Alex Proya's Dark City - Science Fiction Noir
Alex Proyas the director of Dark City takes ideas and ambience from many movies and integrates them all neatly in his visually amazing film. A cross between science fiction, film noir, dark comics, classic horror and early German films, Dark City fails to belong to any one category. This mixture is what makes the film creative and different along with its multi-layered symbolism. Mostly a science fiction story, Dark City deals with a man, John Murdock, struggling to overcome a great mystery as aliens interfere with his life. The aliens are known as "Strangers," and do not wish to destroy the human race, but learn from it to survive. Proyas has created a very unique movie based on his use of "signs" to detail scenes. His film is dark physically and psychologically. In this film, Proyas creates a dark city similar to Gotham City in the original "Batman". There is nothing futuristic or imaginary about the city. Everything in it is a mix of different decades. This amazes the audience because we aren't use to observing structures seen in the movie. The intentional mixture of culture throughout the different eras really contributed to the m
"The Strangers" are very scary in their appearance, especially the kid whose only line is "kill him". Most people expect young kids to be innocent despite background but not in this movie. The children are just as evil as the adults. In one scene the child "Stranger" sinks his sharp teeth into Murdock. "The Strangers" are another species who live under the ground and search for the human soul. The strangers have the ability to tune, to cloud people's minds and make them sleep. They can also manipulate time and matter. Possessing these special powers make "the Strangers" God-like and superior to humans. These "bad guys" that are bald, white-faced phantoms seem invincible and dress in uniform. Their dress consists of long black trench coats, gloves and homburg hats. They are mysterious beings for 90% of their physical body is covered up. Edward Scissorhands, Cenobites (from Hellraiser), the Emperor (from Star Wars), Borgs (from Star Trek), and Nosferatu were likely influences on Alex Proyas when developing "the Strangers" appearance. "The Strangers" are very, very similar to Nosferatu, because both are extremely pale, have sharp teeth, balled, and dress in black.
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Approximate Word count = 788
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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