Dark City vs. The Matrix

It's time to talk about movies again! I love movies. Well, I like talking about movies after an annoying day at the office. It was damn busy, and I'm suffering from a major lack of feedback about how I'm performing my new job. You know, even a "you suck, improve!" would be better than nothing. But I digress.

I frequent a movie forum from time to time, which is thankfully not like the forum portrayed in Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Someone posted a link to this site, which is in Spanish but contains some pictures comparing the films Dark City and The Matrix. The site's thesis is laid out in these three paragraphs, which I have put through Babelfish:

"The difference between original and a good plagiarism is that this one lacks all merit. "The Matrix" (The Wachowsky Brothers, 1999) is I trace in all the aspects of "Dark City" (Alex Proyas, 1998). History, the photo grafía, the atmosphere, the coloration, the illumination... everything has been copied, until very precise details. But while "The Matrix" has been a full success, "Dark City "is almost unnoticed past. Therefore, this tra- under it does not try another thing that to do a little of justice to the wonderful film that is the ORIGINAL one.

If you have the two films by hand, we recommended to you interesting experiment: To see "Dark City" first and "The Matrix "later... considering that is a year of dife-rencia between both productions.

But if you do not have both films by hand, a look throws to these 30 graphs. In each one of them it is compared photogram of "Dark City" (to the left), and of "The Ma- trix "(to the right). They are only some of I suspect them sas coincidences that exist between both films; in reality are many more, but you will become a good idea."

You get the idea. The claim is that Matrix totally ripped off Dark City. Although I like both films a lot, and I think Dark City is one of the best science fiction films ever created, I disagree with this website's claim for several reasons.

First, the pictures only present framed, still shots. This is how the film looks on a storyboard - and both films obviously borrow quite a bit from comic books both in style and cinematography (Proyas' earlier film, The Crow, was an adaptation of a comic series). Aside from some similar objects - all taken pretty far out of context - all this proves is that both movies look like comic books. In truth, they both borrow from Tim Burton's earlier work, like Beetlejuice and Batman, the later of which is also a comic adaptation (which borrows from 50s and 60s sci-fi, which borrows from 20s flicks like Metropolis, which borrows from illustrated penny dreadfuls of the last century, which... etc.)

Second, the content. Both films have a startlingly similar story: a guy suddenly "wakes up" and discovers that his powers are greater than those belonging to other people around him, and he uses these powers to free the people around him by overthrowing some kind of oppressor. Now, the term "archetype" is bandied about far too often, especially in popular intellectual circles, but here its application bears merit: this is one of the oldest types of stories ever told. It is the basis for many cowboy stories and movies (think Shane - it's all there!) And it comes from one of the oldest kinds of stories told on the planet - the story of spiritual advancement. The Bhagavad Gita, the story of Jesus of Nazareth, the story of the Buddha, all of these fit this model as well. Plato's Allegory of the Cave, Nietzsche's "Zarathustra" - more of the same. To claim that Matrix stole plot ideas from Dark City is a little farfetched. If the plots seem similar, it's only because the stories upon which they are based are such an integral part of global consciousness, we cannot help but retell them, whether it's the fantasy knight, the sharpshooting cowboy, or even a teenaged superhero.

Back in college, someone presented a paper at a research conference that basically argued the same thing, and I didn't agree with it then either. I think it's a shame that more people haven't heard of Dark City, and that Rufus Sewell (who I met in London, and who is an outstanding human being) hasn't been cast in many movies since (A Knight's Tale doesn't count, but guess what, it fits the archetype!)

I should probably spend my writing time working on my novel. This weekend, I'm going to see the well-reviewed Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, whose title is far too long for American advertising. Plus, it doesn't follow the gerund-proper noun formula. Hopefully this means that I will have the theater to myself.

What I'm reading: Love in the Time of Cholera - Garbriel Garcia Marquez
What's playing: Son of a Preacher Man - Dusty Springfield
Movie: Watched the first part of Quills last night - will no doubt have more to say on this later.