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| name = Dark City
| name = Dark City
| image = Dark City poster.jpg
| image = Dark City poster.jpg
| alt = A black poster. Above reads the lines: "Rufus Sewell", "Kiefer Sutherland", "Jennifer Connelly", "and William Hurt". In the center, against a black background, a man wearing a blue jacket is rested against an upright clock as big as him, the setup cast in a blue tint. His arms are outspread, and his head is tilted back with his mouth agape. Behind the man and the clock is a dark city skyline. Below them is the tagline, "They built the city to see what makes us tick. Last night one of us went off." Below the tagline is the film title, "Dark City".
| alt = A black poster. Above reads the lines: "Rufus Sewell", "Kiefer Sutherland", "Jennifer Connelly", "and William Hurt". In the center, against a black background, a man wearing a blue jacket is rested against an upright clock with roman numerals as big as him; the setup cast in a blue tint. His arms are outspread, and his head is tilted back with his mouth agape. Behind the man and the clock is a dark city skyline. Below them is the tagline, "They built the city to see what makes us tick. Last night one of us went off." Below the tagline is the film title, "Dark City".
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Alex Proyas]]
| director = [[Alex Proyas]]
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| distributor = New Line Cinema<br />[[New Line Home Video]]
| distributor = New Line Cinema<br />[[New Line Home Video]]
| released = {{Start date|1998|02|27}}
| released = {{Start date|1998|02|27}}
| runtime = 100 minutes (theatrical cut)<br>111 minutes (director's cut)
| runtime = 100 minutes (theatrical cut)<br />111 minutes (director's cut)
| country = United States
| country = United States
| language = English
| language = English
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}}
}}


'''''Dark City''''' is a 1998 American [[science fiction]] film directed by [[Alex Proyas]]. It was adapted from a screenplay written by Proyas, [[David S. Goyer]], and [[Lem Dobbs]]. The film depicts a city in which human inhabitants never see the sun, as their lives are manipulated by people known as ''Strangers'', who mutually study humanity. [[Rufus Sewell]], [[William Hurt]], [[Kiefer Sutherland]], and [[Jennifer Connelly]] star.
'''''Dark City''''' is a 1998 American [[science fiction]] film directed by [[Alex Proyas]]. It was adapted from a screenplay written by Proyas, [[David S. Goyer]], and [[Lem Dobbs]]. The film depicts a city in which human inhabitants never see the sun, as their lives are manipulated by extraterrestrials referred to as the ''Strangers'', who masquerade as humans. The ''Strangers'' are committed to studying the race of humanity through experimentation. [[Rufus Sewell]], [[William Hurt]], [[Kiefer Sutherland]], and [[Jennifer Connelly]] star. ''Dark City'' explores the subject matter of murder, as well as abstract ideas such as hallucination and simulated reality.<ref>[[Alex Proyas|Proyas, Alex]] (Director). (1998). ''Dark City'' [Motion picture]. United States: [[New Line Cinema]].</ref>


The film was primarily shot in Australia. Following its screening in wide cinematic release, the film was nominated for multiple awards, including the Hugo and Saturn Awards. It also won a number of awards; among them from the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, and the Film Critics Circle of Australia. It was met with generally positive critical reviews from mainstream film journalists.
The film was primarily shot in Australia. Following its screening in wide cinematic release, the film was nominated for multiple awards, including the Hugo and Saturn Awards. It also won a number of awards; among them from the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, and the Film Critics Circle of Australia. It was met with generally positive critical reviews from mainstream film journalists.
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==Plot==
==Plot==
John Murdoch (Sewell) awakens in a hotel bathtub, suffering from what seems to be amnesia. He receives a telephone call from Dr. Daniel Schreber (Sutherland), who urges him to flee the hotel from a group of men who are after him. During the telephone conversation, John discovers the corpse of a brutalized, ritualistically murdered woman, along with a bloody knife. Murdoch flees the scene, just as the group of men (known as the Strangers) arrive at the room. Eventually he learns his real name, and finds his wife Emma (Connelly). He is also sought by police inspector Frank Bumstead (Hurt) for a series of murders allegedly committed by Murdoch, who cannot remember killing anybody. While being pursued by the Strangers, Murdoch discovers that he has [[psychokinesis|psychokinetic]] powers like them, and he uses these powers to escape from them. Murdoch moves about the city, which experiences perpetual night; the sun never shines (hence the movie title). He sees people become temporarily [[coma]]tose at midnight, when the Strangers stop time and alter the cityscape, as well as people's identities and memories. Murdoch questions the dark urban environment, and discovers -- through clues and interviews with his family -- that he was originally from a coastal town called Shell Beach. Attempts at finding a way out of the city to Shell Beach are hindered by lack of reliable information from everyone he meets. Meanwhile, the Strangers, disturbed by the presence of this human who also possesses psychokinetic powers, inject one of their men, Mr. Hand (O'Brien) with Murdoch's memories, in an attempt to find him.
John Murdoch (Sewell) awakens in a hotel bathtub, suffering from what seems to be amnesia. He receives a telephone call from Dr. Daniel Schreber (Sutherland), who urges him to flee the hotel from a group of men who are after him. During the telephone conversation, John discovers the corpse of a brutalized, ritualistically murdered woman, along with a bloody knife. Murdoch flees the scene, just as the group of men (known as the Strangers) arrive at the room. Eventually he learns his real name, and finds his wife Emma (Connelly). He is also sought by police inspector Frank Bumstead (Hurt) for a series of murders allegedly committed by Murdoch, who cannot remember killing anybody. While being pursued by the Strangers, Murdoch discovers that he has [[psychokinesis|psychokinetic]] powers like them, and he uses these powers to escape from them. Murdoch moves about the city, which experiences perpetual night; the sun never shines (hence the movie title). He sees people become temporarily [[coma]]tose at midnight, when the Strangers stop time and alter the cityscape, as well as people's identities and memories. Murdoch questions the dark urban environment, and discovers—through clues and interviews with his family—that he was originally from a coastal town called Shell Beach. Attempts at finding a way out of the city to Shell Beach are hindered by lack of reliable information from everyone he meets. Meanwhile, the Strangers, disturbed by the presence of this human who also possesses psychokinetic powers, inject one of their men, Mr. Hand (O'Brien) with Murdoch's memories, in an attempt to find him.


Murdoch eventually finds Bumstead, who recognizes Murdoch's innocence and has his own questions about the nature of the dark city. They find and confront Dr. Schreber, who explains that the Strangers are endangered [[extraterrestrial life in popular culture|extraterrestrial]] [[parasite]]s who use corpses as their hosts. Having a [[collective consciousness]], the Strangers have been experimenting with humans to analyze the human soul in the hopes that some insight might be revealed that would help their race survive -- the Strangers are in danger of going extinct. Schreber reveals Murdoch as an anomaly who inadvertently awoke during one midnight process, when Schreber was in the middle of fashioning his identity as a murderer. The three men embark to find Shell Beach, which ultimately exists only as a billboard at the edge of the city. Frustrated, Murdoch tears through the wall, revealing a hole into outer space. The men are confronted by the Strangers, including Mr. Hand, who holds Emma hostage. In the ensuing fight, Bumstead, along with one of the Strangers, falls through the hole into space, revealing the city as an enormous [[space habitat]] surrounded by a [[force field]].
Murdoch eventually finds Bumstead, who recognizes Murdoch's innocence and has his own questions about the nature of the dark city. They find and confront Dr. Schreber, who explains that the Strangers are endangered [[extraterrestrial life in popular culture|extraterrestrial]] [[parasite]]s who use corpses as their hosts. Having a [[collective consciousness]], the Strangers have been experimenting with humans to analyze the human soul in the hopes that some insight might be revealed that would help their race survive—the Strangers are in danger of going extinct. Schreber reveals Murdoch as an anomaly who inadvertently awoke during one midnight process, when Schreber was in the middle of fashioning his identity as a murderer. The three men embark to find Shell Beach, which ultimately exists only as a billboard at the edge of the city. Frustrated, Murdoch tears through the wall, revealing a hole into outer space. The men are confronted by the Strangers, including Mr. Hand, who holds Emma hostage. In the ensuing fight, Bumstead, along with one of the Strangers, falls through the hole into space, revealing the city as an enormous [[space habitat]] surrounded by a [[force field]].


The Strangers bring Murdoch to their home beneath the city and force Dr. Schreber to imprint Murdoch with their collective memory, believing Murdoch to be the final answer to their experiments. Schreber betrays them by inserting false memories in Murdoch which artificially reestablish his childhood as years spent training and honing his psychokinetic abilities and learning about the Strangers and their machines. Murdoch awakens, fully realizing his abilities, frees himself and battles with the Strangers, defeating their leader Mr. Book (Richardson) in a battle high above the city. After learning from Dr. Schreber that Emma's personality is gone and cannot be restored within her body, Murdoch utilizes his newfound powers through the Strangers' machine to create an actual Shell Beach by flooding the area within the force field with water and forming mountains and beaches. On his way to Shell Beach, Murdoch encounters Mr. Hand and informs him that the Strangers have been searching in the wrong place—the head—to understand humanity. Murdoch opens the door leading out of the city, and steps out to view a sunrise that he created. Beyond him is a dock, where he finds the woman he knew as Emma, now with new memories and a new identity as Anna. Murdoch reintroduces himself as they walk to Shell Beach, beginning their relationship anew.
The Strangers bring Murdoch to their home beneath the city and force Dr. Schreber to imprint Murdoch with their collective memory, believing Murdoch to be the final answer to their experiments. Schreber betrays them by inserting false memories in Murdoch which artificially reestablish his childhood as years spent training and honing his psychokinetic abilities and learning about the Strangers and their machines. Murdoch awakens, fully realizing his abilities, frees himself and battles with the Strangers, defeating their leader Mr. Book (Richardson) in a battle high above the city. After learning from Dr. Schreber that Emma's personality is gone and cannot be restored within her body, Murdoch utilizes his newfound powers through the Strangers' machine to create an actual Shell Beach by flooding the area within the force field with water and forming mountains and beaches. On his way to Shell Beach, Murdoch encounters Mr. Hand and informs him that the Strangers have been searching in the wrong place—the head—to understand humanity. Murdoch opens the door leading out of the city, and steps out to view a sunrise that he created. Beyond him is a dock, where he finds the woman he knew as Emma, now with new memories and a new identity as Anna. Murdoch reintroduces himself as they walk to Shell Beach, beginning their relationship anew.


==Cast==
==Cast==

[[Image:Kiefer Sutherland 2008.jpg|155px|thumb|right|Actor Kiefer Sutherland]]
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Alex Proyas based the characters The Strangers on O'Brien's character in ''[[The Rocky Horror Show]]''. Proyas said, "I had Richard in mind physically when I wrote the character, because I had these strange, bald-looking men with an ethereal, androgynous quality." When Proyas visited London to cast for the film, he met with O'Brien and found him suitable for the role.<ref name="wagner1997a9" />
Alex Proyas based the characters The Strangers on O'Brien's character in ''[[The Rocky Horror Show]]''. Proyas said, "I had Richard in mind physically when I wrote the character, because I had these strange, bald-looking men with an ethereal, androgynous quality." When Proyas visited London to cast for the film, he met with O'Brien and found him suitable for the role.<ref name="wagner1997a9" />


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===Soundtrack===
===Soundtrack===
The [[film soundtrack]] was released on February 24, 1998 by [[TVT Records]] label.<ref>Fawthrop, Peter. "[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ywf5zfhoeh7k ''Dark City'' (Original Soundtrack)]". [[Allmusic]]. Retrieved March 4, 2006.</ref> It features music from the original [[film score|score]] by [[Trevor Jones (composer)|Trevor Jones]], and versions of the songs "[[Sway (song)|Sway]]" and "[[The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (song)|The Night Has a Thousand Eyes]]" performed by singer [[Anita Kelsey]]. It also includes music by [[Hughes Hall (musician)|Hughes Hall]] from the [[trailer (film)|trailer]]<ref>[http://www.mysteryclock.com/video/large/darkcitytrailer_l.mov ''Dark City'' trailer] ([[QuickTime]]). Retrieved 2007-05-04.</ref>, as well as songs by [[Gary Numan]], [[Echo & the Bunnymen]], and [[Course of Empire]] that did not appear in the film.
The [[film soundtrack]] was released on February 24, 1998 by [[TVT Records]] label.<ref>Fawthrop, Peter. "[http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:ywf5zfhoeh7k ''Dark City'' (Original Soundtrack)]". [[Allmusic]]. Retrieved March 4, 2006.</ref> It features music from the original [[film score|score]] by [[Trevor Jones (composer)|Trevor Jones]], and versions of the songs "[[Sway (song)|Sway]]" and "[[The Night Has a Thousand Eyes (song)|The Night Has a Thousand Eyes]]" performed by singer [[Anita Kelsey]]. It also includes music by [[Hughes Hall (musician)|Hughes Hall]] from the [[trailer (film)|trailer]]<ref>[http://www.mysteryclock.com/video/large/darkcitytrailer_l.mov ''Dark City'' trailer] ([[QuickTime]]). Retrieved 2007-05-04.</ref>, as well as songs by [[Gary Numan]], [[Echo & the Bunnymen]], and [[Course of Empire]] that did not appear in the film. The music for the film was edited by Simon Leadley and Jim Harrison.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1800021141/cast |title=Dark City (1998) |accessdate=2010-09-01 |publisher=Yahoo! Movies}}</ref>


==Similarities to other works==
==Similarities to other works==
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One of the last scenes of the movie, in which buildings "restore" themselves, is strikingly similar to the last panel of the ''[[Akira (manga)|Akira]]'' [[manga]]. Proyas called the end battle a "homage to [[Katsuhiro Otomo|Otomo]]'s ''Akira''".<ref>Proyas, Alex. [http://web.archive.org/web/20071014191637/http://mysteryclock.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1647 Dark City DC: Original Ending !?], Mystery Clock Forum. 2006-07-29.</ref>
One of the last scenes of the movie, in which buildings "restore" themselves, is strikingly similar to the last panel of the ''[[Akira (manga)|Akira]]'' [[manga]]. Proyas called the end battle a "homage to [[Katsuhiro Otomo|Otomo]]'s ''Akira''".<ref>Proyas, Alex. [http://web.archive.org/web/20071014191637/http://mysteryclock.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=1647 Dark City DC: Original Ending !?], Mystery Clock Forum. 2006-07-29.</ref>


When [[Christopher Nolan]] first started thinking about writing the script for [[Inception (film)|Inception]], he was influenced by "that era of movies where you had ''[[The Matrix]]'', you had ''[[Dark City (1998 film)|Dark City]]'', you had ''[[The Thirteenth Floor]]'' and, to a certain extent, you had ''[[Memento (film)|Memento]]'', too. They were based in the principles that the world around you might not be real".<ref name=Boucher>{{cite news |last=Boucher |first=Geoff |title=''Inception'' breaks into dreams |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=2010-04-04 |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-inception4-2010apr04,0,6869939.story |accessdate=2010-04-06}}</ref>
When [[Christopher Nolan]] first started thinking about writing the script for [[Inception (film)|Inception]], he was influenced by "that era of movies where you had ''[[The Matrix]]'', you had ''Dark City'', you had ''[[The Thirteenth Floor]]'' and, to a certain extent, you had ''[[Memento (film)|Memento]]'', too. They were based in the principles that the world around you might not be real".<ref name=Boucher>{{cite news |last=Boucher |first=Geoff |title=''Inception'' breaks into dreams |work=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=2010-04-04 |url=http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-inception4-2010apr04,0,6869939.story |accessdate=2010-04-06}}</ref>


==Release==
==Release==
''Dark City'' was previously titled ''Dark World'' and ''Dark Empire'' leading up to the film's release. [[Warner Bros.]] wanted the filmmakers to consider the alternate titles due to the release of similarly titled ''[[Mad City (film)|Mad City]]'' in the same time frame, but ''Dark City'' was ultimately kept as the final title.<ref name="wagner1998a40" /> The film was originally scheduled to be released in theaters on October 17, 1997,<ref name="wagner1997b67" /> and it was later scheduled for January 9, 1998.<ref name="wagner1998a40" />
''Dark City'' was previously titled ''Dark World'' and ''Dark Empire'' leading up to the film's release. [[Warner Bros.]] wanted the filmmakers to consider the alternate titles due to the release of similarly titled ''[[Mad City (film)|Mad City]]'' in the same time frame, but ''Dark City'' was ultimately kept as the final title.<ref name="wagner1998a40" /> The film was originally scheduled to be released in theaters on October 17, 1997,<ref name="wagner1997b67" /> and it was later scheduled for January 9, 1998.<ref name="wagner1998a40" />


==Reception==
The film was screened out of competition at the [[1998 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{Citation |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4899/year/1998.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Dark City |accessdate=2009-10-04|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref>
===Critical response===
Among mainstream critics in the U.S., the film received generally positive reviews.<ref name="meta">[http://www.metacritic.com/movie/dark-city Dark City]. [[Metacritic]]. CNET Networks. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref> [[Rotten Tomatoes]] reported that 77% of 77 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 7.0 out of 10.<ref name="rt">[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/dark_city/ Dark City (1998)]. [[Rotten Tomatoes]]. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref> At [[Metacritic]], which assigns a [[weighted mean|weighted average]] out of 100 to critics' reviews, the film received a score of 66 based on 23 reviews.<ref name="meta" />


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==Critical reception==
|style="text-align: left;"|"No movie can ever have too much atmosphere, and ''Dark City'' exudes it from every frame of celluloid. Proyas' world isn't just a playground for his characters to romp in — it's an ominous place where viewers can get lost. We don't just coolly observe the bizarre, ever-changing skyline; we plunge into the city's benighted depths, following the protagonist as he explores the secrets of this grim place where the sun never shines. ''Dark City'' has as stunning a visual texture as that of any movie that I've seen."
Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] cited it as the best film of 1998.<ref name="ebert1">{{Citation | last=Ebert | first=Roger | authorlink=Roger Ebert | url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980227/REVIEWS/802270304/1023 | title=Dark City | work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] | date=February 27, 1998 | accessdate=July 28, 2009 }}</ref><ref>Ebert, Roger. "[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19981231/COMMENTARY/40308009/1023 The Best 10 Movies of 1998]". ''Chicago Sun-Times''. 1998-12-31</ref> In 2005, he included it on his "Great Movies" list.<ref name="greatmovies">Ebert, Roger. [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051106/REVIEWS08/511060302/1023 Great Movies: Dark City (2005)]. 2005-11-06.</ref> Ebert uses it in his teaching, and also appears on a [[audio commentary (DVD)|commentary track]] for the original [[DVD]] and the 2006 Director's Cut.<ref name="greatmovies"/>
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|style="text-align: left;"|—James Berardinelli, writing for ''ReelViews''<ref name="berar">Berardinelli, James (1998). [http://www.reelviews.net/php_review_template.php?identifier=123 Dark City]. ''[[ReelViews]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref>
|}
[[Roger Ebert]] writing in the ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]'' called it a "great visionary achievement," while also exclaiming that it was "a film so original and exciting, it stirred my imagination like ''Metropolis'' and ''2001: A Space Odyssey.''"<ref>Ebert, Roger (27 February 1998). [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980227/REVIEWS/802270304 Dark City]. ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref> In the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'', Peter Stack wrote that the film was "among the most memorable cinematic ventures in recent years", and that "maybe there's nothing wrong with a movie that is simply sensational to look at." He felt the film's "twisting of reality and its daring look — layered and off-kilter grays, greens and blacks — make it click."<ref>Stack, Peter (27 February 1998). [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/1998/02/27/DD53668.DTL Stunning visuals overshadow thriller's muddled plot]. ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref> In a mixed review, Walter Addiego of ''[[The San Francisco Examiner]]'' thought "as a story, ''Dark City'' doesn't amount to much." He believed ''Dark City'' contained a "complicated plot" while also having important themes that were "no more than window dressing". But on a positive front, he wrote, "what counts here is the show, the creation of a strange world by a filmmaker who clearly knows science fiction and fantasy, past and present, and wants to share his love for it."<ref>Addiego, Walter (27 February 1998). [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/e/a/1998/02/27/WEEKEND13156.dtl Grave new world with a murky plot]. ''[[The San Francisco Examiner]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref> Left unimpressed, Marc Savlov of the ''[[Austin Chronicle]]'' wrote, "You really have to feel for Alex Proyas. This guy wears bad luck like the grimy trenchcoats of his protagonists, only his zipper's stuck and he can't seem to shake the damn thing off." In expressing his negativity, he believed "''Dark City'' looks like a million bucks (or rather, a million bucks gone to compost), but at its dark heart it's a tedious, bewildering affair, lovely to look at but with all the substance of a dissipating dream."<ref>Savlov, Marc (27 February 1998). [http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Calendar/Film?Film=oid%3a140099 Dark City]. ''[[Austin Chronicle]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref> Left equally disappointed was John Anderson of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Commenting on the directing, he thought "If you had to guess, you might say that Proyas came out of the world of comic art himself, rather than music videos and advertising. ''Dark City'' is constructed like panels in a Batman book, each picture striving for maximum dread." He went on to say, Proyas was "trying simultaneously to create a pure thriller and sci-fi nightmare along with his tongue-in-cheek critique of artifice. And this doesn't work out quite so well."<ref>Anderson, John (27 February 1998). [http://www.calendarlive.com/movies/reviews/cl-movie980226-2,0,5350781.story Dark City]. ''[[Los Angeles Times]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref> Author TCh of ''[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]]'', felt the development of the Murdoch character was "surprisingly engrossing" and thought production wise, the "art direction is always striking, and unlike most contemporary sci-fi, the movie does risk a cerebral approach, tapping a vein of postmodern paranoia."<ref>TCh (1997). [http://www.timeout.com/film/reviews/64964/dark_city.html Dark City]. ''[[Time Out (company)|Time Out]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref>

Writing for ''[[TIME (magazine)|TIME]]'', [[Richard Corliss]] said the film was "as cool and distant as the planet the Strangers come from. But, Lord, is ''Dark City'' a wonder to see."<ref>Corliss, Richard (2 March 1998). Dark City. ''TIME Magazine''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref> [[James Berardinelli]] writing for ''[[ReelViews]]'', remarked that "Visually, this film isn't just impressive, it's a tour de force." and noted that "''Dark City'' opens by immersing the audience in the midst of a fractured, nightmarish narrative."<ref name="berar" /> Berardinelli also said "''Dark City'' appears to be New York during the first half of this century, but, using a style that is part science fiction, part noir thriller, and part gothic horror, he has embellished it to create a surreal place unlike no other."<ref name="berar" /> Describing some pitfalls, Jeff Vice of the ''[[Deseret News]]'' said that "when critics talk about films being 'style over substance,' they're definitely talking about movies like ''Dark City'', which looks good but leaves an unpleasant aftertaste."<ref name="vice" /> Vice however was quick to admit, "The special effects and set designs are dazzling", but ultimately believed "Proyas makes a crucial error in treating the subject even more seriously than ''The Crow'', and the dialogue (co-written by Proyas and ''The Crow: City of Angels'' scriptwriter David S. Goyer) is unintentionally funny at times and often just plain dumb."<ref name="vice">Vice, Jeff (27 February 1998). [http://www.deseretnews.com/article/700000411/Dark-City.html Dark City]. ''[[Deseret News]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref>

{{quote box|width=30%|align=left|quote="What they have done is taken a few second-hand ideas from noir and speculative fiction and mixed them in occasionally striking ways, even if, in the end, the result isn't all that much fun."—Todd McCarthy, writing in ''Variety''<ref>McCarthy, Todd (19 February 1998). [http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=review&reviewid=VE1117467192&categoryid=31&query=dark+and+city+and+sewell&display=dark+city+sewell&cs=1 Dark City]. ''[[Variety Magazine]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref>}}
Andrea Basora of ''[[Newsweek]]'', stated that director Proyas flooded the screen with "cinematic and literary references ranging from Murnau and Lang to Kafka and Orwell, creating a unique yet utterly convincing world".<ref>Basora, Andrea (1998). ''Dark City''. ''[[Newsweek]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref> Similarly, David Sterritt wrote in the ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]'' that "The story is dark and often violent, but it's told with a remarkable sense of visual energy and imagination."<ref>Sterritt, David (1998). Dark City. ''[[Christian Science Monitor]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref> Additionally, Marshall Fine of ''[[USA Today]]'', found the film to be "Fascinating, visionary filmmaking." and "With its amber-tinged palette and its distinctively dystopian view of life, it may be the most unique-looking film we've seen in ages...[but] defies logic and makes frightening and unexpected leaps."<ref>Fine, Marshall (1998). Dark City. ''[[USA Today]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref> Critic [[Stephen Holden]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' wrote that the "plot that ''Dark City'' builds on John's predicament is a confused affair" and that the film's premise is "unsettling enough to make you wonder if it could actually derail a seriously drug-addled mind."<ref>Holden, Stephen (27 February 1998). [http://www.nytimes.com/library/film/022798dark-film-review.html Dark City: You Are Getting Sleepy: Who Are You, Anyway?]. ''[[The New York Times]]''. Retrieved 2010-09-02.</ref>


Steve Biodrowski of ''[[Cinefantastique]]'' found the production design and the cinematography overwhelming, but he considered the narrative engagement of Sewell's amnesiac character to be ultimately successful. Biodrowski writes, "As the story progresses, the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, and we gradually realize that the film is not a murky muddle of visuals propping up a weak story. All the questions lead to answers, and the answers make sense within the fantasy framework." The reviewer compared ''Dark City'' to the director's preceding film ''The Crow'' in style but found ''Dark City'' to introduce new themes and to be a "more thoroughly consistent" film.<ref>{{Harvnb|Biodrowski|1998|p=35}}</ref> Biodrowski concluded, "''Dark City'' may not provide profound answers, but it deals seriously with a profound idea, and does it in a way that is cathartic and even uplifting, without being contrived or condescending. As a technical achievement, it is superb, and that technique is put in the service of telling a story that would be difficult to realize any other way."<ref>{{Harvnb|Biodrowski|1998|p=61}}</ref>
Steve Biodrowski of ''[[Cinefantastique]]'' found the production design and the cinematography overwhelming, but he considered the narrative engagement of Sewell's amnesiac character to be ultimately successful. Biodrowski writes, "As the story progresses, the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, and we gradually realize that the film is not a murky muddle of visuals propping up a weak story. All the questions lead to answers, and the answers make sense within the fantasy framework." The reviewer compared ''Dark City'' to the director's preceding film ''The Crow'' in style but found ''Dark City'' to introduce new themes and to be a "more thoroughly consistent" film.<ref>{{Harvnb|Biodrowski|1998|p=35}}</ref> Biodrowski concluded, "''Dark City'' may not provide profound answers, but it deals seriously with a profound idea, and does it in a way that is cathartic and even uplifting, without being contrived or condescending. As a technical achievement, it is superb, and that technique is put in the service of telling a story that would be difficult to realize any other way."<ref>{{Harvnb|Biodrowski|1998|p=61}}</ref>


==Accolades==
===Accolades===
Film critic [[Roger Ebert]] cited it as the best film of 1998.<ref name="ebert1">{{Citation | last=Ebert | first=Roger | authorlink=Roger Ebert | url=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19980227/REVIEWS/802270304/1023 | title=Dark City | work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]] | date=February 27, 1998 | accessdate=July 28, 2009 }}</ref><ref>Ebert, Roger. "[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19981231/COMMENTARY/40308009/1023 The Best 10 Movies of 1998]". ''Chicago Sun-Times''. 1998-12-31</ref> In 2005, he included it on his "Great Movies" list.<ref name="greatmovies">Ebert, Roger. [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051106/REVIEWS08/511060302/1023 Great Movies: Dark City (2005)]. 2005-11-06.</ref> Ebert uses it in his teaching, and also appears on a [[audio commentary (DVD)|commentary track]] for the original [[DVD]] and the 2006 Director's Cut.<ref name="greatmovies"/> The film was screened out of competition at the [[1998 Cannes Film Festival]].<ref name="festival-cannes.com">{{Citation |url=http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/4899/year/1998.html |title=Festival de Cannes: Dark City |accessdate=2009-10-04|work=festival-cannes.com}}</ref>

{|class="wikitable"
{|class="wikitable"
|-
|-
Line 117: Line 133:
| Silver Scream Award
| Silver Scream Award
| Alex Proyas
| Alex Proyas
| {{award-won}}
| Won
|-
|-
| [[Bram Stoker Award]]
| [[Bram Stoker Award]]
| [[Bram Stoker Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| [[Bram Stoker Award for Best Screenplay|Best Screenplay]]
| Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, and David S. Goyer
| Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, and David S. Goyer
| Won (tied with ''[[Gods and Monsters]]'')
| {{award-won}} (tied with ''[[Gods and Monsters]]'')
|-
|-
| [[Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film]]
| [[Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film]]
| Pegasus Audience Award
| Pegasus Audience Award
| Alex Proyas
| Alex Proyas
| {{award-won}}
| Won
|-
|-
| [[Film Critics Circle of Australia]]
| [[Film Critics Circle of Australia]]
| Best Screenplay – Original
| Best Screenplay – Original
| Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, and David S. Goyer
| Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, and David S. Goyer
| Won (tied with ''[[The Interview]]'')
| {{award-won}} (tied with ''[[The Interview]]'')
|-
|-
| [[Hugo Award]]
| [[Hugo Award]]
| [[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation|Best Dramatic Presentation]]
| [[Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation|Best Dramatic Presentation]]
|
|
| {{award-nom}}
| Nominated
|-
|-
| [[International Horror Guild Award]]
| [[International Horror Guild Award]]
| Best Movie
| Best Movie
|
|
| {{award-nom}}
| Nominated
|-
|-
| [[National Board of Review of Motion Pictures|National Board of Review]]
| [[National Board of Review of Motion Pictures|National Board of Review]]
| Special Recognition
| Special Recognition
|
|
| {{award-won}}
| Won
|-
|-
| rowspan="6" | [[Saturn Award]]
| rowspan="6" | [[Saturn Award]]
| [[Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film|Best Science Fiction Film]]
| [[Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film|Best Science Fiction Film]]
|
|
| Won (tied with ''[[Armageddon (1998 film)|Armageddon]]'')
| {{award-won}} (tied with ''[[Armageddon (1998 film)|Armageddon]]'')
|-
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Costume|Best Costume]]
| [[Saturn Award for Best Costume|Best Costume]]
| Liz Keogh
| Liz Keogh
| {{award-nom}}
| Nominated
|-
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Direction|Best Director]]
| [[Saturn Award for Best Direction|Best Director]]
| Alex Proyas
| Alex Proyas
| {{award-nom}}
| Nominated
|-
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Make-up|Best Make-Up]]
| [[Saturn Award for Best Make-up|Best Make-Up]]
| Bob McCarron, Lesley Vanderwalt, and Lynn Wheeler
| Bob McCarron, Lesley Vanderwalt, and Lynn Wheeler
| {{award-nom}}
| Nominated
|-
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Special Effects|Best Special Effects]]
| [[Saturn Award for Best Special Effects|Best Special Effects]]
| Andrew Mason, Mara Bryan, Peter Doyle, and Tom Davies
| Andrew Mason, Mara Bryan, Peter Doyle, and Tom Davies
| {{award-nom}}
| Nominated
|-
|-
| [[Saturn Award for Best Writing|Best Writer]]
| [[Saturn Award for Best Writing|Best Writer]]
| Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, and David S. Goyer
| Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, and David S. Goyer
| {{award-nom}}
| Nominated
|}
|}

===Box office===
The film premiered in cinemas on February 27, 1998 in wide release throughout the U.S.. During its opening weekend, the film grossed $5,576,953 to start up in 4th place showing at 1,754 locations.<ref name=BoxOfficeMojo>{{cite web |url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=darkcity.htm |title=Dark City |publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]] |accessdate=2010-09-02}}</ref> The film ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'' soundily beat its competition during that weekend opening in first place with $19,633,056.<ref name=BoxOfficeResults>{{cite web |url=http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?yr=1998&wknd=09&p=.htm |title=February 27-March 1, 1998 Weekend |publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]] |accessdate=2010-09-02}}</ref> The film's revenue dropped by 49.1% in its second week of release, earning $2,837,941. For that particular weekend, the film dropped to 9th place still holding on to a top ten position.<ref name=BoxOfficeResults2>{{cite web |url=http://boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?view=&yr=1998&wknd=10&p=.htm |title=March 6-8, 1998 Weekend |publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]] |accessdate=2010-09-02}}</ref> The film went on to top out domestically at $14,378,331 in total ticket sales through an 4-week theatrical run. Internationally, the film took in an additional $12,821,985 in box office business for a combined worldwide total of $27,200,316.<ref name=BoxOfficeMojo>{{cite web |url=http://boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=darkcity.htm |title=Dark City |publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]] |accessdate=2010-09-02}}</ref> For [[1998 in film|1998]] as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 105.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://boxofficemojo.com/yearly/chart/?yr=1998&p=.htm |title=Domestic Grosses |publisher=[[Box Office Mojo]] |accessdate=2010-09-02}}</ref>


==Home media==
==Home media==
Following its cinematic release in theaters, the film was released in [[VHS]] video format on March 2, 1999.<ref name=Amazon>{{cite web |url=http://www.amazon.com/Dark-City-VHS-Rufus-Sewell/dp/0780622545/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1283312910&sr=8-8 |title=Dark City VHS Format |publisher=[[Amazon.com]] |accessdate=2010-09-02}}</ref> The [[DVD region code|Region 1 Code]] [[widescreen]] edition of the film was released on [[DVD-Video|DVD]] in the United States on July 29, 1998. Special features for the DVD include, fully animated interactive menus,
The DVD released by New Line Cinema was double-sided and included full-screen and wide-screen versions of the film. The DVD also included two audio commentaries, one by the director and the crew, and one by film critic Roger Ebert. Also included are cast and crew biographies and filmographies, a comparison to Lang's ''Metropolis'', the theatrical trailer, and set designs.{{Citation needed|date=March 2010}}
two audio commentaries with film critic Roger Ebert and Director Alex Proyas, commentary from writers Lem Dobbs and David Goyer, and from production designer Patrick Tatopoulos. The DVD also includes biographies, filmographies, comparisons to Fritz Lang's Metropolis, set designs, and the theatrical trailer.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dvdempire.com/Exec/v4_item.asp?item_id=2239 |title=Dark City DVD |publisher=[[DVDEmpire.com]] |accessdate=2010-09-02}}</ref>


A director's cut of ''Dark City'' was released officially on [[DVD]] and [[Blu-ray Disc]] July 29, 2008. This version removes the opening narration which the director<ref>[http://twitchfilm.net/interviews/2008/06/alex-proyas-interview-dark-city-directors-cut-and-more.php Alex Proyas Interview - Dark City Director's Cut and More]</ref> felt explained too much of the plot, and includes 15 minutes of additional footage, generally consisting of extended scenes with additional establishing shots and dialogue.<ref>{{cite video | people = Director's Cut Fact Track | title = Dark City: Director's Cut | medium = Blu-ray Disc | publisher = New Line Cinema |date = 2008}}</ref>
A director's cut of ''Dark City'' was also officially released on [[DVD]] and [[Blu-ray Disc]] on July 29, 2008. The DVD version removes the opening narration which the director<ref>[http://twitchfilm.net/interviews/2008/06/alex-proyas-interview-dark-city-directors-cut-and-more.php Alex Proyas Interview - Dark City Director's Cut and More]</ref> felt explained too much of the plot, and includes 15 minutes of additional footage, generally consisting of extended scenes with additional establishing shots and dialogue. Features for the DVD include: Closed Caption; Expanded audio commentaries by film critic Roger Ebert, director Alex Proyas, writers Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer; Documenatries: introduction by Alex Proyas, Memories of Shell Beach (making of), Architrecture of Dreams; Production gallery; and a theatrical gallery. The Blu-ray disc includes a Director's cut; Documentaries; the theatrical trailer; and audio commentary tracks featuring director Alex Proyas, writers Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer.<ref>{{cite video | people = Director's Cut Fact Track | title = Dark City: Director's Cut | medium = Blu-ray Disc | publisher = New Line Cinema |date = 2008}}</ref>


==References==
==References==

Revision as of 04:08, 2 September 2010

Dark City
A black poster. Above reads the lines: "Rufus Sewell", "Kiefer Sutherland", "Jennifer Connelly", "and William Hurt". In the center, against a black background, a man wearing a blue jacket is rested against an upright clock with roman numerals as big as him; the setup cast in a blue tint. His arms are outspread, and his head is tilted back with his mouth agape. Behind the man and the clock is a dark city skyline. Below them is the tagline, "They built the city to see what makes us tick. Last night one of us went off." Below the tagline is the film title, "Dark City".
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAlex Proyas
Written byScreenplay:
Alex Proyas
David S. Goyer
Lem Dobbs
Story:
Alex Proyas
Produced byAlex Proyas
Andrew Mason
StarringRufus Sewell
Kiefer Sutherland
Jennifer Connelly
William Hurt
CinematographyDariusz Wolski
Edited byDov Hoenig
Music byTrevor Jones
Production
companies
New Line Cinema
Mystery Clock Cinema
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
New Line Home Video
Release date
February 27, 1998 (1998-02-27)
Running time
100 minutes (theatrical cut)
111 minutes (director's cut)
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$27,200,316[1]

Dark City is a 1998 American science fiction film directed by Alex Proyas. It was adapted from a screenplay written by Proyas, David S. Goyer, and Lem Dobbs. The film depicts a city in which human inhabitants never see the sun, as their lives are manipulated by extraterrestrials referred to as the Strangers, who masquerade as humans. The Strangers are committed to studying the race of humanity through experimentation. Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, and Jennifer Connelly star. Dark City explores the subject matter of murder, as well as abstract ideas such as hallucination and simulated reality.[2]

The film was primarily shot in Australia. Following its screening in wide cinematic release, the film was nominated for multiple awards, including the Hugo and Saturn Awards. It also won a number of awards; among them from the Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film, and the Film Critics Circle of Australia. It was met with generally positive critical reviews from mainstream film journalists.

A joint collective effort to commit to the film's production was made by New Line Cinema and Mystery Clock Cinema. It was commercially distributed by New Line Cinema theatrically, and by New Line Home Video for home media. Dark City premiered in theaters in the United States on February 27, 1998 grossing $14,378,331 in domestic ticket receipts. It earned an additional $12,821,985 through international release for a combined box office total of $27,200,316. The film was at its widest release in the U.S. showing at 1,754 theaters nationwide.

Plot

John Murdoch (Sewell) awakens in a hotel bathtub, suffering from what seems to be amnesia. He receives a telephone call from Dr. Daniel Schreber (Sutherland), who urges him to flee the hotel from a group of men who are after him. During the telephone conversation, John discovers the corpse of a brutalized, ritualistically murdered woman, along with a bloody knife. Murdoch flees the scene, just as the group of men (known as the Strangers) arrive at the room. Eventually he learns his real name, and finds his wife Emma (Connelly). He is also sought by police inspector Frank Bumstead (Hurt) for a series of murders allegedly committed by Murdoch, who cannot remember killing anybody. While being pursued by the Strangers, Murdoch discovers that he has psychokinetic powers like them, and he uses these powers to escape from them. Murdoch moves about the city, which experiences perpetual night; the sun never shines (hence the movie title). He sees people become temporarily comatose at midnight, when the Strangers stop time and alter the cityscape, as well as people's identities and memories. Murdoch questions the dark urban environment, and discovers—through clues and interviews with his family—that he was originally from a coastal town called Shell Beach. Attempts at finding a way out of the city to Shell Beach are hindered by lack of reliable information from everyone he meets. Meanwhile, the Strangers, disturbed by the presence of this human who also possesses psychokinetic powers, inject one of their men, Mr. Hand (O'Brien) with Murdoch's memories, in an attempt to find him.

Murdoch eventually finds Bumstead, who recognizes Murdoch's innocence and has his own questions about the nature of the dark city. They find and confront Dr. Schreber, who explains that the Strangers are endangered extraterrestrial parasites who use corpses as their hosts. Having a collective consciousness, the Strangers have been experimenting with humans to analyze the human soul in the hopes that some insight might be revealed that would help their race survive—the Strangers are in danger of going extinct. Schreber reveals Murdoch as an anomaly who inadvertently awoke during one midnight process, when Schreber was in the middle of fashioning his identity as a murderer. The three men embark to find Shell Beach, which ultimately exists only as a billboard at the edge of the city. Frustrated, Murdoch tears through the wall, revealing a hole into outer space. The men are confronted by the Strangers, including Mr. Hand, who holds Emma hostage. In the ensuing fight, Bumstead, along with one of the Strangers, falls through the hole into space, revealing the city as an enormous space habitat surrounded by a force field.

The Strangers bring Murdoch to their home beneath the city and force Dr. Schreber to imprint Murdoch with their collective memory, believing Murdoch to be the final answer to their experiments. Schreber betrays them by inserting false memories in Murdoch which artificially reestablish his childhood as years spent training and honing his psychokinetic abilities and learning about the Strangers and their machines. Murdoch awakens, fully realizing his abilities, frees himself and battles with the Strangers, defeating their leader Mr. Book (Richardson) in a battle high above the city. After learning from Dr. Schreber that Emma's personality is gone and cannot be restored within her body, Murdoch utilizes his newfound powers through the Strangers' machine to create an actual Shell Beach by flooding the area within the force field with water and forming mountains and beaches. On his way to Shell Beach, Murdoch encounters Mr. Hand and informs him that the Strangers have been searching in the wrong place—the head—to understand humanity. Murdoch opens the door leading out of the city, and steps out to view a sunrise that he created. Beyond him is a dock, where he finds the woman he knew as Emma, now with new memories and a new identity as Anna. Murdoch reintroduces himself as they walk to Shell Beach, beginning their relationship anew.

Cast

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

Alex Proyas based the characters The Strangers on O'Brien's character in The Rocky Horror Show. Proyas said, "I had Richard in mind physically when I wrote the character, because I had these strange, bald-looking men with an ethereal, androgynous quality." When Proyas visited London to cast for the film, he met with O'Brien and found him suitable for the role.[3]

Kiefer Sutherland's character Daniel P. Schreber is named after one of Sigmund Freud's most famous cases, Daniel Paul Schreber, a German judge who suffered of narcissistic, paranoid psychosis and possibly schizophrenia and whose autobiographical Memoirs of My Nervous Illness (Denkwürdigkeiten eines Nervenkranken) the film's plot alludes to at various instances.[4][5][6] Hurt was originally asked to play Dr. Schreber.[3]

Themes

Dark City is a retelling of the Allegory of the Cave used by Greek philosopher Plato, who conveyed the allegory as a fictional dialogue between his teacher Socrates and Plato's brother Glaucon. In the film, the city inhabitants are prisoners who do not realize they are in a prison. John Murdoch's escape from the prison parallels the escape from the cave in the allegory. He is assisted by Dr. Schreber, who explains the city's mechanism as Socrates explains to Glaucon how the shadows in the cave are cast. Murdoch however becomes more than Glaucon; Gerard Loughlin writes, "He is a Glaucon who comes to realize that Socrates' tale of an upper, more real world, is itself a shadow, a forgery."[7]

Murdoch defeats the Strangers who control the inhabitants and remakes the world based on childhood memories, which were themselves illusions arranged by the Strangers. Loughlin writes of the lack of background, "The original of the city is off–stage, unknown and unknowable." Murdoch now casts new shadows for the city inhabitants, who must trust his judgment. Unlike Plato, Murdoch "is disabused of any hope of an outside" and becomes the demiurge for the cave, the only environment he knows.[7]

The city in Dark City is described by Higley as a "murky, nightmarish German expressionist film noir depiction of urban repression and mechanism". The city has a World War II dreariness reminiscent of Edward Hopper's works and has details from different eras and architectures that are changed by the Strangers; "buildings collapse as others emerge and battle with one another at the end". The round window in Dark City is concave like a fishbowl and is a frequently seen element throughout the city. The inhabitants do not live at the top of the city; the main characters' homes are dwarfed by the bricolage of buildings.[8]

Production

File:Alex proyas premier film knowing.jpg
Director Alex Proyas

Dark City was directed by Alex Proyas, who also wrote the story. He originally conceived a story about a 1940s detective who is obsessed with facts and cannot solve a case where the facts do not make sense. Proyas said, "He slowly starts to go insane through the story. He can't put the facts together because they don't add up to anything rational."[9] He created the world for the detective character and in the process created other characters, eventually shifting the focus of the film from the detective to the person the detective pursues. Proyas sought to create a "rich" narrative where the audience could examine the film from different characters' perspectives and concentrate on the plot, citing film noir of the 1940s and the 1950s like The Maltese Falcon.[10]

The film is described as Kafkaesque, though Proyas cited the TV series The Twilight Zone as a more conscious influence.[11] Proyas also wanted the science fiction film to have an element of horror to unsettle people in the theater.[3] Dark City also contains motifs from Greek mythology, in which gods manipulate humans in a higher agenda. Proyas said, "I do like Greek mythology and have read a little of it, so maybe some of it has crept into the work, though I don't completely agree with that point of view."[12]

Writing

Proyas co-wrote the screenplay with Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer. While Goyer wrote The Crow: City of Angels, the sequel to Proyas's 1994 film The Crow, Proyas invited Goyer to co-write the screenplay for Dark City after reading Goyer's screenplay for Blade, which was yet to be released. Writers Guild of America initially protested at crediting more than two screenwriters for a film, but it eventually relented and credited all three writers.[13]

Design

When Proyas finished his preceding film The Crow in 1994, he approached production designer Patrick Tatopoulos to draw concepts for the world in which Dark City takes place.[14] The city where the story takes place was entirely constructed on a set; no practical locations were used in the film.[9] Tatopoulos described the city:[15]

The movie takes place everywhere, and it takes place nowhere. It's a city built of pieces of cities. A corner from one place, another from some place else. So, you don't really know where you are. A piece will look like a street in London, but a portion of the architecture looks like New York, but the bottom of the architecture looks again like a European city. You're there, but you don't know where you are. It's like every time you travel, you'll be lost.

The production design included themes of darkness, spirals, and clocks. There appears to be no sun in the city's world, and spiral designs that shrink when approached were used in the film. A major clock in the film shows no hours; Tatopoulos said, "But in a magical moment it becomes something more than just a clock."[15] The production designer created the city architecture to have an organic presence with the structural elements.[16]

The Strangers are energy beings who reside in dead human bodies. When design first started, the filmmakers considered having the Strangers be bugs underneath but decided that the bug appearance was overused. Tatopoulos said Proyas wanted to make the Strangers energy beings, "Alex called me and said he wanted something like an energy that kept re-powering itself, re-creating itself, re-shaping itself, sitting inside a dry piece of human shape."[17] The Strangers reside in a large underground amphitheater for their lair, where a human bust hid a large clock and where a spiraling device changed the layout of the city above. The set for the lair was fifty feet in height, where an average set is thirty-six feet. The lair set was built on a fairground in Sydney, Australia. The film's budget was $30-40 million,[18] so the crew used inexpensive techniques to design the set, such as stretching canvas onto welded metal frames. The lair also had a rail conveyance that appeared expensive. Tatopoulos said, "We had, obviously, a car built, but we had just one built. We laid some rail for it to ride on. We made a section of corridor that we kept driving through all the time, and you end up believing this thing is running along forever." Proyas originally wanted the rail car to roll by various rooms, which was not feasible for the budget, so Tatopoulos and the crew used "replaceable elements and strong design textures" to mimic the impression of various rooms.[19]

Soundtrack

The film soundtrack was released on February 24, 1998 by TVT Records label.[20] It features music from the original score by Trevor Jones, and versions of the songs "Sway" and "The Night Has a Thousand Eyes" performed by singer Anita Kelsey. It also includes music by Hughes Hall from the trailer[21], as well as songs by Gary Numan, Echo & the Bunnymen, and Course of Empire that did not appear in the film. The music for the film was edited by Simon Leadley and Jim Harrison.[22]

Similarities to other works

The Matrix was released one year after Dark City and was also filmed at Fox Studios in Sydney using some of the same sets.[23] Comparisons have been made between scenes from the movies, making note of similarities in both cinematography and atmosphere, as well as the plot.[24] Some stylistic similarities have also been noted to Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro's 1995 film The City of Lost Children.[25][26]

Fritz Lang's 1927 movie Metropolis was a major influence on the film, showing through the architecture, concepts of the baseness of humans within a metropolis, and general tone.[27] In one of the Documentary shorts featured on the Director's Cut, the influence of the early German films M and Nosferatu are mentioned.

The film bears strong resemblance to Frederik Pohl's short story "The Tunnel Under the World", where an entire community is held captive by advertising researchers and have their memories of the day wiped clean every night as they sleep.[28] This thread is interwoven with similarities to other works: the random permutation of people's social identities is reminiscent of Jorge Luis Borges's short story "The Lottery in Babylon".[29]

One of the last scenes of the movie, in which buildings "restore" themselves, is strikingly similar to the last panel of the Akira manga. Proyas called the end battle a "homage to Otomo's Akira".[30]

When Christopher Nolan first started thinking about writing the script for Inception, he was influenced by "that era of movies where you had The Matrix, you had Dark City, you had The Thirteenth Floor and, to a certain extent, you had Memento, too. They were based in the principles that the world around you might not be real".[31]

Release

Dark City was previously titled Dark World and Dark Empire leading up to the film's release. Warner Bros. wanted the filmmakers to consider the alternate titles due to the release of similarly titled Mad City in the same time frame, but Dark City was ultimately kept as the final title.[10] The film was originally scheduled to be released in theaters on October 17, 1997,[13] and it was later scheduled for January 9, 1998.[10]

Reception

Critical response

Among mainstream critics in the U.S., the film received generally positive reviews.[32] Rotten Tomatoes reported that 77% of 77 sampled critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 7.0 out of 10.[33] At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average out of 100 to critics' reviews, the film received a score of 66 based on 23 reviews.[32]

"No movie can ever have too much atmosphere, and Dark City exudes it from every frame of celluloid. Proyas' world isn't just a playground for his characters to romp in — it's an ominous place where viewers can get lost. We don't just coolly observe the bizarre, ever-changing skyline; we plunge into the city's benighted depths, following the protagonist as he explores the secrets of this grim place where the sun never shines. Dark City has as stunning a visual texture as that of any movie that I've seen."
—James Berardinelli, writing for ReelViews[34]

Roger Ebert writing in the Chicago Sun-Times called it a "great visionary achievement," while also exclaiming that it was "a film so original and exciting, it stirred my imagination like Metropolis and 2001: A Space Odyssey."[35] In the San Francisco Chronicle, Peter Stack wrote that the film was "among the most memorable cinematic ventures in recent years", and that "maybe there's nothing wrong with a movie that is simply sensational to look at." He felt the film's "twisting of reality and its daring look — layered and off-kilter grays, greens and blacks — make it click."[36] In a mixed review, Walter Addiego of The San Francisco Examiner thought "as a story, Dark City doesn't amount to much." He believed Dark City contained a "complicated plot" while also having important themes that were "no more than window dressing". But on a positive front, he wrote, "what counts here is the show, the creation of a strange world by a filmmaker who clearly knows science fiction and fantasy, past and present, and wants to share his love for it."[37] Left unimpressed, Marc Savlov of the Austin Chronicle wrote, "You really have to feel for Alex Proyas. This guy wears bad luck like the grimy trenchcoats of his protagonists, only his zipper's stuck and he can't seem to shake the damn thing off." In expressing his negativity, he believed "Dark City looks like a million bucks (or rather, a million bucks gone to compost), but at its dark heart it's a tedious, bewildering affair, lovely to look at but with all the substance of a dissipating dream."[38] Left equally disappointed was John Anderson of the Los Angeles Times. Commenting on the directing, he thought "If you had to guess, you might say that Proyas came out of the world of comic art himself, rather than music videos and advertising. Dark City is constructed like panels in a Batman book, each picture striving for maximum dread." He went on to say, Proyas was "trying simultaneously to create a pure thriller and sci-fi nightmare along with his tongue-in-cheek critique of artifice. And this doesn't work out quite so well."[39] Author TCh of Time Out, felt the development of the Murdoch character was "surprisingly engrossing" and thought production wise, the "art direction is always striking, and unlike most contemporary sci-fi, the movie does risk a cerebral approach, tapping a vein of postmodern paranoia."[40]

Writing for TIME, Richard Corliss said the film was "as cool and distant as the planet the Strangers come from. But, Lord, is Dark City a wonder to see."[41] James Berardinelli writing for ReelViews, remarked that "Visually, this film isn't just impressive, it's a tour de force." and noted that "Dark City opens by immersing the audience in the midst of a fractured, nightmarish narrative."[34] Berardinelli also said "Dark City appears to be New York during the first half of this century, but, using a style that is part science fiction, part noir thriller, and part gothic horror, he has embellished it to create a surreal place unlike no other."[34] Describing some pitfalls, Jeff Vice of the Deseret News said that "when critics talk about films being 'style over substance,' they're definitely talking about movies like Dark City, which looks good but leaves an unpleasant aftertaste."[42] Vice however was quick to admit, "The special effects and set designs are dazzling", but ultimately believed "Proyas makes a crucial error in treating the subject even more seriously than The Crow, and the dialogue (co-written by Proyas and The Crow: City of Angels scriptwriter David S. Goyer) is unintentionally funny at times and often just plain dumb."[42]

"What they have done is taken a few second-hand ideas from noir and speculative fiction and mixed them in occasionally striking ways, even if, in the end, the result isn't all that much fun."—Todd McCarthy, writing in Variety[43]

Andrea Basora of Newsweek, stated that director Proyas flooded the screen with "cinematic and literary references ranging from Murnau and Lang to Kafka and Orwell, creating a unique yet utterly convincing world".[44] Similarly, David Sterritt wrote in the Christian Science Monitor that "The story is dark and often violent, but it's told with a remarkable sense of visual energy and imagination."[45] Additionally, Marshall Fine of USA Today, found the film to be "Fascinating, visionary filmmaking." and "With its amber-tinged palette and its distinctively dystopian view of life, it may be the most unique-looking film we've seen in ages...[but] defies logic and makes frightening and unexpected leaps."[46] Critic Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote that the "plot that Dark City builds on John's predicament is a confused affair" and that the film's premise is "unsettling enough to make you wonder if it could actually derail a seriously drug-addled mind."[47]

Steve Biodrowski of Cinefantastique found the production design and the cinematography overwhelming, but he considered the narrative engagement of Sewell's amnesiac character to be ultimately successful. Biodrowski writes, "As the story progresses, the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, and we gradually realize that the film is not a murky muddle of visuals propping up a weak story. All the questions lead to answers, and the answers make sense within the fantasy framework." The reviewer compared Dark City to the director's preceding film The Crow in style but found Dark City to introduce new themes and to be a "more thoroughly consistent" film.[48] Biodrowski concluded, "Dark City may not provide profound answers, but it deals seriously with a profound idea, and does it in a way that is cathartic and even uplifting, without being contrived or condescending. As a technical achievement, it is superb, and that technique is put in the service of telling a story that would be difficult to realize any other way."[49]

Accolades

Film critic Roger Ebert cited it as the best film of 1998.[50][51] In 2005, he included it on his "Great Movies" list.[23] Ebert uses it in his teaching, and also appears on a commentary track for the original DVD and the 2006 Director's Cut.[23] The film was screened out of competition at the 1998 Cannes Film Festival.[52]

Award Category Name Outcome
Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival Silver Scream Award Alex Proyas Won
Bram Stoker Award Best Screenplay Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, and David S. Goyer Won (tied with Gods and Monsters)
Brussels International Festival of Fantasy Film Pegasus Audience Award Alex Proyas Won
Film Critics Circle of Australia Best Screenplay – Original Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, and David S. Goyer Won (tied with The Interview)
Hugo Award Best Dramatic Presentation Nominated
International Horror Guild Award Best Movie Nominated
National Board of Review Special Recognition Won
Saturn Award Best Science Fiction Film Won (tied with Armageddon)
Best Costume Liz Keogh Nominated
Best Director Alex Proyas Nominated
Best Make-Up Bob McCarron, Lesley Vanderwalt, and Lynn Wheeler Nominated
Best Special Effects Andrew Mason, Mara Bryan, Peter Doyle, and Tom Davies Nominated
Best Writer Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs, and David S. Goyer Nominated

Box office

The film premiered in cinemas on February 27, 1998 in wide release throughout the U.S.. During its opening weekend, the film grossed $5,576,953 to start up in 4th place showing at 1,754 locations.[1] The film Titanic soundily beat its competition during that weekend opening in first place with $19,633,056.[53] The film's revenue dropped by 49.1% in its second week of release, earning $2,837,941. For that particular weekend, the film dropped to 9th place still holding on to a top ten position.[54] The film went on to top out domestically at $14,378,331 in total ticket sales through an 4-week theatrical run. Internationally, the film took in an additional $12,821,985 in box office business for a combined worldwide total of $27,200,316.[1] For 1998 as a whole, the film would cumulatively rank at a box office performance position of 105.[55]

Home media

Following its cinematic release in theaters, the film was released in VHS video format on March 2, 1999.[56] The Region 1 Code widescreen edition of the film was released on DVD in the United States on July 29, 1998. Special features for the DVD include, fully animated interactive menus, two audio commentaries with film critic Roger Ebert and Director Alex Proyas, commentary from writers Lem Dobbs and David Goyer, and from production designer Patrick Tatopoulos. The DVD also includes biographies, filmographies, comparisons to Fritz Lang's Metropolis, set designs, and the theatrical trailer.[57]

A director's cut of Dark City was also officially released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on July 29, 2008. The DVD version removes the opening narration which the director[58] felt explained too much of the plot, and includes 15 minutes of additional footage, generally consisting of extended scenes with additional establishing shots and dialogue. Features for the DVD include: Closed Caption; Expanded audio commentaries by film critic Roger Ebert, director Alex Proyas, writers Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer; Documenatries: introduction by Alex Proyas, Memories of Shell Beach (making of), Architrecture of Dreams; Production gallery; and a theatrical gallery. The Blu-ray disc includes a Director's cut; Documentaries; the theatrical trailer; and audio commentary tracks featuring director Alex Proyas, writers Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer.[59]

References

  1. ^ a b c "Dark City". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-08-29. Cite error: The named reference "BoxOfficeMojo" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  2. ^ Proyas, Alex (Director). (1998). Dark City [Motion picture]. United States: New Line Cinema.
  3. ^ a b c Wagner 1997a, p. 9
  4. ^ Kemble, Gary (2009). Movie Minutiae: Dark City (1998), ABCNews, Articulate: Daily talk on arts news and events, Mar 28, 2009
  5. ^ Harris, Ken: Film and Conspiracy, in: Knight, Peter (2003). Conspiracy theories in American history: an encyclopedia, Volume 1, ABC-CLIO Inc., Santa Barbara, California, ISBN 1-57607-812-4, p. 262
  6. ^ Bould, Mark. On the Boundary between Oneself and the Other: Aliens and Language in the Films AVP, Dark City, The Brother from Another Planet, and Possible Worlds, Yearbook of English Studies, University of West of England
  7. ^ a b Loughlin, Gerard (2004), "Seeing in the Dark", Alien Sex: The Body and Desire in Cinema and Theology, Wiley–Blackwell, pp. 46–48, ISBN 0631211802 {{citation}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  8. ^ Higley, Sarah L. (2001), "A Taste for Shrinking: Movie Miniatures and the Unreal City", Camera Obscura, 16 (2 47), Duke University Press: 9–12, ISSN 0270-5346 {{citation}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
  9. ^ a b Wagner 1997a, p. 7
  10. ^ a b c Wagner 1998a, p. 40
  11. ^ Wagner 1997a, p. 8
  12. ^ Wagner 1998a, pp. 40–41
  13. ^ a b Wagner 1997b, p. 67
  14. ^ Wagner 1997b, p. 64
  15. ^ a b Wagner 1997b, p. 65
  16. ^ Wagner 1997b, p. 66
  17. ^ Wagner 1998b, p. 32
  18. ^ Wagner 1998b, p. 33
  19. ^ Wagner 1998b, p. 34
  20. ^ Fawthrop, Peter. "Dark City (Original Soundtrack)". Allmusic. Retrieved March 4, 2006.
  21. ^ Dark City trailer (QuickTime). Retrieved 2007-05-04.
  22. ^ "Dark City (1998)". Yahoo! Movies. Retrieved 2010-09-01.
  23. ^ a b c Ebert, Roger. Great Movies: Dark City (2005). 2005-11-06.
  24. ^ Morales, Jorge. Comparación de los Filmes "Dark City" & "The Matrix". Retrieved December 24, 2005 (Spanish)
  25. ^ Carpenter, Jerry, "The City of Lost Children" (review), Movie Reviews, SciFilm.org, retrieved 2007-11-07, The production design by Jean Rabasse is marvelous. The city is dark and damp, all stairs and walkways. It clearly served as inspiration for DARK CITY three years later—- one scene even features sharply inclined risers filled with members of the cyclops cult just like those used by the cenobites in the later film.
  26. ^ Mestas, Alex (2003-03-03), "The City of Lost Children (1995)" (review), DVD Reviews, LightsOutFilms.com, retrieved 2007-11-07, The film is similar in theme and execution to the slightly better Dark City.
  27. ^ "The Metropolis Comparison". Dark City DVD (1998).
  28. ^ Hesselthwite, Edwin. Bakelite and Uranium Monday: The Tunnel Under The World By Frederick Pohl. 2008-01-07
  29. ^ Leeper, Evelyn C. (2005-09-09), "Jorge Luis Borges's "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" (and other stories)", The MT Void, Mt. Holz Science Fiction Society, retrieved 2007-11-07, "The Babylonian Lottery" [...] is clearly commenting on the arbitrariness and irrationality of the political systems that Borge was seeing at the time [...] But when I read it now, the image it brings to my mind is that of the transition scene in the film Dark City, where the poor become rich, and the rich lose their status. Could this be a reference to Borges?
  30. ^ Proyas, Alex. Dark City DC: Original Ending !?, Mystery Clock Forum. 2006-07-29.
  31. ^ Boucher, Geoff (2010-04-04). "Inception breaks into dreams". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-04-06.
  32. ^ a b Dark City. Metacritic. CNET Networks. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  33. ^ Dark City (1998). Rotten Tomatoes. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  34. ^ a b c Berardinelli, James (1998). Dark City. ReelViews. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  35. ^ Ebert, Roger (27 February 1998). Dark City. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  36. ^ Stack, Peter (27 February 1998). Stunning visuals overshadow thriller's muddled plot. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  37. ^ Addiego, Walter (27 February 1998). Grave new world with a murky plot. The San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  38. ^ Savlov, Marc (27 February 1998). Dark City. Austin Chronicle. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  39. ^ Anderson, John (27 February 1998). Dark City. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  40. ^ TCh (1997). Dark City. Time Out. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  41. ^ Corliss, Richard (2 March 1998). Dark City. TIME Magazine. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  42. ^ a b Vice, Jeff (27 February 1998). Dark City. Deseret News. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  43. ^ McCarthy, Todd (19 February 1998). Dark City. Variety Magazine. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  44. ^ Basora, Andrea (1998). Dark City. Newsweek. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  45. ^ Sterritt, David (1998). Dark City. Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  46. ^ Fine, Marshall (1998). Dark City. USA Today. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  47. ^ Holden, Stephen (27 February 1998). Dark City: You Are Getting Sleepy: Who Are You, Anyway?. The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  48. ^ Biodrowski 1998, p. 35
  49. ^ Biodrowski 1998, p. 61
  50. ^ Ebert, Roger (February 27, 1998), "Dark City", Chicago Sun-Times, retrieved July 28, 2009
  51. ^ Ebert, Roger. "The Best 10 Movies of 1998". Chicago Sun-Times. 1998-12-31
  52. ^ "Festival de Cannes: Dark City", festival-cannes.com, retrieved 2009-10-04
  53. ^ "February 27-March 1, 1998 Weekend". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  54. ^ "March 6-8, 1998 Weekend". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  55. ^ "Domestic Grosses". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  56. ^ "Dark City VHS Format". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  57. ^ "Dark City DVD". DVDEmpire.com. Retrieved 2010-09-02.
  58. ^ Alex Proyas Interview - Dark City Director's Cut and More
  59. ^ Director's Cut Fact Track (2008). Dark City: Director's Cut (Blu-ray Disc). New Line Cinema.

Sources

External links

Awards
Preceded by Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film
1998
Shared with Armageddon
Succeeded by