By Drew Dietsch
| Updated
Dark city is one of those movies that people seem to love or have never seen. Whenever you bring up Alex Proyas’ 1998 sci-fi noir film, those who know what it is about react with glee. The film has maintained a strong cult following over the years with critical adoration coming from luminaries such as Roger Ebert.
And yet, Dark city never managed to properly establish itself as a true classic. For whatever reason, it has only remained appreciated by a relatively small portion of the pop culture population. Why then?
Let’s find out. But first, let’s look at exactly why Dark city is a true triumph for science fiction cinema.
How Dark City was masterfully created
Dark city marks the pinnacle of director Alex Proyas’ effects-driven filmmaking style. He made a huge impression with The Raven in 1994 and it was its big-budget sequel that seemed like an even more visionary experience. With a reported budget of $27 million (around $43 million today), Proyas embarked on a journey to create a world reminiscent of the surreal landscape of films like Metropolis, BrazilAnd The City of Lost Children. Dark city would be a testament to the power of truly fantastic storytelling.
In this regard, Dark city is a resounding success. The entire film was shot on constructed sets without any location filming. This adds a sense of intentional fakeness to the whole enterprise and is vital to the direction the story takes. Production designer Patrick Tatopoulos reinforces a sense of looming unease around every corner. As he described in an interview with Cinefantastique:
“It’s a city built from pieces of cities. One corner of one place, another of another place. So you don’t really know where you stand. One room will look like a street in London, but some of the architecture will look like New York, but the bottom of the architecture will look like a European city again. You are there, but you don’t know where you are. It feels like every time you travel you will be lost.
Dark city because a piece of production design alone is breathtaking. From the sets to the costumes to Trevor Jones’ music, everything works in unison to bring a very specific vision to life. But what matters most is whether or not the story and characters flourish in this extraordinary world. Fortunately, Dark city is punctuated by a thrilling mystery that ultimately calls into question the very nature of reality itself. The story of John Murdoch (Rufus Sewell) is a gripping puzzle that ultimately reveals the secrets of history in a propulsive way.
Speaking of Rufus Sewell, the casting of Dark city is delightfully eclectic, with singular performances not only from Sewell, but also Kiefer Sutherland and Richard O’Brien. William Hurt and Jennifer Connelly fit perfectly into their film noir archetypes, and it’s safe to say that everyone involved is committed to the project’s uniqueness.
Without spoiling everything entirely, a lot of that uniqueness has to do with the film’s themes and twists and turns. Dark city represents an era of science fiction a cinema that exclusively asked one big question: what is reality? We’ll talk more about that a little later, but suffice it to say that Dark city is a film with a lot on its mind and a willingness to execute those ideas in a dynamic and engaging way.
So, with all that in his corner, why is Dark city is it not as advertised as it should be? We’ll have to take the red pill to answer this question…
Why it’s unfairly overlooked
Dark city came out a year ago The matrix and explored many similar sci-fi ideas as a blockbuster. In fact, a number of films in the late 90s – existence, The thirteenth floor, The Truman Show – walked on the same existential ground. However, The matrixis the one that truly captured the imagination of the general public and became a pop culture juggernaut. Certainly, it was also the most action-packed and modern of all these films. Interesting information: The matrix actually shot on the sets that had been made for Dark city!
It is not a question of placing the blame solely on The matrix to eclipse Dark city. Proyas’ film is more deliberately obtuse and distant at first, making it a difficult film to approach. In fact, New Line Cinema anticipated this and reconfigured the film to make it clearer to mainstream viewers. This includes the addition of a voiceover that ruins the film in its first few seconds. Fortunately, Proyas was able to release a Director’s Cut of the film years later and it is by far the favorite version to watch.
However, just like equally neglected Cursed Patrol, Dark city maybe it’s too weird to really click with enough people. That’s probably why it’s remained an oddity that moviegoers love. Films that elicit a genuine sense of originality are often so unique that only particular tastes will savor them.
Dark city has no shame in his eccentricities and relishes the hypnotic and mystifying world he creates. This mesmerizing aura won’t work on everyone, but those who find themselves drawn into the shifting corridors of this puzzle movie will be rewarded with an unforgettable adventure. Open your mind and see the truth…
