Favorite Movies: Se7en
SPOILER ALERT: This film came out in 1995, but I will still attempt to forego overt spoilers. Still, I would recommend watching this modern classic before reading any reviews.
It isn’t as common today, but movies used to be made on celluloid film. It’s the reason we sometimes refer to movies as “films.” Another common term for movies - “moving pictures” - describes very well the powerful foundation of today’s cinematic tradition. Celluloid pictures were spliced together to create the illusion of movement. Once the film had been edited together, the story takes a deterministic quality. Once fed into the projector, the “fate” of the story is sealed by the celluloid.
Released in 1995, David Fincher’s noir drama Se7en was fully shot on film. I can think of few other films - maybe none - for which I always pine for a new ending. Alas, it never comes.
I have rewatched this film multiple times. For all its darkness, it has a grotesque draw. This is multidimensional. If you are a fan of technical achievements, the film has them in spades. Fincher and cinematographer Darius Khondji create a feel to the film that is darker than dark. You can feel the rain in this film. All the shadows seem to be impenetrable. Any light is a gift that the film teaches you to eschew with cynicism. To hold to that light, you have to make a choice. You’ll have many chances to choose otherwise.
Our story begins as many buddy-cop crime dramas do - a body has been found. It can be clearly written off as a crime of passion. However, Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) sees signs that this is something larger. He is greeted by the man that is to take his place - Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt). We soon learn that Mills has recently moved to the city with his wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow). It would be easy to write this off as a trope - the young upcoming cop and the jaded soon-to-be-retired cop. You will quickly learn, though, that this film has nothing conventional on its mind.
The initial murder is quickly revealed to be exactly what Somerset expected - the first victim of a serial killer. The names of the seven deadly sins - gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, wrath, pride, lust - are all included in the crime scene of each murder.
At this point, the possibility of cliche should be starkly present to any seasoned noir fan. We have the buddy cop genre within the larger crime noir category. We have a serial killer that uses a technique that provides the film its very title. In lesser hands, the pulp would be the only interest in telling this story.
But this film is not in lesser hands.
David Fincher sets out to tell a human story, first and foremost. This is one of the darkest films you will watch - both in terms of cinematography and script. But there are moments of light that break through that add new layers of meaning to all the darkness.
The greatest of these moments is a diner scene where Somerset and Tracy meet up for coffee. The scene itself grows out of the characters we have come to know. Tracy is new to the city and she is finding the transition difficult. Somerset is the only person she has had over to her home. They shared a meaningful dinner and she sees him as they only friend that she and her husband have in the city - even if Mills wouldn’t yet describe him as a friend. Tracy and Somerset are an odd pairing, yet they share one of the most meaningful conversations in any film in my memory. The acting in this scene is fantastic - particularly a reaction shot when Tracy is overcome by emotion from something Somerset has to say. This scene sets up another unforgettable reaction by Somerset at the end of the film.
Another point of light is when Somerset is doing research in the library while Bach’s “Air” plays over a poker game where fellow officers are showing off their “culture.” There is humor in the scene while Somerset happens upon an inevitable break in the case. Again, here, we have the opportunity for a cliched pitfall. Every noir crime drama must have scenes where the detectives are doing research or looking for clues in mundane places. This is their work. At the same time, nearly every crime drama - especially serial killer stories - have stolen the idea of using classical music to contrast the dark storyline. Before Se7en, this was done to startling effect in The Silence of the Lambs. But Fincher does it in a way that feels different. It certainly is not all Fincher’s doing. The actors are bringing this incredible script to life in powerful ways. It all comes together to create a cohesive experience that drives towards the film’s dispiriting end.
I am an optimistic person to my core. My coworkers sometimes jokingly call me “Pollyanna” for this reason. In reality, my optimism is not a product of only seeing the positive around me. The art I appreciate most acknowledges that the world is incredibly dark. If you just look at the surface, that’s what you’ll see. But my optimism comes out of the fact that I don’t think that surface view is the final story.
Se7en almost bludgeons us with the darkness of its world. The rain in this film is somehow deeper than in any other film. You can feel it. The cinematography by Darius Khondji is inescapably dark. The plot is heart-rending and even nausea-inducing at points. This is a dark film. That is obvious.
But I say that the film almost bludgeons us for a reason. It never goes fully over the line. It reminds of another of my absolute favorite works of art - True Detective, Season 1. The truth of the matter is that the darkness takes up a lot of the landscape we see. But the light is still finding ways to break through.
The film’s end has gone down in movie lore. I will not describe it in detail for those who have not seen the film other than to say that the last voice we hear in the film is voiceover from Somerset. His quote is another opportunity for those who will see the light breaking through this seemingly impenetrable darkness to hold onto.
We are human. Part of the human condition is darkness and decay. We must try to better ourselves, help those around us and fight for what is good and light in this world. That is a fight. The darkness is easy to see. To the untrained eye, it looks like the darkness is winning.
But the fight continues on. That fact tells me there is light. There is a reason to fight on. The darkness cannot quench that light, no matter how hard it tries.
NOTE ON CONTENT: This film is rated R for grisly afterviews of horrific and bizarre killings, and for strong language. There are horrific visuals in this film. The aftermath of violence is shown in graphic detail. The themes are incredibly dark. Viewers definitely need to be at the age where they can understand and discuss the deeper themes at play. The visuals themselves are the stuff of nightmares. My feeling is that the stuff of nightmares are real and we need to understand how to process and deal with the fact that they are real. But this is certainly not a film for young viewers.