Se7en (1995)


I remember going to see Se7en with not a lot of knowledge of what it would be about past the fact that there was a serial killer murdering people based on the Seven Deadly Sins.  It pretty much says so on the poster, and happily by the time the was released they had stopped trying to promote the movie based on some of the more schmaltzy work done by both Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman.  I never held Alien3 against David Fincher, knowing that he wasn't given much control over how he made that film, so my main point of reference for how he could be as a director was based on his video for Aerosmith's "Janie's Got a Gun".  

Se7en definitely shows a lot more of the style he brought to that video, and it is evident from his better movies that it is dark themes that brings out the best in him.  In this case it was a script by Andrew Kevin Walker, who had been shopping it around for a while before it got picked up.  A lot of what was in the script made it to the movie, so it is not hard to understand why it was a hard sell.  Still, this was the age of The X-Files, itself influenced by Jonathan Demme's adaptation of The Silence of the Lambs.  Like Demme's film, Fincher's went on to influence a number of future films that aped its style or created outlandish serial killers that play mind games with their pursuers.  

Detective Somerset (Freeman) is a week away from retirement.  His replacement, Detective Mills (Pitt), has arrived to take over his position, specifically requesting transfer to an unnamed, crime-infested city.  On the day Mills arrives a bloated corpse is discovered, seemingly force-fed until his stomach burst.  While it is strange, and Mills is interested, Somerset is more than happy to let it go and recommends that Mills not be assigned either.  Things change when a high-powered lawyer for the city turns up murdered with the word "Greed" sprawled on the wall, and it is soon discovered that the word "Gluttony" was hidden at the scene of the first crime. 

Somerset, the more well-read of the two, immediately makes the connection and attempts to deduce what the killer is doing by researching Catholic literature that illuminates on the sins.  The two detectives begin to bond, particularly with Mills's wife (Gwenyth Paltrow) trying to find her footing in the new city and finding it hard to make friends.  Meanwhile, additional victims appear, some having endured torture for up to a year prior.  As the detectives narrow down a suspect they soon find that they are also part of the killer's plan.  

I have to admire the promotion for this movie, despite some missteps early on.  The killer, and the actor that plays him, is not shown in the poster, nor was he part of the press tour when it came to marketing the movie.  It was left to audiences seeing the film to be surprised when the reveal comes, and it is one of the best and most shocking reveals in any film.  It's not because of who he is or the actor playing him, but because it begins moving the movie to its conclusion.  Said conclusion was the root of much controversy, with producers pushing for it to be changed, something that Freeman and Pitt stood firm on in order to agree to continue with the movie. 

With Hollywood being so risk averse it is hard to believe that everyone involved relented.  It was certainly not expected and, though nothing graphic is shown at that point, it caps off an entire feeling of unease that begins the moment the killer is revealed.  That's no mean feat as, while it is mainly the aftermath of the murders and torture that is shown, the realizations of the sins are disquieting as it is.  Add the atmosphere of rain-soaked city full of people ready to cut each other's throats and it puts one in a unique world where something like this could happen. 

I had not seen Se7en for a number of years, possibly a decade or more, and knowing the ending and the main twists does nothing to spoil it.  The griminess and seeming weight of the story and its trappings is palpable, and Fincher managed to realize Walker's script in a way that few others could.  Like The Silence of the Lambs it kicked off a number of copycats, both cinematic and on television.  It resonates to this day, with even a show like Hannibal owing more to Se7en than to its own source material.  It is one of those movies that is timeless and, thankfully, has not yet been ruined by a sequel or reboot. 

Se7en (1995)
Time: 127 minutes
Starring: Morgan Freeman, Brad Pitt, Gwenyth Paltrow
Director: David Fincher

 

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