Rules of Fight Club Speech Brad Pitt: The Actor and The Script
The famous scene, Rules of Fight Club, may be 10 years old, but it's still captivating movie goers who saw it first time round and it's gaining new fans all the time.
Why? It's become one of the classic cult scenes in movie history for many reasons. The first is, the script. And it's also because it's a near-perfect fusion of screenplay, direction, acting, visual grammar, structure, characterisation and, of course, sharp, crisp dialogue. All these elements come together and are driven by intelligence.
The whole Rules of Fight Club scene revolves around a speech of a few monosyllables.The cuts away from Tyler(Brad Pitt) to the men taking off rings, belts, ties, contribute to building the tension, and so does the whole mood and atmosphere of the darkened space. This is visual grammar of the highest order.
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What MakesThe Rules of Fight Club Scene So Unforgettable?
What else makes The Rules of Fight Club speech one of the classic scenes of cinema history?
Like all unforgettable scenes in movies, it's one all screenwriters should study, if you want to keep learning how to write a screenplay of orginality and power. And it's a particularly valuable scene to analyse in terms of Brad Pitt's acting.
The direction and visuals for the Rules of Fight Club scene, as with the whole movie are, as already mentioned, superb. The speech lasts less than two minutes, but it's one of the most significant moments in the movie. It's a masterly example of building tension in surface and emotional plot simultaneously.
Rules of Fight Club Video Clip
Click here to view Fight Club Rules Video Clip from evtv.(There might be a brief commercial before the clip starts)
Is The Rules of Fight Club speech the 'Inciting Incident'? Does It Matter?
Yes, it's a pivotal moment. This is where Tyler's Fight Club begins. You might say the so-called 'Inciting Incident' occurs earlier in the movie when Jack meets Tyler on the plane, or when Tyler makes Jack hit him. Or is the Rules of Fight Club scene 'Plot Point I'?
It's certainly a catalyst for the story that follows. But I suspect the screenwriter wasn't agonizing over what technical terms to call this scene when he wrote it.
Economy of Words - Subtlety of Acting
The important thing is the emotional pull of the scene. And Brad Pitt plays it subtle.
The economy of words here is exemplary. But it is achieves a powerful rhetoric in its rhythm - and most crucially - in the way the speech is delivered by the actor.
The tension from the way the syntax and rhythm of Tyler's language builds communicates to the men as they take off belts, shoes and rings.
Notice the delivery of the speech. The repetition of 'The Rules of Fight Club' is made to build tension. But again, imagine how this speech could have been delivered by a lesser actor.
Imagine the speech being delivered by different actors. An actor milking the dramatic impact for all its worth - punching the lines, striding around, arms up in emphatic gestures.
And the screenwriter's job is to make sure the words make their meaning in such a way that the actor will respond to them in the way you have hoped.
But there is nothing more satisfying for a screenwriter than when an actor is inspired to create something new from your script.
The Script: Rules of Fight Club
Take a look at the draft of the scene here.
INT. TAVERN BASEMENT - SAME
A BOMB-SHELTER. Concrete walls. One BARE BULB above, Tyler
standing directly beneath it.
TYLER
Welcome to fight club.
The guys mill around, finding partners. Everyone brims with
eagerness, but tries to act cool. CHATTER gets LOUDER.
Everyone spreads out, forming a circle, Tyler at center.
JACK (V.O.)
Every week, Tyler gave the rules that
he and I decided.
PEAKING CHATTER, till Tyler raises his arms and the CHATTER
DIES. A couple of COUGHS, FEET SHUFFLING, then, SILENCE.
TYLER
The first rule of fight club is --
you don't talk about fight club. The
second rule of fight club is -- you
don't talk about fight club. The
third rule of fight club is -- when
someone says "stop" or goes limp, the
fight is over. Fourth rule is --
only two guys to a fight. Fifth
rule -- one fight at a time. Sixth
rule -- no shirts, no shoes. Seventh
rule -- fights go on as long as they
have to. And the eighth and final
rule -- if this is your first night
at fight club, you have to fight.
Tyler steps back. A short guy, RICKY, and a GOATEED MAN
take off shirts and shoes and step to the center.
JACK (V.O.)
This kid, Ricky -- supply clerk --
couldn't remember whether you ordered
pens with blue ink or black ink ...
The two fighters circle, then begin throwing PUNCHES...
JACK (V.O.)
But Ricky was a god for ten minutes
last week when he trounced an actuary
twice his size.
Harder, faster PUNCHES between the two. SWEAT flies.
SHOUTS become DEAFENING. Ricky's getting the best of
Goateed Man, POUNDING him...
JACK (V.O.)
Sometimes all you could hear were
flat, hard packing sounds over the
yelling, or the wet choke when
someone caught their breath and
sprayed...
GOATEED MAN
(spittle-lipped)
Ssssstop... !
Notice that there is no stage direction for Pitt with this speech. He is simply given the words.
Notice, too, how Pitt delivers each of those few words - especially that pause in the last line ' If this is your first night at Fight Club. You have to fight.'
One Aspect of Screenwriting Advice That Is Seriously Understimated...
...is how important it is for the screenwriter to let the actor doing the acting.
Whenever you feel tempted to tell an actor where to punch a line, STOP!
The screenplay's words in this speech are bald, simple, powerful. A good actor takes his or her cue from the words on the page. They don't want to be told how to act them.
One of the most valuable exercises for a screenwriter is to read a screenplay, watch the movie - and look at what the actors have done with the words on the page.
And whenever you get the chance, to listen to really good actors. They can illuminate all kinds of things about the art and craft of screenwriting.
Brad Pitt and Edward Norton Talk About Fight Club: Video Clip
Here's a video of an interview with Brad Pitt and Edward Norton talking about Fight Club:
Brad Pitt and director David Fincher have teamed up again for the 13-Oscar-nominated movie The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.
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