Of all the dark, disturbed visions of urban decay, Alex Proyas’ “Dark City” has to stand as one of the greatest. With its sad, mysterious streets and rotting structures, it could stand as a monument to art direction for its twisted distillation of German expressionism and every crime film of the 1950s. Much like “Blade Runner,” “Dark City” creates an entire world out of abandonment and decay — an urban society ruled by fear and distrust.
When the film came out in 1998, it got some critical acclaim but was passed over by audiences and quickly forgotten. It has since gained some popularity on video and DVD, and a few critics, notably Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert, have called it one of the best films of the 1990s.
The film could certainly defend that title. The story concerns John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell), who wakes up one night in a bathtub with no memory of his past. He also finds he is suspected of multiple murders and is being hunted down by police. After numerous close calls, he ends up wandering the streets.
All of this is merely a pretext to the film’s true plot, which concerns a grand experiment being performed on the denizens of the city by a race called The Strangers. They control the city — move buildings, change the memories of the people and refine the entire system — while trying to find what makes humans the way they are. Images of the black-clad Strangers wandering the streets are some of the most memorable in the film, not to mention one incredible set of special effects. As Murdoch comes to realize what is really going on and who he really is (or is supposed to be), the film really takes off, with the Strangers chasing him through the city as it reorganizes itself like a living entity.
This story, while compelling, is almost buried under the visual appeal of the film. The movie’s tone and intensity are set entirely by the visual style, with the acting serving only as a functional piece of the whole. This style is so ingrained into the film that it’s often easy to miss some of things the director does.
For instance, notice how there are very few tracking shots. Instead, the camera stays in place for a moment, then cuts to a new angle of the same image, moving forward in a subtle but awkward fashion, like pieces of a puzzle being put together but never quite fitting. That this style plays into the themes of the film is a wonderfully sly example of technical and artistic ability being combined.
The film also works as a combination of styles, mixing dark visions of film noir with outlandishly bizarre but deeply symbolic images of German expressionist films of the 1920s — particularly those of Fritz Lang (his “Metropolis” is all over the place here).
The filmmakers put these styles together without merely creating a cultural grab bag of cool images stolen from other places, something that is to their credit. Other films, like “The Matrix,” commit a sort of cinematic theft with their imagery, taking what is currently trendy and turning it into box office magic. But with its empty symbolism and meaningless plot, “The Matrix” trilogy will likely be remembered as merely an entertaining diversion. “Dark City” is real cinematic artistry, and that’s something you can’t steal from anyone else.