Se7en 1995

A film about two homicide detectives desperate hunt for a serial killer who justifies his crimes as absolution for the worlds ignorance of the Seven Deadly Sins. The movie takes us from the tortured remains of one victim to the next as the sociopathic John Doe sermonizes to Detectives Sommerset and Mills one sin at a time. The sin of Gluttony comes first and the murderers terrible capacity is graphically demonstrated in the dark and subdued tones characteristic of film noir. The seasoned and cultured but jaded Sommerset researches the Seven Deadly Sins in an effort to understand the killers modus operandi while the bright but green and impulsive Detective Mills scoffs at his efforts to get inside the mind of a killer...

Review

The movie "Se7en" starring Brad Pitt Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow is by far one of the most inventive wellwritten and cerebral films in recent history. The film blending a well put together combination of dark visual style intense plot development and polished acting remains tight and focused throughout from beginning to end never straying outwards into unimportant issues or resorting to typical Hollywood clichés. Se7en is uniquely on its own for suspense dramas as it both fuels the need of the audience to be drawn in and entertained by the events unfolding and remain uncompromising and shocking thus satisfying the initial vision of the director David Fincher.

The story surrounds the hunt for a serial killer who inspired by Dante Alighieris seven deadly sins from "The Divine Comedy" sets out to "preach" about mans impurity and does so by targeting victims then torturing them by pitting their own underlining sins against them. Se7en seemingly starts out as a typical cat and mouse detective story however it quickly develops into of a sort of modernmyth with good and evil taking centre stage. The story is original on all counts and thrilling on all levels. The most important aspect of Se7en however is that it keeps the audience numerous steps behind its story as oppose to other thrillers which become predictable and bland by the end. By keeping the audience in the dark the film remains fresh and original as it progresses. Se7en even dramatically turns the tide at one point just as the audience is finally getting comfortable and asserted into the gloomy atmosphere thus creating as much as fear and uncertainty in the audience as it is with the characters involved. By the films conclusion the audience is as much apart of the film as the characters themselves and arrive at Se7ens surprise ending without a single clue of it prior to it occurring. Se7ens poetic ending(which will not be given away) says a lot for the people behind the movie showing they are not afraid of going against the grain. A rarity with films so nowadays.

Directed brilliantly by David Fincher and skillfully written by Andrew Kevin Walker Se7en is well crafted and ingeniously clever making it one of the greatest films of the 90s. While Se7en may not have garnered critical acclaim as such films as Silence of the Lambs Se7en is undoubtedly as influential as any film to date.

Score 1010