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Dark City
A man struggles with memories of his past, including a wife he cannot remember, in a nightmarish world with no sun and run by beings with telekinetic powers who seek the souls of humans.
1998 · Directed by Alex Proyas · 101 min · Mystery · Science Fiction · Screenplay in the scene database · 34 frames
Tagline
They built the city to see what makes us tick. Last night, one of us went off.
Plot
John Murdoch awakens in a hotel bathtub with amnesia. He receives a phone call from Dr. Daniel Schreber, who urges him to flee the hotel to evade a group of men who are after him. In the room, Murdoch discovers the corpse of a ritualistically murdered woman and a bloody knife. He flees the scene, just as a group of pale men in trenchcoats ("the Strangers") arrive.
Police Inspector Frank Bumstead, who is investigating murdered prostitutes, identifies Murdoch as a suspect. Following clues, Murdoch learns his name and finds out he has a wife named Emma. When the Strangers corner him, Murdoch instinctively alters reality (an ability the Strangers share and refer to as tuning) to create an escape path for himself.
Murdoch wanders the streets of the city where it is perpetually nighttime but no one seems to notice. When the clock strikes twelve, Murdoch witnesses everyone else fall asleep and the Strangers use tuning to physically rearrange the city's architecture. Afterwards, assisted by Schreber, the Strangers inject selected people with new memories. Murdoch learns that he came from a coastal town called Shell Beach, which everyone knows, though no one remembers how to get there and Murdoch's attempts to visit fail. The Strangers inject a copy of Murdoch's intended memories into one of their own, Mr. Hand, hoping it will help them predict Murdoch's movements and track him down.
Plot summary from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA.
Crew
- Screenplay: David S. Goyer, Alex Proyas, Lem Dobbs
- Cinematography: Dariusz Wolski
- Edited by: Dov Hoenig
- Music: Trevor Jones
- Production design: George Liddle, Patrick Tatopoulos
- Produced by: Andrew Mason, Alex Proyas
Cast
- Rufus Sewell as John Murdoch
- William Hurt as Inspector Frank Bumstead
- Kiefer Sutherland as Dr. Daniel P. Schreber
- Jennifer Connelly as Emma Murdoch
- Richard O'Brien as Mr. Hand
- Ian Richardson as Mr. Book
- Bruce Spence as Mr. Wall
- Colin Friels as Det. Eddie Walenski
- John Bluthal as Karl Harris
- Mitchell Butel as Officer Husselbeck
Production
- Country: Australia, United States of America
- Language: English
- Studios: New Line Cinema, Mystery Clock Cinema
- Budget: $27,000,000
- Box office: $27,200,000
- Themes: beach, amnesia, experiment, paranoia, dystopia, sleep, manipulation, mad scientist, fugitive, serial killer
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