Se7en is set in a terrible city, one teeming with drugs, murder, corruption and spite, one in which a man stained with blood could not only walk the streets but wander into a police station and no-one would pay him a second glance because they've yet to look at him at all. The scariest thing about David Fincher's horrific thriller is not that this city is so distant from our own world, more that it is difficult to convince ourselves that this cannot be the world we live in. It most certainly could be.
Making use of any number of tropes, Se7en begins as a seemingly predictable, albeit bleak, police drama. As the young new homocide cop in town, David Mills (Brad Pitt), is assigned to work with the weary old soon-to-be retired lieutenant, William Somerset (Morgan Freeman), a series of murders begin to take place, each utilising a deadly sin in its execution. It's a very excitable premise for a procedural but as the two leads begin to realise the severity of the crimes under investigation it becomes quickly apparent that as a film, Se7en is well restrained and paradoxical all at once.
Consider the handling of the first murder, for instance: an obese corpse is found in a pitch black apartment tied to a chair, swimming in his own excrement face down in a bowl of spaghetti sauce. The scene that is set is as disgusting as that description, if not more so, but the (lack of) lighting for the scene allows for brief shots of disturbing imagery to overwhelm your mind without necessarily showing the worst aspects of the scene. In an unsettling way, this technique is tasteful and the rest of the film is very smart about finding the rope on a tightwalk between torture porn and intelligent, if grotesque, drama.
To describe any more of the murders would be to delve too far into spoilers. The thought that has gone into each of the sins practical killing methods is evident and there is no denying the twisted nature of any death in the film but between the discoveries of corpses are some great moments between the characters of the film. Mills is brash and charged but a genuinely caring individual who puts his all into his work, even if he doesn't necessarily think things through immediately, whilst Somerset is a thoughtful and at times hypocritical product of a city living in squalor. The two ponder philosophy and morality in an entirely accessible fashion but the circumstances of their discussion drives home the conundrum of the questions they ask. The film offers answers on both sides of the argument, but wisely never attempts to give a conclusive resolve.
Secondary characters add a great deal of colour to the movie that is easy to miss: R. Lee Ermey plays a police captain who in the midst of a conversation with Mills and Somerset notices a phone ringing only to pick it up and spit out "This ain't even my desk." before slamming the receiver back down, John C. McGinley appears as a SWAT team captain who commands his unit with such remarkable machismo and seems to refer to the leads only with the word "Dicks!". If there is one thing I imagine Se7en will never get enough credit for, it is its sense of humour.
Technically the film is entirely competent. The camera work is of good standard for a film of this calibre and the lighting is consistently dynamic. The most notable aspect of the film is probably it's consistently overcast dreary colour palette which helps ease in a sense of foreboding throughout the running time. There is also some really clever split-second editing in use here but it is far more engaging if you spot it for yourself.
The music is fantastic throughout the film, with the opening credits making use of a remix of the Nine Inch Nails track 'Closer', not only a punchy raw track but entirely relevant to many of the central themes on display here. The score is suitably epic and drawn out making fitting use of horns for that real noir ambience. If you're a fan of this particular genre of soundtracks it'll likely stay with you, but if you're not as appreciative the music is still entirely serviceable.
Although Se7en doesn't ask too many questions you've never heard before, it certainly puts them in a context that deepens the meaning behind them. That much, along with a competently made film would have been great but due to the mastery behind almost every element of this picture Se7en achieves more than greatness and proves to be one of the single most engaging and disturbing thrillers of all time.
5/5
Originally posted on Screened.com on March 1st, 2011
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