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Dark City was released in Feb. 1998 to little fanfare. But one important fan latched onto Alex Proyas' dystopian sci-fi noir: Roger Ebert gave it a rave review, comparing it to the likes of Metropolis and 2001: A Space Odyssey and later naming it the best movie of the year.
We'll show Dark City 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Look Cinemas as the finale of the sci-fi series sponsored by the Dallas Film Society and The Dallas Morning News. The qualities that Ebert singled out, including fresh images and big imagination, have not aged, even if subsequent movies (chiefly the Matrix franchise) tapped similar themes of virtual reality and existential torment.
I admire Dark City's assurance of visual and thematic tone, which make its occasional narrative shortcuts seem far less important. To quote Ebert's rave review, "If it is true, as the German director Werner Herzog believes, that we live in an age starved of new images, then Dark City is a film to nourish us. Not a story so much as an experience, it is a triumph of art direction, set design, cinematography, special effects--and imagination."
You can RSVP for the free screening here. Use the promo code SCIFI. As always I'll introduce the film and lead a post-screening discussion. Hope to see you there.
