Dark City

By Simon Woodhouse

Dark City and The Matrix arrived in cinemas at round about a similar sort of time. Though both movies told essentially the same story, one was an example of gung-ho machismo laced with nonsense talk, whilst the other concerned itself with characters, atmosphere and a real sense of foreboding. Dark City is the latter, and it might have been totally eclipsed by The Matrix, but of the two films, it bears up to repeated viewings much better.

Set in a timeless environment that appears very much like 30s New York, but at the same time has a distinctly modern feel, the film begins with John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) waking up in a state of amnesia. He's naked in a bath of water, and there's a blood-covered knife in his hand. The phone rings, and a panicky voice at the other end introduces itself as Dr. Schreber (Kiefer Sutherland). Following the doctor's advice, John runs just as the sinister Strangers arrive at the apartment door. Meanwhile, a grisly series of murders are taking place in the city, with the most recent being linked to John. Investigator Bumstead (William Hurt) is assigned to the case, but he's having a hard time piecing the clues together.

On the run from the law, John crosses paths with the Strangers again. But he escapes by 'tuning', an ability that allows him to alter his surroundings by the power of thought. At the same time as he's on the run, his wife Emma (Jennifer Connelly), lodges a missing persons report with the police and meets Inspector Bumstead. As all these scenes play out we learn the city is run by the Strangers, who put everyone to sleep at midnight, change the landscape by 'tuning', give selected members of the populace new identities and memories, and then wake everyone up again. This makes the city one huge experiment run so the Strangers can understand the human soul. Their power to make everyone sleep, however, doesn't affect John, so he sees what they can do even though he doesn't know why they're doing it.

Set in a perpetual night time, the movie has a dark, noir feel about it, an effect that's only added to by the 30s styling. The Strangers, with their monotone voices, bald scalps and pale complexions, address each other by names like Mr Hand and Mr Book, and ooze malevolence. They're the sort of characters whose wickedness doesn't need to be shown in order for it to be appreciated. Playing some more on the 30s noir theme, the plot evolves into a mystery that John must solve. Clues are difficult to find though, as the Strangers are controlling everyone's memories.

As the movie progresses, John learns to control his 'tuning' ability, and this leads to some pretty neat confrontations with the Strangers. What makes these beings all the more threatening is the fact they don't use guns, or bombs, or helicopter gunships. It's all 'hands on' with them, knifes being their weapon of choice.

Aided by Dr Schreber, John begins to realize the city is part of a huge experiment. The focus of his search becomes Shell Beach, a place everyone knows, but no one can give him directions to because their thoughts are being so manipulated by the Strangers. Eventually John finds his way beneath the city, into the realm where the Strangers keep the machine that controls time. This is the scene of the final confrontation, and it's where John and the Strangers slug it out with their 'tuning' abilities. What makes this conflict stand out from those in other movies of the same type, is the lack of guns and weapons of that sort. The two adversaries are fighting with their 'minds', and not using kung-fu, samurai swords or ridiculously large hand guns.

Rufus Sewell disappeared off the radar after this film, which is a shame, because he turns in a really good performance. On the other hand, Jennifer Connelly's star was in the ascendant, and she went on to win an Oscar for her role in A Beautiful Mind. John Hurt (always very watch-able) doesn't let himself down here, and neither does Richard O'Brien as the creepy Mr Hand.

A stand-alone movie that inspired no sequels, Dark City isn't buried beneath the weight of disappointing follow-ups as The Matrix was. There are no overly long death scenes, or fight sequences that just go on and on. Though classified as Sci-Fi, the movie is both reminiscent of detective stories and horror films. But those different genres sit well together when they're delivered in such a stylish way as Dark City.