‘First there was darkness. Then came the strangers…’
Australian filmmaker Alex Proyas made two films back-to-back in the ’90s that helped define the aesthetic of the decade. The Crow in 1994 captured the grungey alternative look popularised by Kurt Cobain and others, before Dark City built on German Expressionism, film noir and the work of Terry Gilliam to create something truly unique. The Matrix borrowed some of the sets from the film and the rest is history. Dark City manages to be futuristic and stuck in the late ’90s all at the same time…
The plot is deceivingly simple. John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) finds himself trapped in a Kafkaesque nightmare in which he has lost his memory and could well be a serial murderer. Meanwhile, a never-more-sinister Richard O’Brien stalks the screen in a dark trench coat and Kiefer Sutherland plays against type as a nerdy doctor. William Hurt and Jennifer Connelly round out a starry cast.
My issue with Dark City is that it is too often style over substance. There is no doubting that the set design is utterly spellbinding. To achieve what Roger Ebert described as “visionary” on a $27 million budget is generally impressive, and Dark City‘s influence can be felt everywhere from the aforementioned Matrix franchise to Sin City to Inception. The problem is that we never care enough about the characters to make us invested in what happens within the visually stunning landscapes Proyas and his team created here, which is probably why the film was a cult classic rather than a box office success.
Dark City is worth watching for anyone who loves spectacle above all else. I can imagine fans of the Dune franchise would find a lot to enjoy here. For me, however, I need a little bit more in terms of plot.
