyes wide. This is very enigmatic for the audience as there is no build up to this situation. We hear the holder of the gun talking to The Narrator as he looks out of a skyscraper window but do not see his face, again creating a sense of mystery and confusion for the audience, as well as anchoring the genre again with with genre specific iconography such as the gun. The gun holder is introduced by The Narrator as Tyler, but no more is said about this character in the sequence so we do not get any insight into his character or importance in the film. The Narrator then starts talking about explosives which are going to set off in the building as the camera very quickly pans down the building into the basement, showing the explosives as well as panning across into another building to show more explosives. This adds to the overall sense of confusion and unease in the audience now as there is no explanation whatsoever as to why these explosives are there. The camera then cuts back to The Narrator's face and he mentions Marla Singer, but says no more about her, before the scene ends.

The opening sequence is linear and takes place in the space of a few minutes. However, in the overall chronology of the film, this scene fits in right at the end of the film which the audience only realise at the end of the film, creating a ultimate sense of completion and a full circle, giving the whole film an interesting structure. Any overview of plot or characters is very brief or void in the opening sequence, enticing the audience and using the enigma as a hook to keep them interested.