Dark City (Richard O'Brien)

...of the Matrix. But instead, Dark City is huge inspiration for the aforementioned trilogy - a conspiracy, Strangers/Agents, the darkness, the special effects. So the effects may not be on par, but Dark City's effort works for the film.

Rufus Sewell is not an actor that one would usually expect to see as the foreground character but is most certainly a great and underused actor. Recently he was Charles II in 'The Power and the Passion' ...
...is that it is too dark - it is night time all of the way through the film. This shouldn't put people off of the film, however, because this creates the gloom of the city which is so important in realising why all of the characters seem so sad and glum and why the Strangers must be defeated.

In the realm of special effects, they are very good, even though some parts you know could be done better with today's computers. What is not to ... more

Cast:
Rufus Sewell as John Murdoch
William Hurt as Inspector Frank Bumstead
Kiefer Sutherland as Dr. Daniel Schreber
Jennifer Connelly as Emma Murdoch/Anna
Richard O'Brien as Mr. Hand
Ian Richardson as Mr. Book

Imagine an inescapable city that is forever in darkness. The population live their lives, play their roles, as at each midnight telekinetic aliens shape the city to set up experiments in a desperate search to find the human soul. Dr Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland) calls them 'The Strangers' and they are a race dying out. He was forced to erase his own memory and now he helps them in their experiments as an artist to slice personalities and histories like putting paint to canvas and then injects this colourful fluid into the subjects. At midnight, the humans fall asleep as the Strangers do their work, but one has just woken up and has somehow inherited the telekinetic power of the aliens: so called 'Tuning'. He has woken up to find himself in the guise of a murderer and must go on the run, his memory lost, to find out where he is and how he is to defeat the kidnapping Strangers.

This is probably one of the greatest sci-fi films ever produced, in my honest opinion, due to the wonderful world that has been created by Alex Proyas (who directed and wrote the film) in the same style as his other directorial effort: The Crow. Now, I wasn't too keen on the Crow as a film so what is must be here, is not just the brilliant scope of the world and the use of lighting, but the excellent performances from the cast and the unique storyline. If this film was released today, it would get by as a spawn of the Matrix. But instead, Dark City is huge inspiration for the aforementioned trilogy - a conspiracy, Strangers/Agents, the darkness, the special effects. So the effects may not be on par, but Dark City's effort works for the film.

Rufus Sewell is not an actor that one would usually expect to see as the foreground character but is most certainly a great and underused actor. Recently he was Charles II in 'The Power and the Passion' and even Agamemnon in 'Helen of Troy'. Here he is draped in a trenchcoat and journeys about the mystical city in pursuit of answers and a way out, constantly looking at a postcard he found when he woke up of Shell Beach, a place that may or may not exist and that no one in the city can remember the way to. It is this simple image that is the hope in the whole film and to centre the desperation to escape claustrophobic world around this is a very original idea. Sewell does not overact like many could have done and gives the film part of its human edge.

William Hurt, meanwhile, represents the other human edge to the film, his love of the accordian clamping us firmly to the real world. He plays an inspector working to find Sewell as he is thought to be the murderer of six women, but he soon finds that this is not the main fascination in John Murdoch but his strange questions of 'Can you ever remember the daytime?' and 'Can you remember the way to Shell Beach?' His gruff persona and the subsequent destruction of the hard edge into a desperate need for himself to find the truth makes you want to find out too.

This is pre-'24' so Kiefer Sutherland, although he had been in many films before 'Dark City', was never considered a headlining name. His voice here as Schreber is whispery and can get a little annoying but he is our way in to the world of the Strangers so he is soon forgiven and must be put up with. There's no doubting that he's right for the part, though, it's just a tad cliche in his mad professor alike persona.

Jennifer Connoly heads up the love interest and here she looks so graceful and human that the love between her and Sewell seems so clear cut. She isn't given as much screen time as the others which is a bit disappointing as one would expect her to more or less come along for the adventure. Sadly, however, that is not to be and the plot overpowers the characters in parts of the film.

Richard O'Brien is simply called 'Mr. Hand' and reminds us all of his turn in 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show' without the timewarp. He is one of the Strangers who has himself injected with the memories that were only half imprinted into Sewell's character. These turn him into the murderer that Murdoch was supposed to become and the straightforward alien is turned into a masochistic horror that disgusts. His presence on screen is ever needed, however, due to his powerful presence and daunting face.

Ian Richardson seems a bit out of place, keeping the straightest face throughout the film - now we know where he got his character for Lord Groan in the TV film adap of Gormenghast. He doesn't get much presence on screen which is a shame but the final battle between him and Murdoch at the end of the film can only be described as Neo v Agent Smith in the Matrix Revolutions using telekinetic powers, so for someone at the age of 64 at the time that's pretty good!

What many find to be the problem with this film is that it is too dark - it is night time all of the way through the film. This shouldn't put people off of the film, however, because this creates the gloom of the city which is so important in realising why all of the characters seem so sad and glum and why the Strangers must be defeated.

In the realm of special effects, they are very good, even though some parts you know could be done better with today's computers. What is not to be missed, however, is the feeling of what is just that comes at the end of the film - here the effects work very well and expand the mystical creation that is Dark City.

DVD:
R1 - If you have an American DVD player or a multi region, go for the R1 - a few more special features including a comparison with Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis'.
£12.99 at www.playusa.com
R2 - Has a trailer and a short making of but nothing out-of-this world for special features.
£8.99 at www.play.com 

...less