The Deadly Seven

"If we catch John Doe and he turns out to be the devil, I mean if he's Satan himself, that might live up to our expectations, but he's not the devil. He's just a man." -Se7en

For class this week I was emotionally traumatized by a movie titled Se7en, directed by David Fincher and starred Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. I love David Fincher. The man has Fight Club, Zodiac, Gone Girl, and some other great works under his belt, so I was pretty pumped for this movie. I'm not even sure where to begin reflecting on the piece because I thought the movie was brilliant, but my heart has been destroyed. However, I guess that's a sign of great work. I cared enough about those characters to feel their torment and sadness, and isn't that what we strive for as writers? I know having my audience care about my characters and what happens to them is certainly one of my main goals.

Before we get into Kevin Spacey playing a hell of a creepy motherfucker named John Doe (loved the way they used that name by the way), let's applaud Pitt and Freeman for their portrayals as Detectives Mills and Somerset. The contrast of attitudes and outlooks toward life that these two characters had created the kind of dynamic that sucks you in. We are fascinated to see how these two come together, despite their differences, and work on this case. They are still vocal about what they disagree on, but they also build a camaraderie that is crucial to the plot's development. Mills says fuck in nearly every scene, has enough of a temper for John Doe to label him "wrath," but he also loves his wife and his dogs, and still has that chase for life that Somerset is missing. Somerset's calmness and analytical process of the world around him is drastically different, but works so well to be Mills' opposite. I loved watching these two fight, work together, chase down John Doe, and even the scene where they just have a conversation in a bar.

And okay that chase scene sequence was amazing. I was so hooked. The action was intense but believable. What a hell of an introduction to the killer. I loved the whole concept of the seven deadly sins too and how John Doe uses that as a higher calling for his justification.

"Nothing wrong with a man taking pleasure in his work. I won't deny my own personal desire to turn each sin against the sinner."-Se7en

When we're alone in the car with the detectives and John Doe, the tension is high. I kept waiting for

him to escape his handcuffs and for something bad to happen there, but the ending was SO much worse than that. I won't say the spoiler here in case someone comes across this who hasn't watched the film, but dear god, my heart. That was painful. But holy shit did it work. I can't even form thoughts.

John Doe was fascinating. He had a Hannibal Lecter/Francis Dolarhyde vibe in the way that he was educated, calm, and wanted to create a masterpiece, but at the same time he was entirely his own brand of psycho. We don't know anything about his past, which is usually something I don't like, but it worked so well here. He is such a present force that I didn't feel like I needed that background. And he scared the hell out of me so there was that.

Overall what can I say except yes, this is a clever, well-written, intense, dark film. My heart still hurts, but it's okay because tomorrow is Halloween and I have three bottles of wine waiting.