Dark City

Dark City is a 1998 movie written by Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs and David S. Goyer, and directed by Proyas. It stars Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, and Jennifer Connelly. While not a box office hit, and not popular among science fiction fans, it has considerable reputation. Film critic Roger Ebert is a well-known fan of the movie, having rated it with four stars out of four{{ref|ebert}}, and uses it in his teaching. Ebert also appears on a commentary track on the DVD.

Plot

Note: Perhaps as a result of a test screening, the movie actually begins with a voice-over narration that gives away several key plot twists.

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John Murdoch (played by Rufus Sewell) wakes up in a bathtub at a hotel, having lost all of his memory, including who he is. He receives a phone call from Dr. Daniel Schreber (played by Kiefer Sutherland, in an apparent homage to the style of his father Donald Sutherland) urging him to leave the hotel immediately. According to Schreber, a group of men (who may not actually be humans), referred to in the movie as The Strangers, are coming to the hotel to find Murdoch. Murdoch escapes them, and shortly afterwards finds out his name and that he has a wife named Emma (played by Jennifer Connelly). Unfortunately, he also finds out that he is wanted for a string of serial killings, which he has no memory of and does not have the urge to commit.

Related Topics:
Rufus Sewell - Memory - Kiefer Sutherland - Donald Sutherland - Jennifer Connelly - Serial killing

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He also starts to find strange things happening around the city, all of which seem to have some connection to The Strangers. For instance, whenever the clock strikes midnight, everyone in the city falls asleep simultaneously, it is always night, and it seems to be impossible to leave the city. Apparently, Murdoch was raised at a seaside resort named Shell Beach, a place that everyone seems to know despite being unable to remember how to get there. Strangest of all, Murdoch has some sort of psychokinetic power, which the Strangers also seem to have.

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Meanwhile, police inspector Frank Bumstead (played by William Hurt) is investigating the serial killings of which Murdoch is suspected. Bumstead's colleague who worked on the case before was apparently driven mad by something he discovered, and Bumstead soon begins to suspect that Murdoch is not guilty, but the victim of some plot. Murdoch is also being sought by Mr. Hand (played by Richard O'Brien), a Stranger who absorbs the memories Murdoch has "lost" (in truth, those of the serial killer that he is suspected of being) in order to track him. Unusual amongst the Strangers, Mr. Hand desires to experience life as a human through Murdoch's memories, but merely ends up manifesting the homicidal rage that comes from the memories of a serial killer.

Related Topics:
William Hurt - Richard O'Brien

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As he is pursued by the Strangers, Murdoch witnesses the true nature of the city. At midnight, while everyone else is asleep, the Strangers use their collective power to alter the very landscape of the city; growing buildings out of the ground while dissolving other buildings out of existence, transforming slum tenaments into mansions and vice versa, and injecting all the citizens with fresh new memories, often transforming them into entirely different people.

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Murdoch and Bumstead eventually meet, confront Dr. Schreber, and force him to reveal that the city is a vast experiment conducted by the alien Strangers, designed to reveal an aspect of humans that the Strangers lack and need to survive (hinted at being the nature of the human soul). The Strangers are in fact a dying race of alien parasites, who use human corpses as vessels. In their experiments they put the entire city to sleep and, with Schreber's help, manipulate the memories of the citizens in an attempt to learn about nature and nurture. Sometimes, however, people wake up during the process and are left without memories. This happened to Murdoch, and also to Bumstead's insane colleague.

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Murdoch, Bumstead, and a reluctant Schreber make their way to Shell Beach, which turns out to be nothing more than a fake beach painted on the brick wall that makes up the impenetrable edge of the city. An enraged Murdoch proceeds to tear the wall apart, only to discover the cold void of space beyond it. At this point the group is confronted by Strangers led by Mr. Hand, who holds Emma hostage.

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Bumstead attacks the Strangers and is killed when, in the ensuing struggle, he and one of the Strangers are sucked out into space. Bumstead is seen flying out into space at the edge of the city, revealing it to be a giant space station protected by a force field. The Strangers then capture Murdoch, and attempt to have Dr. Schreber overwrite Murdoch's memories with their own collective memory in order to "share his soul". However, Schreber manages to imprint Murdoch with a different set of memories, which teach him about his ability to shape reality just like the Strangers. Murdoch's newfound mastery of his ability allows him to easily overpower the Strangers, culminating in a massive psychokinetic battle between Murdoch and the Stranger leader, Mr. Book, in the skies high above the Dark City. Murdoch defeats Mr. Book, and uses his power to turn the city towards the sun, bringing sunlight to the city for the first time and causing the surviving Strangers (including a recaltrate Mr. Hand) to flee into the darkness. Murdoch also "recreates" Shell Beach by flooding water out of the edge of the city so that it pools in the city's force field. He then seeks out Emma, who (due to a memory change by the Strangers) is now called Anna, and no longer has any memories of having been Murdoch's wife. However, Murdoch decides to meet her again for the first time, and make new memories together.

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