Sample exam question for section c: Fight Club

17. How useful has a particular critical approach been in gaining a deeper understanding and appreciation of your chosen film? [30]

When watching my chosen film 'Fight Club' 1999 (Director: David Fincher) I found to gather a deeper understanding of the film the 'crisis of masculinity' the most useful critical approach. Within this film this critical approach questions the masculinity of the male characters, these questions can be seen through key scenes in the film. The time the film was made (1999) men were becoming more feminised in society and culture, this can be seen within the text, Fight Club.

Within the narrative of Fight Club the audience watch the male protagonist the narrator, Jack, attend pressure groups which men who suffered/ suffer with testicular cancer go to, to seek help. Through the mise-en-scene you can see that the location of the pressure groups is a basketball court. The lighting of the gym shows a form of emasculation and the crisis of masculinity as gyms are usually brightly lit (high-key lighting) and energetic, however in this scene the lighting is low key, dark and dreary. Through the use of a wide shot you can see men sitting in a semi-circle formation with their backs towards the basketball hoop. Their body positioning's also show a form of feminism and emasculation. The wide shot captures a man in the middle sitting with good posture, with his legs crossed and his hands placed upon them, this is considered a feminine pose. Also through the mise-en-scene you can see that they all have identity tags, implying that they have no identity and that the cancer has stripped them of their masculinity. As well as seeing the basketball hoop an American flag has been positioned next to it, this too shows the crisis as these men are Americans and are usually perceived as manly however due to the mise-en-scene they're shown more feminine as the support group could be considered as a more feminine approach to the problem in hand.

The crisis of masculinity is also portrayed through the dialogue. During the scene where the audience are watching Jack at the testicular cancer support group, a close up of Jack hugging and crying onto a mans shirt is captured. Accompanied with this shot is a voice over of Jack (the narrator) telling the audience who this person is. In the voice over we find that he is called 'Bob' and that he has 'bitch tits' which he gained due to oestrogen hormones being pumped in him due to his testicular cancer. His name could be considered as a pun as his name is one letter off from 'Boob', later on Fight Club you see that Bob joins Fight Club and Project Mayhem in an attempt to regain some of his masculinity.