Are You With Us?: Dark City
By Shalimar Sahota
September 10, 2009
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Starring – Rufus Sewell (John Murdoch), Kiefer Sutherland (Dr. Daniel Schreber), Jennifer Connelly (Emma Murdoch), Richard O'Brien (Mr. Hand), Ian Richardson (Mr. Book), William Hurt (Inspector Frank Bumstead), Colin Friels (Detective Eddie Walenski), Melissa George (May)
Length – 96 minutes
Cert – 15 / R
For some, a cult film is usually one way of describing a bad film or some low budget, straight-to-video tosh starring someone you just about recognize but can't quite put a name to those breasts. I hate to go all Randy Meeks here, but according to the rules, a cult film must have been viewed by about no more than than ten people during its initial release, only to be rediscovered on video, DVD or television broadcasts by a small devoted fan base of like-minded people who have trouble getting to sleep. The films themselves are often difficult to categorize because they combine genres, going against all manner of conventions. Since its release, Dark City has gained cult classic status.
A man (Sewell) wakes up in the bathtub of a hotel room with no recollection as to how he got there. As he searches his room, he finds that he is not alone, with the corpse of a mutilated woman next to the bed, along with a bloody knife. Within minutes he receives a phone call from a Dr. Daniel Schreber (Sutherland), telling him to leave because people are coming for him. He's actually quite popular, for his estranged wife Emma (Connelly) is after him, Inspector Frank Bumstead (Hurt) believes he's a murderer and some strange tall-black-suited-men known as The Strangers want him dead. But first he has to find out just who he is and what's going on.
It's best to go in to Dark City knowing as little as possible. Although I do my best to be spoiler-free, if you haven't seen it yet, but would like to, it might be best to stop reading altogether.
You almost expect to see "based on the novel by Phillip K. Dick" in the credits, but the astonishing thing here is that the film is an original from the mind of Alex Proyas, as he, Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer worked on the screenplay. Interestingly, Goyer also wrote Blade, which was released the same year. Both films could be seen as a forerunner to The Matrix released the following year.
Dark City effectively manages to mix the conventions of film noir with science fiction; a combination studio heads refuse to greenlight these days because the chances of such a film making profit are the same as finding Bin Laden come down your chimney at Christmas; Minority Report being the main exception. The film also lets the viewers know that this isn't a conventional murder mystery story with the early introduction of The Strangers; tall creepy men who sound like crickets and even have the ability to make the inhabitants of the city fall asleep. Proyas brought the idea of "Stranger" characters back, updating them for his film Knowing.
With its mix of genres, the film also flits between two closely related subcultures. The sci-fi story and underground setting have many classing the film as cyberpunk. However, the cityscape and the cars, the costumes and décor, right down to the microphone Emma is singing into and being charged a quarter for the bus fare all implies that this might be set in the 1940s or 1950s; thus the film is often labelled as steampunk by some (just look at how exquisitely detailed Dr. Schreber's medical equipment is). The overall look of the film is an outstanding gothic delight, all thanks to the production design by Patrick Tatopoulos and George Liddle. Some of the sets were even reused for the opening scene in The Matrix. Tatopoulos worked with Proyas once again on I, Robot.
The performances are generally acceptable, yet they come second to the over-the-top aesthetic and the blistering rate at which the plot unfolds, keeping you hooked, as almost every scene offers tiny clues. Sewell wasn't doing much leading man business before this, and seemed an unusual choice to portray the protagonist, but carries the confusion well. "You know something, I don't think the sun even exists in this place," he says, as interestingly his character goes from being an amnesiac to an anomaly who recalls more about the inner workings of the city than its inhabitants. Sutherland is notable due to the mannerisms of his nervous Dr. Schreber, incorporating a limp and short breaks in his speech.
Watching it might remind one of classics such as Blade Runner, Metropolis, Akira, The Truman Show and even Proyas' own The Crow (a rooftop chase retreads familiar ground), though Proyas claims he was influenced more by sci-fi literature. The list may be smaller, but Dark City has certainly had an impact on other films, such as Cypher and City of Ember. Even Joss Whedon's TV series Dollhouse incorporates a few plot devices.
When it came to marketing the film, New Line Cinema produced a great poster (with a cool tagline), and an impressively shambolic trailer, which is practically a music video for Hughes Hall's amazing song Sleep Now, from the film's soundtrack. Presenting a montage of stunning clips with no dialogue whatsoever, it offered little indication as to what the story was and merely added to the confusion. This might explain its dismal performance at the box office. Opening in February 1998, while Titanic was still topping the charts, it made a new entry at #4 with a modest take of $5.5 million. Despite positive reviews, it dropped considerably after that. With a budget of $27 million, it managed only $14.3 million in the US and $12.8 million internationally.
It may not have been quite the box office breakout at the time, but over the years it has gathered quite a following, with author Neil Gaiman and critic Roger Ebert being such huge fans they even make appearances on the DVD. Ebert recorded a commentary for it. To celebrate its tenth anniversary a director's cut was released on DVD and Blu-Ray last year. This edition has over ten minutes of additional, extended and even altered scenes, such as the removal of the opening narration, which Proyas explained was forced upon him by New Line Cinema, explaining a number of plot twists for simpletons like me.
Proyas may only have six feature films to his name, but despite whatever criticism comes his way, he's one of the few directors that continues to make original work. Dark City clearly isn't appropriate for anyone with an affliction to intelligence, but then neither is having a baby. It's an ambitious, mind-bending mystery, which is essential if you haven't seen it, and if you have, then give the director's cut a go.