Seven

Director: David Fincher
Screenplay: Andrew Kevin Walker
Stars: Morgan Freeman (William Somerset), Brad Pitt (David Mills), Gwyneth Paltrow (Tracy Mills), R. Lee Ermey (Police Captain)
MPAA Rating: R
Year of Release: 1995
Country: USA
Seven Poster

David Fincher's Seven is a imminently disturbing film, an unsettling serial killerpolice procedural that, for two hours, gets under your skin viscerally until it delivers thefinal blow with an unexpected ending that is as bold and shocking as it is terribly logical.Aesthetically, the film is a triumph of visuals, of lighting and shadows, of set design andcamera angles that create a vehemently grim mood and tone. Every scene is so dense intexture and crowded with so many details that one could spend weeks just looking at them.

When Seven was first released in 1995, Fincher had recently graduated from theranks of music video direction and had merely hinted at his abilities with the visuallyoutstanding, but narratively flawed Alien 3 (1992). He has since solidified hisstanding as one of Hollywood's most creative and unorthodox talents with TheGame (1997) and Fight Club (1999), but at the time, nothing could haveprepared us for the sheer visual intensity of Seven.

The title refers to the Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Envy, Wrath, Pride, andLust. The film successfully points out that, in today's society, these sins are looked uponas normal--what were once considered deadly are now considered everyday. That is, until aserial killer decides to wake people up by killing sinners in ways that symbolize theirrespective transgressions. The victims in Seven range from a high-price defenselawyer to a prostitute to a vain fashion model, showing how sin infiltrates every level ofsociety.

The two embattled heroes of Seven are Detective William Sommerset (MorganFreeman) and his eager new partner, Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt). Sommerset is ahardened, experienced cop who is less than a week away from his much-desired retirement.His eyes are always dark and heavy, and we get the feeling that he was seen too much evilin the world. He was once an excited idealist like Mills, but years of probing theunderbelly of society have worn him down.

Although the new cop/old cop routine is well-worn, it is an intricate necessity inSeven because it is essential to the shocking finale and denouement. I won't evenhint at what it is, but I promise that the relationship between Sommerset, Mills, and Mills'wife, Tracy (Gwenyth Paltrow), is extremely important to the third act. The screenplay,written by Andrew Kevin Walker, has a clear development and a whopper of an endingthat is both nihilistic and hopeful, depending on how you look at it. But, either way, it isnot the safe, by-the-book ending for which most Hollywood films are willing to settle.Seven goes out on a limb in the first reel and never comes back.

The three lead performances by Freeman, Pitt and Paltrow are all top-notch. Freemanmaintains his status as one of the best actors in American film, while Pitt continues tomature and develop. Freeman is an actor who has always seemed to imbue experience andwisdom, while Pitt is the exuberant go-getter who purposely asked to be reassigned to theworst district in the city so he could get in on the action. The movie has several momentsof humor, most of which come at the expense of Pitt's eager, frat boy attitude.

I won't reveal the identity of the actor who plays the serial killer because it wasn't listed inthe opening credits for the purpose of surprise; but, I will say his performance isappropriately creepy and disturbing. The most unsettling aspect about him is that he is notan insane lunatic, knocking people off while listening to voices in his head. Like HannibalLector in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), the killer in Seven is all themore horrifying because he is a genius, so smart that he literally toys with the police,dropping clues on purpose and gleefully leading them astray. He has a dangerously clearview of what he's doing, and his killing spree is meant to be a sermon on how badly societyhas decayed after getting away from God's virtues. He explains, "Wanting people to listen,you can't just tap them on the shoulder anymore. You have to hit them with asledgehammer, and then you'll notice you've got their strict attention."

The look of Seven is reminiscent of dystopian urban films like BladeRunner (1982), Batman (1989) and even some of the film noirs of the 1940s.Fincher, cinematographer Darius Khondji (The City of Lost Children), andproduction designer Arthur Max create a completely believable urban nightmare . The filmseems to take place during the present day, but the decaying city where the action takesplace is never named. The sky is always overcast with gray-yellow smog, and it isincessantly raining. Everything is dark and grungy, and even in open spaces there is anuncomfortable, claustrophobic feel.

Although Seven seems excruciatingly violent, there is little physical violencedepicted on-screen. We never actually see the killer doing the deed--only the results,rendered in harsh detail by make-up special effects artist Rob Bottin. By structuring thefilm like this, the viewer is placed alongside the police in the role of the outsider who isalways following the killer's trail, but never quite catching up. You are saddled with theknowledge that another murder is bound to happen, but you are powerless to stop it.

Seven is an unrelenting film that is as gut-wrenching as it is structurally brilliant. Ihave seen few films that leave you with the impact this one does. It makes a bold statementabout the way we live today, and the consequences of our actions.

Seven: PlatinumSeries DVD

AspectRatio2.40:1
AnamorphicYes
AudioDolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround
DTS ES 6.1 Surround
Dolby 2.0 Surround
LanguagesEnglish
SubtitlesEnglish,French
Supplements Fouraudio commentaries:
  • The Stars: Director David Fincher and actors Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman
  • The Story: Film scholar Richard Dyer, screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, editorRichard Francis-Bruce, and New Line president of production Michael De Luca
  • The Picture: Richard Dyer, David Fincher, Richard Francis-Bruce, cinematographerDarius Khondji, and production designer Arthur Max
  • The Sound: Richard Dyer, David Fincher, composer Howard Shore, and sounddesigner Ren Klyce
    Multi-angle exploration of the opening title sequence
    Deleted opening scene and seven extended takes
    Alternate endings
    Production design gallery
    Four still photograph galleries:
  • John Doe's photgraphs
  • Victor's decomposition
  • Crime scene photographs
  • Production photos
    Electronic press kit
    Original theatrical trailer
    Mastering for the Home Theater:
  • Audio mastering
  • Video mastering
  • Color correction demonstration
  • Telecine gallery (alternate angles comparisons)
    Cast and crew filmographies
    John Doe web site (DVD-ROM)
  • DistributorNew LineCinema
    SRP$29.95

    VIDEO
    Director David Fincher supervised this new anamorphictransfer, which was made on a high-definition Spirit Datacine from the original negative.This new transfer is an improvement on both the excellent Criterion Collection laser disc(which utilized the silver-retention process to increase contrast and deepen the black levels)and a quantum leap over the previously available no-frills DVD, whose image wasdecidedly grainy and lacking in strong detail. In addition, it allowed Fincher to tweak thecolor timing and also do some minor reframing on a few scenes. The result is jaw-dropping.This is absolutely one of the most gorgeous DVDs I have ever laid eyes on. The image isdeep and rich, with an incredibly smooth, film-like appearance. The overall look of the filmis dark and somewhat desaturated with extreme contrast between light and dark portions ofthe screen, all of which is perfectly balanced in a sharp image of pristine clarity andexcellent shadow detail.

    AUDIO
    The disc offers both a Dolby Digital EX 5.1 surroundsoundtrack and a DTS ES 6.1 surround soundtrack, which is a first for New Line. Both arenewly remastered and excel in every conceivable manner, especially because bothsoundtracks were mixed specifically with the DVD home theater in mind. Howard Shore'sdeep, apocalyptic orchestral score has never sounded better, and the intricate sound designcreates an enveloping, utterly convincing aural environment, especially in terms of thecacophony of urban noise that is constantly present all around. The soundtrack is wellbalanced, with creative use of the surround channels and a strong, but not overwhelminglow end that is deeply unsettling at all the right moments. Dialogue is clear and natural, andsome of the lines that are mumbled or spoken under the actor's breath have more clarity anddistinction than on previous editions.

    SUPPLEMENTS
    Released as a two-disc set under New Line's consistentlyimpressive "Platinum Series" banner, this new DVD edition of Seven rivals the bestspecial editions on the market in terms of scope and quality of the supplements. Many ofthe extras have been carried over from the 1996 Criterion Collection laser disc box set(although not everything from the LD is included), but many of them are brand new (so LDcollectors have an incentive to both keep their box set and purchase the new DVD). Also,New Line has gone to the trouble of making everything on the disc anamorphic widescreen.

    This edition of Seven ties Fox's two-disc Fight Club DVD for the highestnumber of audio commentaries with four. Taken together, these four commentariesconstitute close to nine hours of running time and cover every conceivable facet of thefilmmaking process. Each commentary is focused on one of four aspects of the film: acting,narrative, visuals, and sound. The first commentary, "The Stars," features director DavidFincher and actors Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. These three had contributed acommentary track on the Criterion laser disc, but this is not the same one. The secondcommentary track, "The Story," features film scholar Richard Dyer, who wrote an excellentmonograph on Seven for the British Film Institute's "Modern Classics" series,screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, editor Richard Francis-Bruce, and New Line presidentof production Michael De Luca. The third commentary, "The Picture," again features Dyer,Fincher, and Francis-Bruce, along with cinematographer Darius Khondji, and productiondesigner Arthur Max. Finally, the fourth commentary, "The Sound," is really an isolatedmusic and effects track that features some brief comments by Dyer, Fincher, composerHoward Shore, and sound designer Ren Klyce.

    The second disc in the set is filled with nothing but supplements. It starts with amulti-angle examination of the eye-popping opening credits sequence, which has beencopied and poorly imitated by countless films over the past five years. The disc allowsyou to listen to one of two commentaries, one by designer Kyle Cooper and the other byaudio engineers Brant Biles and Robert Margouleff, while viewing either the initialstoryboards, a temp title sequence, or the finished product. It also allows you to switchbetween a Dolby Digital EX near-field mix and a DTS ES surround mix, which is excellentfor comparing the two soundtracks.

    An original pre-credits opening scene that was later cut is included (along with the animatedstoryboards), as are seven extended scenes, all of which include optional commentary byFincher. You can also view two alternate endings, one of which is simply a differentlyedited version of the ending included in the finished film, the other of which was an optionthat was never filmed, but was meticulously designed with storyboards.

    This disc offers a half-dozen stills galleries (containing hundreds and hundreds of stills)with commentary by the respective artists/photographers. The production design galleryshows initial concept art for the various settings and vehicles used in the film and includescommentary by production designer Arthur Max. The deterioration of Victor isdocumented in a series of photographs with commentary by Fincher, and the other crimesin the film are displayed in grotesque detail in the gallery of John Doe's photographs(actually taken by Melodie McDaniel) and police crime scene photographs (taken by unitphotographer Peter Sorel). Sorel also has a section of publicity and productionphotographs. The stills gallery is a wonderful addition because it gives the viewer a rareopportunity to see just how much work went into the sets and make-up effects in the film.

    Another interesting edition is an animated gallery of stills taken from John Doe'scompulsively scripted notebooks. Four notebooks were actually created for the film,complete with inserted photographs and newspaper clippings and thousands of lines ofstreaming consciousness written in tiny black letters. Art director for the notebooks ClivePearcy and notebook designer John Sable contribute an amusing audio commentaryexplaining how they came up with their ideas and put the actual notebooks together (andfreaked out the workers at the local Kinkos who had to make copies of all their grotesqueimages).

    The original electronic press kit is included (which is about six minutes long and providesbrief on-set interviews with cast and crew), as is an original theatrical trailer, which ispresented in 2.35:1 widescreen and 5.1 surround. Those with a DVD-ROM player and aPC computer can also get into the mind of Seven's serial killer by perusing acomprehensive web site, as well as print out the original screenplay.

    However, the supplement that home video fanatics and technical buffs will be drooling overis the extensive "Mastering for the Home Theater" section, which offers a rare glimpse intothe post-production work that goes into transferring a film from celluloid to DVD. Thissection uses visuals and commentaries to look at both the audio and video transfers, andoffers a real-time example of how colorist Stephen Nakamura electronically corrected thecolor timing throughout the film. It is literally like standing over his shoulder and watchinghim while he works at the computer. Once you've seen the work, you can watch severalscenes from the movie and, using the angle button, switch between the old and the newlyremastered versions. The difference is amazing, especially when viewed side byside.

    ©1997, 2000 James Kendrick



    Overall Rating: (4)




    James Kendrick

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