People are always asking me if I know Tyler Durden welcome back and if you're new here
my name is Robert Macfarlane and I take your favorite film and tv and I tell you
just how the directors do it coffee time today we're gonna break the first rule of Fight Club
Today I have a fantastic episode for you guys where we're going to be taking a look at the
epic ending of Fight Club and why shooting himself was the only way out everyone you've
been warned spoilers ahead go watch the movie it will definitely help we have to go all the
way back to the beginning of the movie and analyze each of the key character moments
as the Narrator is challenged and parts of his belief system are broken down I had become a slave
to the Ikea nesting instinct oh yes I'd like to order the Erica Picari dust ruffles first things
first we're inside the Narrator's home and we get to see a blank canvas he starts to talk about the
fact that he has become an Ikea nestor the Klipsch Personal Office Unit the Hub Attract Home Exerbike
as we see in the space all of the items are digitally placed in the shallowness
of the effect highlights the shallowness of all of this furniture in the place but it doesn't
just stop there if you listen to the music in the background the Klipsch Personal Office Unit the
Hub Attract Home Exerbike it almost sounds like elevator music again reflecting the trivial nature
of this accumulation of objects don't forget to hydrate coffee obviously and also don't forget
to hit like and subscribe so you don't miss any more of my analyses in the next few weeks
thank you simple hard-working indigenous peoples of please and then we reach the fridge and I think
that this is actually a really important piece of information we've seen that he's willing to
accumulate an order and buy all of this random furniture from Ikea yet he doesn't even buy food
for himself and is quite happy just to eat a condiment instead of a complete meal but as he
closes the fridge you'll notice something in the background how spotless and untouched the
kitchen looks it's like he's never cooked in there before the cupboards are highlighting showing off
these wonderful sets of cutlery plates and cups in the backdrop but it feels like they've never
been used they are there for show they are there to say to the world I'm adulting because I have a
full set of cutlery in different colors even the Narrator's dialogue we used to read pornography
now it was the Horchow Collection he's choosing to fill a void with consumerism rather than his
own sexual desires so we've set up the character we know that he has insomnia
and we know that he is looking for something to fill this void that he feels because he's just
not happy so when he ends up trying to fill this void by going to a testicular cancer support group
my name is Bob we recognize that he's now trying to
put a plaster over that emotional gap in his life for a lot of films this moment would come
much later in the movie the character has found something that seems to work for his problem
and then something happened I let go so he's actually gotten closer to his desire before we've
even reached the moment of an inciting incident I found freedom losing all hope was freedom
we see an imprint a wet print as it were on this man's shirt I mean he doesn't really mind because
he was asking for him to cry but it's oddly in the shape of a skull there are many many themes
of death and ideas of death and life throughout this film and I think this is a subtle nod to that
I found freedom David Fincher is not one to be too obvious most of the time but he is very satirical
so the use of a choir is less about the character having found the solution and more about the
character thinking he's found the solution it's almost as if this sense of relief has created
the background music that we hear rather than actually the character having evolved having
grown in some way and then we have an American Flag in the background that happens to be
spotlit please note that david fincher is known for his meticulous frame design nothing in that
frame in the way the camera moves is ever a mistake I think what he's trying to say with
this is that this film isn't necessarily going to speak to every male in the world
but it certainly is going to speak to the male who was influenced by American
culture and I think that's a really important note to take away from this that he is honestly
trying to make sure that we don't feel that he's generalizing about the male experience
he is stating that maybe American culture is doing something to men and that
this could be the problem not the solution I don't think he's necessarily talking about solution but
he is highlighting a problem so later on he's at another support group now and we see this moment
where does it lead to your cave step forward into your cave but his cave happens to be an ice cave
I think this really again reflects the coldness within him to find your power animal
a lot of people would probably say my spirit animal is a lion a puma a bull but he imagines
a penguin and no offense to penguins I think they're lovely but they're kind of boring
the penguin has the voice of a child this says to me that maybe internally he is an emotionally
stunted man later in the film he even says that he is a man child and we're at the point where we
should be meeting the inciting incident pretty soon but we get a really interesting shot and
this really is the culmination of his current problem and every evening I was born again
resurrected he's very confident he's smirking almost quite happy with himself we hear funky jazz
in the background this sets us up for the first twist to this character's journey as he needs
to now start to have everything broken down well the first thing is his dependence upon the support
groups and the only way to do that was to bring in Marla Singer and she ruined everything this is
cancer right and what she really represents in my opinion is the selfish use of the support groups
for his own gratification and because someone else is doing it he doesn't feel like he's able to
get what he needs from the support groups because someone else is there doing the same thing as him
do not watch I cannot go and watch able to see him for what he really is and he's no longer able to
hide under the guise of silence I can't cry if there's another faker present and I need this
coffee time so with the integration of Marla Singer into all his support groups
he starts to get insomnia again pushing him towards the inciting incident where he'll need
Tyler Durden in his life but I've got some good news I no longer have any fear of death
this moment is so painful to watch but also so revealing about the Narrator you'll notice
the character has basically stated that they have fully accepted that they are going to die
again with the death references but then the support group starts to clap you'll notice
the Narrator down in this little area here only claps because everybody else around him
is clapping this is David Fincher and the writers own perspective on men of the 21st century many of
them have been indoctrinated have been taught to be sheep and that they will follow what everyone
else does and this ultimately I think is the key to what sets up what will happen to our character
and this is how I met Tyler Durden did you know if you mixed equal parts of gasoline and frozen
orange juice concentrate you can make Napalm and one of the most obvious and superficial things
that needs to be eradicated from his life is his personal items and his need for objects so the
quickest most effective route to the destination is a straight line and in this case it's a bomb
so there is our first character turn all of his objects have been completely
destroyed he has nothing to hold on to and more importantly as Tyler Durden says things you own
end up owning you so we jump now to about halfway through the film is that your blood
some of it yeah this is really highlighting how much the character
has changed since the beginning of the movie if you remember the very first scene he deals with
his boss you want me to de-prioritize my current reports until you advise him a status upgrade make
these your primary action items here's your flight coupons well in this scene he deals with his boss
again you can't smoke in here take the rest of the day off come back monday with some clean clothes
he's no longer smart looking and he deals with his boss in a very different way
so when his boss then sends him home you'll notice he also takes up a lot of space very assertive as
he walks yes these are bruises from fighting yes I'm comfortable with that I am enlightened
he's so much more confident at this point in the film we now understand the character has taken
another step forward he's released his fear of judgment now we get to a
scene that I think is really important say this about Marla she's trying to get back
the Narrator doesn't really like this you can tell he's kind of confronted by it because
he thinks he's made so much progress but Tyler Durden knows better he still hasn't
really confronted everything that is in control
of his life now if we go back to the beginning of the film and I spoke about that penguin
you also remember from the film there was another time he was in the ice cave and Marla Singer is
there slime I think that both of those words are talking about this process of trying to hit bottom
the pure act of sliding means going down falling with gravity I think it's a subtle
reference to him always having known the process from which he would have to go down
to become a better person sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken
he's given up his fear of judgment from other people but this is the midpoint he's
got to be reminded that he still has a long way to go and now he's going to really face
the biggest challenges of the film security I am Jack's smirking revenge this moment is played to
perfection by Ed Norton I think is so nicely done it's also very reminiscent of the initial fight
when we actually get a flashback and we see Ed Norton fighting himself in the parking
lot later in the film we realize he's done the exact same thing in his office but this time
completely consciously I am Jack's complete lack of surprise you'll also notice that this room
is very reminiscent of the Narrator's old flat beige walls Ikea looking furniture
and really no specific identity and I think this is again showing what the Narrator might
have become had he continued in his job for a few more years thank you so much for joining me this
far in the episode don't forget to comment down below let me know what tv series and
films you'd like to see analyzed in the coming weeks this is a chemical burn when Tyler Durden
challenges him to face the pain not hide from it but face his pain I think this is actually
an incredibly important message within the film to all human beings we spend so much time
trying to hide from our pain just like Ed Norton's character and the Narrator does
immediately he tries to meditate stay with the pain don't shut this out oh god don't get your
hand the first soap was made from the ashes of heroes like the first monkey shot in his face
this is the moment that he sheds his fear of pain not fear no someday you're gonna die
and finally we reach the end of the film the Narrator now knows that Tyler Durden
is spoiler alert himself I didn't spot it coming and to be honest
David Fincher had done such an incredible job of constantly telling us that Tyler Durden
wasn't real but did it in such a way that I just never guessed it i was just so good so
good the Narrator now having learned all of the things he had learned throughout the film
was able to take control from Tyler Durden to fully accept his mortality and the only way for
him to prove that to himself was to without fear my eyes are open there's no reticence in his eyes
now whether or not he actually intended on you know not killing himself is another
matter entirely but this is the moment that he's able to overcome his need for Tyler Durden and
that's the final barrier to become completely free he had to be able to be as confident to be
as free as Tyler Durden was without Tyler Durden taking control ultimately if you actually dissect
each of Tyler Durden's actions upon the Narrator it's almost as if he's trying to help the Narrator
become Tyler Durden his whole goal is to allow the Narrator to become the man he wants to be
but to do that he has to destroy him first and only then can the Narrator be the man he wants
to be they're not necessarily defining what man should be although many analyses do take a look at
maybe what this film is trying to say about the modern man but in this case I believe that this
character is going on a journey to try and become something and to do so Tyler Durden needed to be
in his life needed to destroy everything his flat his job to let go and accept that he will die
was the only way that he could possibly be happy you met me at a very strange time in my life
just wanted to share a little bit of good news with you guys a short film I directed last year
actually just won four awards at the Seattle Film Festival where I won Best Director Best Short
Film Best Science Fiction Short Film and Best Actress for the fantastic Celine Abrahams she did
an incredible job of bringing that character life much of the success of that film I would attribute
to learning cinematic language so what I've done is I've actually shared my cinematic language
101 course up here and down in the description for you to help master your cinematic language