CineTV Contest: Favorite Brad Pitt Movie “Fight Club” (by @kork75)

Brad Pitt is one of the most well-known and loved faces of world cinema

His career is studded with memorable roles, prestigious awards and films of great impact. But what do we really know about him? What are his favourite genres, his artistic qualities and his personal secrets? In this post I will try to find out more about this fascinating character, through a brief biography, an overview of his most important films and some curiosities about his lifestyle. Brad Pitt, whose real name is William Bradley Pitt, was born on 18 December 1963 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, from a family of English, Scottish and Irish origin. He has a younger brother, Douglas, and an older sister, Julie. He graduated in journalism with a specialisation in advertising from the University of Missouri, but dropped out of his studies two weeks before the end to move to Los Angeles and pursue his dream of becoming an actor. His first appearance on the big screen was in the horror film Cutting Class (1989), but the role that made him known to the public was that of the cowboy hitchhiker J.D. in the road movie Thelma & Louise (1991) by Ridley Scott. Since then his career has taken off, and he has starred in films of different genres, from historical drama to psychological thriller, from black comedy to science fiction.

Among his most famous films I like to remember:

• Interview with the Vampire (1994), based on the novel by Anne Rice , in which he plays the vampire Louis de Pointe du Lac alongside Tom Cruise and Kirsten Dunst;
• Seven (1995), directed by David Fincher , in which he is a detective dealing with a serial killer who kills following the seven deadly sins;
• Twelve Monkeys (1995), directed by Terry Gilliam , in which he is a psychiatric patient who helps Bruce Willis save the world from a lethal virus;
• Fight Club (1999), again directed by Fincher , in which he is Tyler Durden, the charismatic leader of a group of rebels who challenge the system with violence;
• Ocean’s Eleven (2001) and its two sequels, directed by Steven Soderbergh , in which he is Rusty Ryan, one of the members of the gang of thieves led by George Clooney;
• Troy (2004), directed by Wolfgang Petersen , in which he is Achilles, the Greek hero of the Trojan War;
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), again directed by Fincher , in which he is Benjamin Button, a man who is born old and grows younger with time;
  Inglourious Basterds (2009), directed by Quentin Tarantino , in which he is Aldo Raine, the leader of a team of American soldiers who fight the Nazis during World War II;
• Moneyball (2011), directed by Bennett Miller , in which he is Billy Beane, the manager of a baseball team who uses an innovative method to choose players;
• World War Z (2013), directed by Marc Forster , in which he is Gerry Lane, a former United Nations agent who tries to stop a zombie epidemic;
• Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood (2019), directed by Tarantino , in which he is Cliff Booth, the faithful stuntman and friend of actor Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio).

Some of his most famous lines or scenes are:
“The first rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club. The second rule of Fight Club is: you do not talk about Fight Club.”(Fight Club);
“I’m Aldo Raine and these are my bastards. And you are officially the luckiest Nazis in occupied France.” (Inglourious Basterds);
“I don’t know what’s worse: losing the war with a blow to the heel or knowing that your fate depends on the whim of a woman.” (Troy).

For his performance in Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood, Pitt won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, after receiving three others as a producer and lead actor. He also won two Golden Globes, two BAFTAs, an Emmy and numerous other awards and accolades.
The question I asked myself is: why is Brad Pitt so popular? The answer is very complex, as obvious and taken for granted, Brad Pitt is not only a talented actor but also a successful producer.
In 2001 he founded Plan B Entertainment, a film production company that has produced critically acclaimed and popular films such as Martin Scorsese’s The Departed (2006), Malick’s The Tree of Life (2011), McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave (2013) and Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight (2016). All these films won the Oscar for Best Picture, while others such as Miller’s Moneyball (2011), Ava DuVernay’s Selma (2014) and McKay’s Vice (2018) were nominated, to name a few.
But Brad Pitt is also a public figure closely followed by the media and fans.
He is considered one of the most fascinating sex symbols in the world and has had romantic relationships with some of the most beautiful and famous women in show business, such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston and Angelina Jolie. With the latter he had six children, three of whom were adopted from Ethiopia, Vietnam and Cambodia. The couple married in 2014 after ten years of cohabitation but separated in 2016 amid controversy and legal battles over custody of their children.
The actor is also known for his social and humanitarian commitment.
In 2006 he founded the Make It Right Foundation, an organization that builds eco-friendly and affordable homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans. He has also supported various charitable causes such as the fight against AIDS, poverty and cancer and has participated in campaigns for human and civil rights. Good Brad Pitt has given the public unforgettable moments with his performances.

Now for the CineTV Contest #66 I am asked “Brad Pitt’s favourite film”,
undoubtedly Fight Club.

Edward Norton, the Narrator, is a dissatisfied and insomniac employee who tries to escape his boring and consumerist life. To find some relief, he pretends to be terminally ill and attends various support groups for people with cancer, leukemia, AIDS and other diseases. There he meets Marla Singer, a cynical and disillusioned woman who does the same. Marla’s presence disturbs the Narrator, who can no longer feel empathy for others. During a business trip, the Narrator meets Tyler Durden, Brand Pitt, an anarchic and charismatic soap salesman who proposes to him to found a secret club where men challenge each other to fists to rediscover their virility and essence. The Narrator accepts and moves in with Tyler in a dilapidated house. Fight Club soon becomes a mass phenomenon that turns into an anti-capitalist terrorist network led by Tyler. The Narrator discovers that Tyler has a relationship with Marla and that he and Tyler are actually the same person: the Narrator suffers from dissociative identity disorder and Tyler is his alternate personality. The Narrator tries to stop Tyler’s plans, who wants to blow up several skyscrapers where credit card data is stored to zero world debt. The Narrator finds himself on the roof of one of these buildings, with Tyler pointing a gun at his mouth. The Narrator realizes that the gun is actually in his hands and shoots himself in the cheek, thus killing Tyler. Marla arrives on the scene along with some members of Fight Club and the Narrator tells her that everything will be fine, while behind them the skyscrapers explode.

Sources and further information

Brad Pitt - Wikipedia
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brad_Pitt.
Fight Club (film)
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight_Club_(film)