TYLER
One minute.
(looking out window)
This is the beginning. We're at
ground zero. Maybe you should say a
few words, to mark the occasion.
JACK
... i... ann....iinn.. ff....nnyin...
JACK (V.O.)
With a gun barrel between your teeth,
you only speak in vowels.
Jack tongues the barrel to the side of his mouth.
JACK
(still distorted)
I can't think of anything.
JACK (V.O.)
With my tongue, I can feel the
rifling in the barrel. For a second,
I totally forgot about Tyler's whole
controlled demolition thing and I
wondered how clean this gun is.
Tyler checks his watch.
TYLER
It's getting exciting now.
JACK (V.O.)
That old saying, how you always hurt
the one you love, well, it works both
way.
Jack turns so that he can see down -- 31 STORIES.
JACK (V.O.)
We have front row seats for this
Theater of Mass Destruction. The
Demolitions Committee of Project
Mayhem wrapped the foundation columns
of ten buildings with blasting
gelatin. In two minutes, primary
charges will blow base charges, and
those buildings will be reduced to
smoldering rubble. I know this
because Tyler knows this.
TYLER
Look what we've accomplised.
(checks watch)
Thirty seconds.
JACK (V.O.)
Somehow, I realize all of this -- the
gun, the bombs, the revolution -- is
really about Marla Singer.
PULL BACK from Jack's face. It's pressed against TWO LARGE
BREASTS that belong to...BOB, 45, a moose of a man. Jack is
engulfed by Bob in an intense embrace. Bob weeps openly.
JACK (V.O.)
Bob had bitch tits.
Above is the script from one of my favorite movies, Fight Club. Having seen this movie, I pretty much know the whole story, and therefore I will analyze this in a structuralism view. The structure of the script of this movie is somewhat odd. It is the type of movie where you get totally lost in the beginning,but as you keep on watching, things start to clear out and makes sense. The structure of this movie is not like the typical movie we see everyday. With this movie having a twisted ending, the movie starts with the ending, then it cuts to the beginning and proceeds to rising action, climax and back to the solution again. This makes the audience totally lost in the beginning, but as they follow the story line from the beginning to where the story currently is, then the audience will slowly be able to grasp whats going on and unravel the confusion of the film. This is one of the aspects that make this such a great film. A sophisticated structure.
Above is the script of the very beginning of the film. In the very beginning, it is ironic that the narrator says " This is the beginning. We're at ground zero." because it is actually the same scene as the end. This is also used to create confusion and instantly gains the audience's attention because right at the beginning, there is a gun pointed towards the main character's face, making us know that he did something really wrong before and makes us want to know what put him into this horrible condition/situation.
As the scene goes on, the two main characters Tyler and Jack talking to each other. This would also mislead the audience into thinking that they are two different individuals and it would keep the audience thinking this way throughout the story until the end where the mystery is solved and we know that Tyler and Jack is actually the same person, just that Jack is the dark and chaotic side of Tyler. This would bring a shock to ALL the audience, having thought that they were two different people and that they have misinterpreted the whole movie.
As the talk goes on, explosions and destruction was mentioned showing that something bad was going to happen really soon. Words such as demolition, mass destruction, blasting, blow, smoldering rubble, are used to describe and emphasize the explosion; and with Jack checking on his watch, we know that it was happening soon.
As the conversation goes by, "Somehow, I realize all of this -- the gun, the bombs, the revolution -- is really about Marla Singer." This phrase shows up and strikes the audience in the face, making them wonder: "who in the hell is Marla Singer and what the heck does she have to do with all this?" This is also a good way to introduce a important character that has not appeared in the movie and is a good way to keep the audience confused as they wonder and try to understand the film.
Lastly, in the end of the scene is a cliff hanger. After Marla is mentioned, the whole scene disappears into a odd scene where everything is so peaceful with nothing much going on. This would leave the audience wondering what the beginning scene was and makes it possible to start telling the story of how Tyler got there.
GREAT MOVIE I RECOMMEND YOU WATCH IT.
PS. Brad Pitt was still handsome.
