This film was directed by David Fincher and follows the story of a man , the narrator (Edward Norton). The story is told through Norton's flashback and we learn that he works for an automobile company and goes to accident sites to perform product cost appraisals. He is suffering from insomnia and has difficulty sleeping throughout the night. He goes to his doctor and asked him to prescribe sleeping bills but rather the doctor tells him to go and visit a support group in order to appreciate real pain others go through daily. Attending the support group gives him a sense of false assurance that everything is going in the right direction by manipulating others into feeling sorry of him. The support group gives him the opportunity to let his guard down by letting his emotions out which helps him sleep at night. His routine is disrupted when he notices Marla (Helena Bonham Carter) another impostor attending the same support group he goes to and his insomnia returns. He befriends Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) a soap salesman, while flying to a business trip. Tyler coincidentally gives him his business card. When Norton returns to his apartment for the trip, he finds out that there was an explosion at his apartment and therefore he lost all his belongings and sense of security.
Fincher is well known for his realistic style and story telling. Most of the scenes were shot during the nighttime which ironically had a symbolic meaning to it. For example, Tyler Durden and the narrator chose to create an underground fight club which foreshadowed the destruction that lay ahead. He chose the baseline of the fight to reenterate the symbolic meaning of destruction. Fincher confuses the viewers into thinking that there are two characters but the audience finds out at the end, there was only one character who was behind all the destruction. Norton was deprived of sleep, his brain created illusions that seemed real. There are a lot of people who themselves have had a sleep disorder can relate to Norton's situation. Fincher created this masterpiece to inform people the serious side effects of insomnia. He personalizes the stories and takes the fictional characters and transforms them into non-fiction character that he brings to light.
