From “AKIRA” and “Dome” to German Expressionism! What influenced the worldview of the science fiction masterpiece Dark City?

What is the chaotic state of memory depicted in "Dark City"?

However, there is also an aspect to it that makes it difficult to say whether or not a work like "Dark City" or " The matrix " influenced you. This is because both works are made up of a mosaic of all the elements that influenced the director from his childhood, and have been matured over the years.

For example, as was widely discussed when it was released, The matrix is ​​known for being packed with elements of cyberpunk novels, kung fu movies, comics, Japanese animation, the Bible, Greek mythology, philosophy, AI, the Internet, and so on.

So, if we slice and dice Dark City, what components do we find?

"Dark City" © Photofest / Getty Images

First of all, the opening of this film catches your eye with the flavor of 1940s film noir. The smell of cigarettes, alcohol, crime, femme fatale. Just when you think that all these elements are in full house, the story suddenly takes on an unexpected sci-fi color. This unexpected fusion of "noir" and "sci-fi" that has never been done before is the greatest pleasure of this film. However, while you may think that it accurately reproduces the 1940s, this is not the case. This is because one of the characteristics of this film is the "clouding of memories," and the music playing in the background and the cars moving around are inconsistent and completely different from the era. In this way, the mismatch and chaos are intentionally created to amplify the audience's sense of discomfort.

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