David Fincher -The Game
**/ Spoiler Alerts**/
In my second on the David Fincher series i would be taking a look at one of Fincher’s more underrated movie The Game, a kind of abstract thriller.
The Game is the story of Nicholas Van Orton(Michael Douglas), a multi millionaire in San Francisco, but leading a lonely life, divorced from his wife. On his 40th birthday, his more bohemian, free spirited brother Conrad( Sean Penn), presents him with an unusual gift. It is a game offered by a mysterious organization, Consumer Recreation Services, of which not much is known. Not much is really known about The Game, except that it seems to be a kind of live action role playing game, where the person is a live participant.
Nicholas is rejected by CRS, after a lengthy pyschological test involving filling up all kinds of questionaries. However the real “Game” begins right now for Nicholas, as he begins to discover that things are not what as they seem. His entire orderly world, goes topsy turvy, as he begins to experience things he never had before. He finds assistance in Christine(Deborah Unger), who helps him to escape from CRS, only to find out he has been victim of a double crossing. Well to see what does happen to Nicholas, and what the Game actually is, just watch the movie.
The Game is David Fincher’s most abstract movie yet. On the surface it looks like a thriller, with the hero caught in extraordinary circumstances, but a deeper examination, reveals multiple layers. It is not just Nicholas, but as an audience you find yourself examining and re examining every incident, and even by climax, you are still not sure, what has happened. Even after multiple viewings, The Game still continues to perplex me at times.
Though the movie is indeed layered, one of the basic concepts around which the movie is built, is the “What If” idea.
What if you suddenly were in a situation, where you had to question your own value systems, your beliefs?
Nicholas is put through the same grind. Fincher actually sets it up, in the first couple of reels, where we get to see Nicholas character. He is rich, but a loner, not a man given to any personal relationships. He is obsessed with precision, punctuality, and professionalism. He is a total careerist, and in fact he does not really think much of his birthday. All we see are flashes of his life as a kid, when his father commited suicide on his 40th birthday. He is totally obsessed with correctness, to the extent that when he corrects a word for one of the CRS persons, he remarks
you’re a left-brain word fetishist.
In fact Nicholas seems to have no other life, other than his career and work. So when the Game begins, things happen to him, which dont happen often. The person in the TV begins to speak to him, saying he is been watched, his pen begins to leak, his suitcase is jammed shut. In one instant, his entire carefully organized life is totally turned upside down.
In fact what exactly is the Game? In first place he is rejected, and then suddenly the Game begins to play out in his life. Is it a kind of scam, or is his brother playing tricks on him? Not exactly sure. But what is undeniable is that this Game or whatever it is , seems some kind of weird plan, to make you do things you never do.
Fincher in this case, is making a critique of the “success at any cost” attitude of the American businessman. There is a memorable scene, where Nicholas goes to fire the company’s long standing partner, as he was not bringing in enough revenues. Though that person happens to be his father’s best friend, it is immaterial to Nicholas, as he just cares only for the bottomline. But precisely at that moment, his briefcase is stuck, and does not open, leaving him totally embarassed.
Again at some parts The Game works out like a horror flick, as in the scene when Nicholas, walks to his hotel room, finds it totally trashed, and as he cuts his finger, and blood flows all over. Or the scene where the lights in the Den of his mansion, start glowing, and he sees spray painted images everywhere.
The fact is The Game seems a never ending mystery. Just when you think you unravelled one layer, another begins, and another. And the worst comes when he gives a complaint against CRS only to find that when he raids their office, with the cops, it is not just there any more. The Game is not a movie with a straightforward narration, in fact Fincher, deliberately leaves all the loose ends. It seems he is a playing a Game on two levels, one in the movie, and one with the viewer. What Fincher does here is put out the twists and turns to the audiences and expects them to draw their own conclusions.
You do know that Nicholas is in a What if situation, which forces him to evaluate his own basic values. But why have something like CRS, a shady organization, and a totally bizarre Game? And why in fact is Nicholas rejected and then sucked into the Game? Is it some kind of pyschological trick, where you draw a person into a false sense of complacency, and then throw him headlong into a vortex? Hard to say.
If you are the kind who loves abstract thrillers, go for The Game, only allow yourself multiple viewings, to actually unravel the layers it has. This is not a straightforward Man on the Run, thriller, it is a much more complex and mysterious one. My reason for watching The Game, was a discussion i had with a friend over No Smoking. She was a huge Michael Douglas fan, and she said, that No Smoking had some of The Game’s influence, especially the surrealistic nature of the plot. It took me a couple of viewings to get some part of the movie, but still lot to be explored. Michael Douglas is first rate as the Scrooge, who gets drawn into a crazy series of events, while Sean Penn is equally effective as his free spirited rebellious brother.
If any one has watched this movie, would love to hear their perspective on it.
Tags: David Fincher, Michael Douglas, Sean Penn, The Game, World Cinema
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I could never finish the film for some reason. It bored me to death especially the beginning.
NS influenced by Game, Did I hear that before? Hmm…
One of my all time favorites. My first exposure to Fincher’s story telling. The climax where the gun slips from the hand, the dark sky, people rushing to Penn, crying, sobs and in all that the utterly defeated Douglas, all his facade and whatever ego he was still holding on to… melting away as he takes “that” step… the culmination of the entire story into that scene – loved it… it’s a pity that climax was so wrongly misused in BluffMaster… same scene just such a diagonally opposite impact.
Another one – the scene in the beginning of the movie, where Douglas is unable to open his briefcase… that is the beginning of Fincher’s sleek and sublimal way of showing how a man always in “control” starts losing it (control) bit by bit, situation by situation as things get bigger and bigger beyond his grip… I particularly liked how this is represented through various supporting elements… like the briefcase becomes another major problem for Douglas right after he takes it back to his hotel room (after he can’t open it)… there he manages to open it (don’t remember how) and voila… another pack of headaches pops out when he sees what’s inside the case…
I found it very sleekly and intelligently written right at the story level.
Ah, yes, David Fincher’s most underrated film!
I really liked it.
Was innovative.
I can’t say that I can see the ‘No SmOKing’ references, but it has been around 10years since I saw the film!
I remember it not being appreciated, but I still went out and got the VHS!
I can’t understand why people dislike it.
Wasn’t ‘Bluffmaster’ inspired by this?
Steve, Bluffmaster was inspired from the Nicholas Cage starrer Matchstick Men. But the climax had shades of The Game.
Oh well the No Smoking funda was that both movies had a same concept, of a guy being thrust into a world, where he is forced to change the way he is.
Well also regarding the movie, it has a kind of abstract and surrealistic narration, needs repeated viewings to actually get the gist of it. I think thats why this movie was a flop. But really loved it.
Oz, actually Douglas places the briefcase in the hotel room. After he comes back, to hotel, he finds that the room has been totally vandalized, and then he sees the briefcase cracked open, with all those pictures in it. He suspects it to be a trick played by Baer, the guy whom he threatened to fire. But when he confronts Baer, the guy has already resigned and is leaving.
Ravi, yeah its not an easy movie to like. First time it just went over my head, when i saw it. And then i saw it again and again, but while i cud understand it, still many questions remain unanswered.
Yeah, I actually have the film with me… will sit through this tonight. U piqued my curiosity.
Honestly I saw it once and though I liked it, dint think of it as an ‘Abstract Thriller’… Thought it was deep, yes… but not really hard to understand (I mean not in the sense of No Smoking or something). I really really loved the usage of “Jefferson Airplane’s White Rabbit” sometime in the middle when his entire house is seemingly sabotaged and all…
Read about the back story of the song ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Rabbit_(song) ) in case you already dint know… It looked at Alice in Wonderland with the interpretation of it being an effect of Drugs induced hallucination and all. Absolutely LOVE that song.
aah… you would have to copy the part including ‘(song)’ from the above link (and ofc paste in URL :P ) for the correct address…
Well ratnakar, i have been fortunate enough to watch the Game and i do agree with u tht it actually perplexes us as the viewer….and makes u think about isolation,loneliness,craziness….
It also makes u think that all of a sudden what sstarts happening to us and is everything really what it seems or is it a hallucination….
Btw, this is the movie that actually got me hooked onto Fincher…. and today i have to admit that am actually a die hard fan of Fincher….