Currently Watching Dark City (Director's Cut) [Blu-ray] By Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly, Richard O'Brien see related

Suddenly, the man wakes up. He’s soaking in a bathtub without any clue how he got there. He staggers around the dark hotel room, gathering his clothes and putting them on, trying to remember anything at all. He thinks his name is Murdoch, J. Murdoch, James or John or Joe. And there’s a dead woman on the floor by the bed.

This is the world of Dark City, a world that would almost resemble America of the 1950s were it not for disturbing idiosyncrasy, a world inhabited by a murder suspect (Rufus Sewell), a sultry singer (Jennifer Connelly), a police inspector (William Hurt) and a mysterious doctor (Keifer Sutherland). Yet this is not classic film noir, but rather a science fiction film. Dark City was released a full year before The Matrix blew the minds of a nation, and it came out quietly enough to completely escape my notice. Years later, my brother Mark bolts up the basement steps to the kitchen to tell me he’s watching a really cool movie on television. “Yeah?” I said, pointing at the screen in the family room. “So am I!” We’d been entranced by the same plot in the same house without even knowing it, and that fond memory prompted me to purchase the Blu-Ray disc when it came out Tuesday and pop it in the player yesterday night. It’s a movie that is still as thought-provoking and entertaining as it was that night we discovered it on TV.

Appropriately enough, Dark City is about memories, both fond and foul. To say much more would be to risk ruining the journey of the film for you, but I can say that J. Murdoch flees the law, pursues his memories and finds out some stunning truths in the process. I’m not an enthusiastic science fiction fan as a general rule, not someone who seeks out cinematic aliens and laser guns for their own sake, but there are certainly exceptions. This is one of them. My friend Ben (he of kindergarten acquaintance and wedding jokes) said to me recently that the purpose of good science fiction was to get people to think about societal problems by greatly enlarging them; I’m reminded of a “Star Trek” episode that dealt with race relations by telling the tale of warring alien tribes of different colors. Dark City very literally addresses what it is that makes us human, right down to the composition of the soul, and it puts that question at the core of an engaging action film and mystery. If you’re looking for realism or simplicity, you may want to avoid Dark City for the moment. If you’re eager for fantasy to lead you to places you’ve yet to discover, this film could very well be just what you’re looking for.