Thursday 29 April 2010

Se7en (Seven) [1995]


David Fincher showed promise in the often neglected Alien 3. But he truly and squarely came on his own as a tremendous talent with the dark and noirish Seven – a movie that is on one hand a trip down the murky by-lanes of human civilization, and on the other an unabashedly stylish take on the oft-made genres of police procedurals and serial killer films. Morgan Freeman stars as a brilliant and well-read, albeit world-weary, veteran homicide detective on the verge of retirement, when he is paired with a brash, rookie cop (played by Brad Pitt) to solve a series of grisly, horror-inducing and impeccably planned murders based on the seven deadly sins. Played against the backdrop of a cold, bleak and perpetually rain-swept New York-like urban jungle, the movie presents the grotesque underbelly of our seemingly staid society (a theme which Fincher employed with fantastic effects in his Fight Club as well) – the kind that is sure to leave the weak-hearted shuddering. The grim plot and exacting violence have been suitably boosted by the pulpy, gripping and blazing fast narrative. The acting, too, is first rate; no just the two leads, Kevin Spacey too is quite terrific as the deranged psychopath and religious fanatic John Doe as he leads the film to a memorable, if chilling, climax.








Director: David Fincher
Genre: Thriller/Crime Thriller/Psychological Thriller/Mystery
Language: English
Country: US

2 comments:

John said...

An original gothic suspense filled film with as you correctly point out fine acting by Freeman, Spacey and Pitt. I do need to revisit this one again.

Shubhajit said...

Well John, I myself was revisiting it after a long time, and was really happy to see it holding up as as well as my memories of this movie were.