One of the most powerful aspects is the screenwriter's skill in producing an explosive combination of brutality and humour. He, together with Fincher and editor James Haygood, unleashes a torrent of verbal and visual information that keeps us concentrating for 139 minutes.
1. First and foremost: Intelligence.
Look how he explores the deep existential themes of the story found in Chuck Palahniuk's novel of the same name. He makes them accessible and entertaining but not in a dumbed-down way.
This is a biting satire on the deadening force of capitalist consumerism. At first we're laughing at Norton's character trying to find meaning in a dead universe, then brought up sharp as we watch him discover his violent urges.
2. Also First and foremost: A Powerful Moral Premise.
It's this kind of intelligence that the writer, with his director, brings to the deep moral issues of the story.
When Norton's character starts to embrace the dark side he didn't know he had, the audience is encouraged to feel glad for him.
What we are actually doing is condoning the violence. Tyler and his 'pupil' seem to take no responsibility for their brutality. Instead, it's as though we in the audience are being asked to do so.
3. Not Afraid To Rip Us Out Of Our Comfort-Zones
How does he do all this?
Humour as an assault course. It runs through the whole screenplay not as soft comedy but pitch-black, hard-hitting and designed to rip us out of our comfort zones.
Look out for the scenes where Norton goes to the support groups, where cancer sufferers are given a comic treatment and we're wanting to recoil.
Less black, is when Norton's character is staring at an open magazine we take to be a men's rag, only to discover he's deliberating over what furniture to choose from an Ikea catalogue. And when all his carefully chosen collection of possessions explodes into oblivion.
4. Dialogue Savagely Witty and Razor-edged Clever.
This is one of the truly outstanding elements of Fight Club.
The dialogue is inextricably woven into all the other elements of the script. It not only reveals deep character it works like an engine powering the characters' emotional arc.
Look out for all those knowing popular culture references,the verbal and visual jokes against mindless consumerism and the corporate culture.
Absolutely Brilliant Use of Visual Grammar
- to create a visceral, palpable world for the characters to inhabit. But also to express the story's moral themes to devastating effect.
See how many visual references to capitalism you can spot.
Have a look at the clips
here
Go to Rules of Fight Club
Read the Script by clicking this link
Going back to a movie several years after it was made is a valuable exercise. With a script like this that stands the test of time, you can learn at least some of what it takes to create an outstanding screenplay.
So, read, and watch.
And be inspired to make your screenplay original.
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