SE7EN
dir: David Fincher
Only in a world this shitty could you even try to say these were innocent people and keep a straight face. But that's the point. We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home, and we tolerate it. We tolerate it because it's common, it's trivial. We tolerate it morning, noon, and night. Well, not anymore. - John Doe
Brief Synopsis
A series of bizarre murders related to the seven deadly sins bring retiring detective Somerset in for his last case and rookie Mills in for his first where their conflicting approaches complicate the case.
Why It's Here
It's funny, whenever the topic of David Fincher comes up, people I speak with are often instantly enthusiastic about his body of work, or carefully thoughtful about it. Those who aren't immediate fans often sit and think for a moment, usually beginning by saying, "well 'Fight Club' was good", then following by either praising or showing conflicting feelings about "Panic Room" or "Zodiac". However, whenever I say, "well, what about 'Se7en'?", their response is always, "yeah, obviously 'Se7en'". After his disastrous directorial debut with "Alien 3", David Fincher rebounded with his cryptic serial killer mystery. A movie, that in any Fincher-centric discussion I've ever had is universally praised, even those who find his later films too bleak or boring are constantly praising "Se7en". It is a film whose central characters sharply contrast one another, one solves a mystery by kicking in a door, the other who contemplates the consequence of finding what is behind the door. The audience is able to connect with both their brains and the brawn's.
Fincher's dirty approach to the film originated with writer Andrew Kevin Walker's experiences in New York City. His disgust for the filth of the people and the city itself led to his largely bleak script, Fincher, who would later go on to be known for his heavy use grunge imagery in his films, became a perfect match for Walker's script. The films opening credits are etched onto the screen, while the background serves as a prelude to the killer's M. O. where we see the removal of fingerprints through scaring the fingertips and other grotesque imagery that foreshadows the films brutal visual style and offers a sense of titillation towards the psyche of a serial killer. While the rest of the film focuses on the detectives and their obsession with this unique killer (a theme later explored further in "Zodiac"), it is the killer who is the puppet master to the whole film. He orchestrates the events and theatrically lures the detectives along. While the killer only emerges late into the film, he does so at his own willingness, "Se7en" is not a glorified cop story, it's a story of someone pulling the strings and representing power where power should not be, Fincher plays with the audiences insecurities and fears, imaging a place where a psychopath has more power than the police. The film is famous for it's twist ending where no one really wins, but in a twisted and truly psychopathic sense, it is the killer who emerges victorious because he is underestimated, mistook for a common criminal taking out his angst on the world, when in actually, he is an intelligent person who just doesn't understand the workings of society, and works to break them.
Speaking of obsession, "Se7en" is a monument of it. Somerset, a retiring detective who agrees to take this one last case on initially is reluctant and disappointed with his partner, his interest in the case is waning, however as the case grows deeper and the killer appears more intelligent and predetermined, Somerset begins to dedicate himself to the case. Mills, on the other hand, a young detective with a hatred for criminals, believing in the aggressive approach to every situation to create a sense of power and authority obsesses in his own way. Unlike Somerset, he does not spend entire nights at libraries trying to get inside the mind of their killer, he instead is constantly thinking of the quickest way to capture the son of a bitch and make him wish he were never born. As each of the different sins are unveiled, the audience joins in on the obsession, wondering what a lawyer could be responsible for to be worthy of the "greed" murder, or who might be the victim of "lust" among other sins. Fincher's involvement of the audience is key to the film's intrigue.
Ultimately, the film is cynical, much like "Fight Club", the belief of "Se7en" is that the world is a giant piece of shit in need of being purged. Complimented by the bleak cinematography and the constant raining throughout the film, there is a belief that the world is just a rotten place from top to bottom. This image is fully expressed to the audience when Mills' wife confesses her fears of having a child because she can't bear to bring a child into a world so horrible. Even the killer, who is portrayed as an obvious antagonist is able to share his opinion, which shockingly enough, coincides with the notion of a terrible world that the rest of the characters feel. The killer complains of societies ignorance to morals, instead opting for interest in money, sex, and status. To bring in another layer of treachery, the killer uses the Bible as his reference for his murders, he insists he is doing god's work to purify the world once again, to remove those who feed off of evil. This is a stinging exploitation on people's insecurities about religious-inspired violence, especially in current society. This is a bold move for the film to approach, in a society sensitive about religious interpretation sparking violence around the world, "Se7en" brings this notion home, into the streets of America where people are meant to feel safe. Fincher gets beneath the audiences skin in a way that isn't senseless or distasteful because while the film seems to say "the world isn't worth it" the whole way through, it is Somerset, the moral compass for the story, who in the end contemplates the futility of maintaining good morals in humanity, leaving us with the best answer he has, that justice must be served, and to fight for good makes it all worth it, even when it seems that the world has gone rotten.
Fincher's dirty approach to the film originated with writer Andrew Kevin Walker's experiences in New York City. His disgust for the filth of the people and the city itself led to his largely bleak script, Fincher, who would later go on to be known for his heavy use grunge imagery in his films, became a perfect match for Walker's script. The films opening credits are etched onto the screen, while the background serves as a prelude to the killer's M. O. where we see the removal of fingerprints through scaring the fingertips and other grotesque imagery that foreshadows the films brutal visual style and offers a sense of titillation towards the psyche of a serial killer. While the rest of the film focuses on the detectives and their obsession with this unique killer (a theme later explored further in "Zodiac"), it is the killer who is the puppet master to the whole film. He orchestrates the events and theatrically lures the detectives along. While the killer only emerges late into the film, he does so at his own willingness, "Se7en" is not a glorified cop story, it's a story of someone pulling the strings and representing power where power should not be, Fincher plays with the audiences insecurities and fears, imaging a place where a psychopath has more power than the police. The film is famous for it's twist ending where no one really wins, but in a twisted and truly psychopathic sense, it is the killer who emerges victorious because he is underestimated, mistook for a common criminal taking out his angst on the world, when in actually, he is an intelligent person who just doesn't understand the workings of society, and works to break them.
Speaking of obsession, "Se7en" is a monument of it. Somerset, a retiring detective who agrees to take this one last case on initially is reluctant and disappointed with his partner, his interest in the case is waning, however as the case grows deeper and the killer appears more intelligent and predetermined, Somerset begins to dedicate himself to the case. Mills, on the other hand, a young detective with a hatred for criminals, believing in the aggressive approach to every situation to create a sense of power and authority obsesses in his own way. Unlike Somerset, he does not spend entire nights at libraries trying to get inside the mind of their killer, he instead is constantly thinking of the quickest way to capture the son of a bitch and make him wish he were never born. As each of the different sins are unveiled, the audience joins in on the obsession, wondering what a lawyer could be responsible for to be worthy of the "greed" murder, or who might be the victim of "lust" among other sins. Fincher's involvement of the audience is key to the film's intrigue.
Ultimately, the film is cynical, much like "Fight Club", the belief of "Se7en" is that the world is a giant piece of shit in need of being purged. Complimented by the bleak cinematography and the constant raining throughout the film, there is a belief that the world is just a rotten place from top to bottom. This image is fully expressed to the audience when Mills' wife confesses her fears of having a child because she can't bear to bring a child into a world so horrible. Even the killer, who is portrayed as an obvious antagonist is able to share his opinion, which shockingly enough, coincides with the notion of a terrible world that the rest of the characters feel. The killer complains of societies ignorance to morals, instead opting for interest in money, sex, and status. To bring in another layer of treachery, the killer uses the Bible as his reference for his murders, he insists he is doing god's work to purify the world once again, to remove those who feed off of evil. This is a stinging exploitation on people's insecurities about religious-inspired violence, especially in current society. This is a bold move for the film to approach, in a society sensitive about religious interpretation sparking violence around the world, "Se7en" brings this notion home, into the streets of America where people are meant to feel safe. Fincher gets beneath the audiences skin in a way that isn't senseless or distasteful because while the film seems to say "the world isn't worth it" the whole way through, it is Somerset, the moral compass for the story, who in the end contemplates the futility of maintaining good morals in humanity, leaving us with the best answer he has, that justice must be served, and to fight for good makes it all worth it, even when it seems that the world has gone rotten.