Notes

It’s true Se7en’s first goal is to entertain—however twisted that may seem given the film’s constant urge to disturb—but it’s also a vital cultural artifact, using the serial killer genre to unshackle the deep moral problems of today.

For those that don’t know, Se7en is a 1995 crime film about two detectives (Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman) chasing a mysterious serial killer who designs his kills to “turn each sin against the sinner.” These sins, the older and more thoughtful of the detectives explains, are the Christian seven deadly sins: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy, and pride. We are later told by the serial killer himself that he’s doing god’s good work, and that he’s exacting vengeance on a city in a state of moral decay.

we hear the ominous “city”, which is constantly barraged by a moody deluge of heavy rainfall,

Detective William Somerset (played with wisdom and grace by a rarely better Morgan Freeman) is sick of his unpleasant existence living in a wicked city, and is set to retire. His replacement is the total opposite: Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt), atousled, crude (a neck tie adorned with basketballs does not go unnoticed), and of considerable annoyance to Sumerset, idealistic up and commer.

The killings are creative

The irony, of course, is that Fincher refuses to show the killings; he tells, or at most, suggests. We see the disturbing aftermath, sometimes in photographs and sometimes directly, but we almost never see violence.

the filmmakers turn the imagination of the viewer against him or herself.

There is one remarkable exception to Se7en’s ironic policy of no violence: a chase

The Odd Couple formula has always worked; it works here; it will continue to work for years to come. The contrast promotes natural friction and drama.

The cinematography is seeped in a dirty pungent yellow; often ascribed as the color of decay. The set design is so believable one has the impression they would need to wash their hands after touching any surface

In the film’s unnamed city, eyes are stabbed out during muggings and and one of the seven deadly sins happens in every house and on every street corner. The serial killer preaches his disgust with our complacency with terrible human beings. Not rapists or murderers, but everyday people who morally bankrupt.

there’s a sick but valid logic to the serial killer’s observations that is hard to deny. In an existence of absolute moral abandon and treachery, we witness the ultimate neo-noir.