Dark City (1998)

INTRODUCTION

Dark city (1998) is a movie that released on 27th February 1998 which directed by Alex Proyas, who is an Australian film director, scriptwriter and producer. He is a best known for directing this Dark City film, Gods of Egypt and others. 

So basically I would like to choose the German Expression as the theory to discuss about this film and how this theory shown and applied in this film. So what is German Expression? German Expression is an artistic genre that originated in Europe. In this film, there are few characteristics or styles of German Expression were included. And now, I would like to discuss about what's style were included in this film as below. 

SYNOPSIS

John Murdoch awakens in a strange hotel to find that he has lost his memory and is wanted for a series of murders. He stumbles over an evil underworld controlled by a group of aliens which known as The Strangers who possess the ability or power to make people in city sleep and transform the city when John Murdoch trying to piece together his past. John Murdoch got to find a way in order to stop the aliens or strangers before they control and destroy John's minds or memories.

ANALYSIS

First of all, the styles in German Expression which included in this film is the distorted bodies and the shapes which give a meaning of the spatial arrangement of something as distinct from its substance. The most obvious example is the movement of the Aliens or the Strangers move is not by walking but is fluttering.   

For example, the buildings in the city were changing landscape when The Strangers tend to catch John Murdoch. Obviously, this scene shown where the buildings in dark city were twisted and squeezed when The Strangers and John Murdoch who having the ability to make the buildings changed were fighting each other. All the buildings sprout from the ground up in a very realistic form, shaping and deforming as they shoot upwards. This overall shown the density of the city.

Not only this, John Murdoch and the head of the Strangers or aliens begin their "tuning" combat battle, resulting in a brilliant display of light and the crook effect. This scene shown the distortion wave popple from the center of the Strangers' machinery. 

Furthermore, the Surrealism also can be found in this film. Surrealism gives a meaning of super real. It's the superior reality of certain forms of association found in dream. In this film, the city as facts of the different eras on earth. For example, the Dr.Schreber put the two rats into the small maze shown that the city was the maze and the rats were the human who lived in the city and all of this is an experiment as well. Humans' memories keep on changing until all the humans thought that the memories in their mind were real but in fact it's not. 

In addition, the chiaroscuro lighting was used. Chiaroscuro lighting is the high contrast or the low key lighting. For example, John Murdoch walked in the dark street which people can't even see his face due to the lighting setting. 

Last but not least, there are few categories which fall under the themes were also included in this film which are the sexual savagery, the primitive, the self-analysis, the revolt and the madness. 

In this scene, the sexual savagery theme shown. The Strangers or Aliens murdered the woman by using the knife to draw a circle with no ending. 

The primitive theme was existed in this film where the Strangers use the knife which counted as a slasher weapons to murder the human or the woman. 

Beside this, the self-analysis theme was existed too where John Murdoch trying and wanted to find his own identity after he woke up and encountered with the memories lost problem. He keep on questioning himself and also the things surrounded him.

The revolt theme was existed in the scene where John Murdoch supposed not to be have the ability of tuning power in the system but he tend to adapted and developed it. He also went to against the Aliens and the system as well, this action called revolt. 

Lastly, the madness theme existed where the inspector Frank Bumstead was mad when he broke down the wall in order to search for the truth. Another example is John has the ability to reshaping the city in whatever way he want. He end up reshape the city as the shell beach and also the Anna due to the reasons of John was too obsession with the shell beach and also Anna. 

CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, the combinations of those theory as above mentioned could really make this film become more attractive and interesting. A film should not only include the mix genre but also need too include the theories as above so that can bring out a more different film as well.