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Retrospective: Se7en (1995)

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Steve Kong

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Jul 28, 1997, 3:00:00 AM7/28/97
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SE7EN (1995)
A film review by Steve Kong
Copyright 1997 Steve Kong

There are films that try to scare by going for the gratuitous gore and the
all out disgusting scenes. David Fincher (Aliens 3) goes a different route
with SE7EN. Se7en is a film about a serial killer. This serial killer is
smart, intelligent, and wants to say something to the public. He wants to
preach to the public about the Seven Deadly sins: Gluttony, Greed, Sloth,
Envy, Wrath, Pride, and Lust. The way he wants to preach is different than
most.

He murders people using a deadly sin as the method of murder. For
instance, the first murder a obese man is forced to eat until his stomach
bursts open and hemorrhages internally. He uses this to preach gluttony.
And for each day of the week, he illustrates one sin with one murder.
Following the case is the almost retiring Detective William Somerset
(Morgan Freeman) and the newbie Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt). With
these strange murders, Fincher could have gone all the way and just showed
everything, but he stays away from that. Instead he takes the quiet
approach and forces the audience to imagine how some of the murders took
place. This is far scarier than doing it with gratuitous gore. Most of
the murders are scene after they have been committed, usually in pictures,
and sometimes in person. But, the murders themselves are not shown.

There are a few interesting things to watch for when watching Se7en. Se7en
was shot on a special, more expensive, film that gives a high contrast
between lights and dark. This gives a strange eerie look and feel to the
film. There are many scenes where Somerset and Mills are working in a
darkroom with only flashlights and this makes for some pretty scary scenes.
The opening credits are also very interesting. They look like they were
carved straight onto the film. And with this strange look and a remix of
Nine Inch Nails' "Closer" song, this makes for one of the most creative
opening credits I've ever scene. The serial killer, for whose name I won't
tell, is the most interesting of all. The actor that portrays him is the
perfect actor for this role. Quiet, intelligent looking, and just insane.

The ending of the movie will surprise most. My sister predicted it, but
she does that a lot. Se7en should be seen in a dark room with all lights
turn off and all disturbances pushed away. This film will scare you with
the pure thought of how and why the murders were done. The ending is
satisfying, but don't expect anything happy.

--
steve kong
boi...@earthlink.net
spy on me at: http://mookie.relay.net/mookie/steve-cam.html
movie reviews: http://hardboiled.home.ml.org/


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