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Thursday, September 30, 2004
Dark City
I watched Dark City on DVD last night, which was quite an event, considering that I'd never seen it on DVD (only at the cinema, all the way back when it was released).
For those who don't know, Dark City is an Australian film, written and directed by Alex Proyas (who did The Crow and most recently, I, Robot). If you've seen The Matrix, you'll already know more about Dark City than you would probably imagine.
I remember Quentin Tarantino saying that The Matrix was inspired by Dark City. From what I remembered of it, that was true.
But having watched Dark City again, I have concluded that The Matrix is heavily based on Dark City.
It's a bit difficult to describe unless you've seen both films. While The Matrix is still an incredibly innovative movie -- both in its actual story and in its film techniques -- it is nevertheless clearly and obviously inspired by Dark City.
Dark City is one of those rare movies; it's filled with fantastic dialogue, gorgeously morbid imagery and some very cool concepts.
As an Australian, I am often proud of the achievements of Australian film makers (who themselves are often making larger projects successful, like The Matrix or Lord of the Rings). However, many local movies tend to fall into two typical genres -- either they are quirky Aussie comedies, based around our unique sense of humor, or they are highly dramatic films that revolve around specific character relationships.
Now, that's all fine and good; most of those movies are great, and many of them are critically acclaimed.
However, I am disappointed that more writers and directors in Australia don't attempt to do something outside those genres. Dark City is a great example of Australian film making, but it's also a great example of film making in general.
If you like the truly twisted, you'll actually find that there are quite a few Australian films (and Australian creators) who can satisfy you. When I look at local movies that don't fall into the two above genres, I never really find typical action movies, horror movies, and so on. Instead, I find incredibly bizarre and twisted stuff. Dark City is probably the most visible of them, but there are certainly plenty more out there.
It's unfortunate, then, that the local industry often relies on American money. And in that sense, a lot of local creative talent is erroneously attributed to American directors and producers. But moreover, when you look at what Australian film creators can do with Hollywood-style budgets, you often see some very groundbreaking things.
While watching Dark City, I was actually kind of amazed that Alex Proyas also did I, Robot. The two are so very different. With Dark City, you can almost feel Proyas's love for what he's doing -- the movie has some absolutely stunning shots and some of the most twisted and wonderful imagery I've ever seen in a movie. It's as though Dark City was really a labor of love for him. I, Robot is nice, but that kind of love and personality just doesn't come through.
So, for those who haven't seen it, I strongly urge you to check out Dark City. And remember that it was made before The Matrix. Even the "end battle" in Dark City is very reminiscent of the final battle in The Matrix Revolutions, which I found interesting.
Does this mean I like The Matrix any less? Not really. All films have some kind of inspiration -- Kill Bill could only exist based on inspiration from other films. So I'm not worried about that. The main thing is, so many people know The Matrix and so few (comparitively) know Dark City. And that is a great shame.
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