David Fincher is a phenomenal talent. If all he ever did was direct The Social Network, that’d be enough. But he directed Se7en. And He directed the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And Fight Club. Oh, and the first two episodes of the Netflix series House of Cards.
You get the idea. The video below is an incredibly well put together, detailed look at Fincher’s craft. If you love film, this is se7en and a half minutes well spent. (via ParisLemon)
I’ve never not enjoyed anything of Fincher’s I’ve seen. Hell of a director.
Se7en was a great movie. With one thing that nagged the hell out of me: the lighting.
There were scenes in buildings where all the lights were on, but the police still needed their flashlights to see anything. Its one thing to want a room to “feel” dark, even though logically it shouldn’t be. But then having hand held flashlights that illuminate far better than the installed lighting makes the audience aware of the trickery being attempted.
Fincher, one of the very best filmmakers there ever was.
Like in the “CSI” series? In the series they often use flashlights in well-lit locations.
I liked precisely this aspect of the lighting in Seven. I agree that it’s unrealistic, but the impression I got from watching it was that there was something really evil about these places. They’re not dark because there’s no light, they’re dark because there’s something very wrong going on, and only the detectives can bring light to it.
I’m sure that was the intent, but it felt too obvious a trick. Just as the best makeup looks like you aren’t wearing any, the best mood lighting works when it’s only working on a sub-conscious level.
Further, the graphic deaths and the means of how they occurred do plenty to set the mood.
The last scene takes place in broad daylight in a field. But what occurs there, not only in the revelation of “the box”, but the tension before it even arrives, makes it the “darkest” moment in the entire film, without any such lighting tricks.
Which highlights the “tricks” that did work for me and made Se7en a masterpiece in my eyes.
The fact that at that point all the standard rules of crime dramas have gone out the window, as there’s no need to identify and track down the killer. He’s right there, having turned himself in.
The subtext that the “whodunnit” portion of the genre is irrelevant to this story is made text with John Doe’s own arguments.
We are in completely uncharted territory at that part in the film, without any tropes to inform us as to what could happen. That alone is a rarity in cinema.
It’s this unique plot that is the real achievement that gives this film it’s true darkness.
I’m reminded of a quote from the introduction to a reprint edition of the comic book “Black Kiss”:
“True Noir drop kicks you straight into Hell.”