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.

Similarities to other works

The film's style is often compared to that of the works of Terry Gilliam (especially Brazil), and there have been many comparisons between it and The Matrix, which was filmed shortly after Dark City and reused some of its sets. One scene, in which Murdoch looks out a window into an alley to view an approaching Stranger, is almost identical to a similar scene in The Matrix between Trinity and an Agent; and the staircase on which Neo experiences déjà vu was previously used by Murdoch to flee Bumstead's curiosity.

Related Topics:
Terry Gilliam - Brazil - The Matrix - Trinity - Agent - Neo - Déjà vu

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Some stylistic similarities have been noted to Jean-Pierre Jeunet's 1995 film The City of Lost Children (also influenced by Gilliam's Brazil).

Related Topics:
Jean-Pierre Jeunet - 1995 - The City of Lost Children

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Fritz Lang's 1927 movie Metropolis was a major influence on the film. The plot also contains many similarities to Victor Hugo's Les Misérables and Arthur C. Clarke's The City and the Stars. The random permutation of people's social identities is reminiscent of Borges's short story "The Lottery in Babylon".

Related Topics:
Fritz Lang - Metropolis - Victor Hugo - Les Misérables - Arthur C. Clarke - The City and the Stars - Borges - The Lottery in Babylon

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References to Memoirs of My Nervous Illness by Daniel Paul Schreber (after whom character Daniel Poe Schreber is named) can be found in the film, notably in the use of his "fleetingly-improvised men" concept. The film also contains references to The Bible, with John Murdoch being an allegorical Jesus. One reference that is of note is the number of the room John is in at the film's beginning — 614 — which is reminiscent of John , a biblical entry that refers to the coming of Jesus.

Related Topics:
Memoirs of My Nervous Illness - Daniel Paul Schreber - The Bible - Jesus - John

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Also quite noticeable is the use of Cartesian philosophy. This tends to draw comparisons to other films made around the same time that made use of it, such as The Matrix, The Thirteenth Floor, and eXistenZ. While the idea that sensory experience could be manufactured by some form of virtual reality is not new in science fiction, Dark City addresses the (arguably more radical) question of memory. In Bertrand Russell's words, how can we be sure that "the world was not created five minutes ago, and our memories with it?"

Related Topics:
Cartesian - The Thirteenth Floor - EXistenZ - Virtual reality - Science fiction - Bertrand Russell

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