Se7en (1995): the weight of indifference
Carried by an amazing pair of performances and a brilliant direction from David Fincher, the thriller is a mandatory classic for any cinephile.
Text originally written for “Cinema com Rapadura”: https://cinemacomrapadura.com.br/criticas/574112/critica-seven-os-sete-crimes-capitais-1995-o-peso-da-indiferenca/
Rare are the police thrillers that manage to effectively overcome the clichés of the genre. Filled with chases devoid of personality and played by caricatured, ruthless detectives, many work as a mere momentary distraction, extinguishing themselves from the viewer’s memory a few days after viewing. Although they are not necessarily bad, they do not delve into the theme and characters, and are sustained by mediocre scripts that do nothing to elevate them in relation to the others. From time to time, however, there appear pearls of the seventh art willing to challenge such rules. This is the case with “Se7en,” a film directed by David Fincher and to this day celebrated as a great classic of the investigative suspense.
Written by Andrew Kevin Walker, the film tells the story of veteran investigator William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) who, a few days before his retirement, decides to join forces with rookie David Mills (Brad Pitt) in the search for a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as justification to punish his victims. In this way, it starts from a premise that mixes conventions and strong traces of originality to advance in the construction of an unforgettable experience, equally elevated by the quality of the interpretations and the magnetic “cat-and-mouse game” through dark and violent streets.
Brilliantly directed, the work does not delay in revealing what its major focuses are. In the first place, it efficiently builds one of the best investigative pairs in the history of cinema, shrewdly assembled from the contrasts between the two detectives. While the brilliant Morgan Freeman plays an embittered man, disarmed by the barbarities witnessed throughout his career, Brad Pitt’s charisma exudes the heroic will typical of any beginner in crime fighting. Young and born in the countryside, his character is unaware of the funereal filth of the city and the lack of empathy disseminated through the citizens, acting with naivety in the eyes of his partner, who describes him as someone “solely driven by his emotions. So it is from the counterpoint between William’s realism and David’s exalted sentimentality that the script delivers a fascinating evolution of both, the rational master always seeking to steer his pupil away from slip-ups — something that doesn’t always materialize — while the latter’s determination dictates the pace of the investigation.
Secondly, Fincher delivers shocking and bloodthirsty scenes, setting up a growing tension that has long since become one of his trademarks. Murder after murder, the terror is amplified in the face of physical gore, making it impossible not to question what the limits are and the true motives behind the mysterious lunatic. This resource only stands out for the total awareness and control of the director, who does not surrender to sheer gratuitous violence (sometimes even sparing the viewer, as in the masterful final scene) and knowing how to take advantage of the greatest asset of these moments: the connection of the deaths with the seven deadly sins, being a gem apart from unraveling the way the script and direction relate each victim to their respective immorality (such as the defense lawyer condemned for his greed and the drug dealer “judged” for his laziness, for example).
None of this would work, however, if the narrative did not have a very well established goal. From the very first minutes, in which we are introduced to Somerset’s quiet routine, it is clear that this is about the trivialization of violence in our society, an aspect that has frighteningly become customary in our way of life. The excellent opening montage makes this evident: a gray photograph and an almost insignificant soundtrack dedicated to a brutal murder, devoid of the slightest commotion to the violent act committed. It is also interesting to note how William’s own ruin exemplifies the discourse of the feature - a man who has dedicated his life to the protection of others being overtaken by indifference. But make no mistake, at least he admits being a “sinner,” as he reveals, even if through metaphor, in the beautiful dinner scene, suddenly interrupted by the shaking of a subway car:
“The house that relaxes, vibrates and calms down, no?”
A naked and raw portrait of humanity, the one that is touched by the death of a stranger reported the night before and that the next morning doesn’t even remember the victim’s name.
Going further, the filmmaker is still able to portray, from a rather pessimistic point of view, the extremism caused by the sensitivity that remains in a few individuals, showing that its results are not always positive. On one hand, Mills is the perfect representation of a man who, driven by the fanciful desire to save everyone, is weakened when forced to face the cold reality, becoming unable to protect his wife Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow) and increasingly removed from his sanity. On the other side, we have John Doe (as the feared “John Doe” is nicknamed), the creepy psychopath who sees the need to clean up the sins of others, seeing himself as a kind of Messiah who can only get his message across if it is done violently. Two men as different as they are similar, separated by the blurred line between justice and madness, and meeting in the cathartic final act.
With all this, “Seven: The Seven Capital Crimes” shows itself to be a true cinema class about the perfect harmony between direction and screenplay. Its scope goes far beyond its two-hour duration, bringing a dark tale about the costs and sins generated by indifference.
