39 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
39 lines
4.5 KiB
Plaintext
( warning to those who have not seen seven : this review contains some spoiler information . )
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seven is a powerful , fully-realized film on the level of the silence of the lambs .
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it is a disturbing film that accomplishes its biggest of goals--it occupies the viewers mind long after the closing credits have rolled .
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while this film is not for the squeamish , there is no denying that seven demands attention , for it is a film that transcends its genre in both style and substance .
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for starters , classifying seven as a " thriller " would not be an altogether complete classification of this film .
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while i was genuinely thrilled throughout , i would rather call seven an " intense drama , " because that is what it delivers--meaningful scenes with a relentlessness that does not readily let up .
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part of director david finchers accomplishment is in style .
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he seems to have a knack for knowing exactly how the average person fears something as " simple " as a corpse .
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and visually , fincher shows us the remains of murder victims in all-too-realistic and graphic terms ( courtesy of rob bottin's always-grisly special effects ) .
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throw in the appropriate but not-to-be-underestimated effects of lighting and a foreboding score and the result is a technical masterpiece of the murder scene .
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these scenes alone are quite impressive ; as fascinating as they are harrowing .
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yet , seven is more than just a technical accomplishment .
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in addition to style , fincher supplies substance .
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seven has compelling characters that it wants us to know and understand , and fincher ties them all together in a completely pessimistic view of society .
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detective william somerset ( morgan freeman ) is a man who has nearly given up on the world .
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its easy to see why .
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the world doesn't make sense .
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( somerset drives this point home with a rather ghastly story of a robbery victim who was attacked just blocks from the police precinct .
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after knocked down and robbed of his wallet , the attacker stabbed the helpless man in both eyes . )
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why should somerset believe that by following this murder investigation and " picking up the pieces " he will be able to catch the killer ?
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somersets new partner , david mills ( brad pitt ) has not given up on the world , perhaps because he is still young ( and perhaps by having this optimism he's naive in this films portrayal of the world ) .
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he completely disagrees with somersets abandonment of hope .
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however , david's wife ( gwyneth paltrow ) has so much fear of her urban surroundings , she isn't even sure if she wants to * tell * her husband about her recent pregnancy , let alone carry it until birth and attempt to raise it in this environment .
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these three characters are all performed with skill and authenticity that makes them feel like real people and not the typical hollywood characters a lesser film might have offered .
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and in addition to making clear how each of these characters sees the world , fincher gives us support for * why * they feel the way they do .
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but if there's one character that underlines the message seven is trying to convey , it has to be the killer , john doe ( kevin spacey ) .
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seven's payoff lies in its ability to allow us to see how the killer views the world and what drives him to do what he does .
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one important thing to remember about doe is how easy it is to simply dismiss him as a " psycho , " with no motives behind his slayings .
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this is exactly the mistake mills makes .
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in the extremely intense and superbly performed closing scenes , were allowed to see that doe is , in his mind , merely a product of society .
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he's a killer who kills those who are bringing society down .
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in his mind he didn't kill " innocent " people , and , perhaps , they were not completely innocent ( but , then again , who is ? ) .
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hes absolutely infuriated that mills believes that the murder victims were innocent .
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really , seven doesn't just comment on the superficial obviousness of how screwed-up john doe is .
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seven makes larger statements about how screwed-up society is , hinting that society's degradation is simply conducive of creating more john does .
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besides the stylistic and larger-issue arguments for seeing this film , i recommend seven because it is , after all , also a very slick and well-made thriller .
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it features exciting plot developments , commanding performances , lots of suspense , and a conclusion that is chilling , riveting , and quite unfair .
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but then again , its a cruel world .
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