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Seven (1995 film)

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"Se7en" redirects here. For the singer, see Se7en (singer).
Seven
Theatrical release poster
Directed byDavid Fincher
Written byAndrew Kevin Walker
Produced byArnold Kopelson
Phyllis Carlyle
StarringBrad Pitt
Morgan Freeman
Gwyneth Paltrow
R. Lee Ermey
Kevin Spacey
Narrated byMorgan Freeman
CinematographyDarius Khondji
Edited byRichard Francis-Bruce
Music byHoward Shore
Distributed byNew Line Cinema
Release date
September 22, 1995 (1995-09-22)
Running time
128 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$30 million
Box office$327,311,859

Seven (stylized as Se7en) is a 1995 American thriller film, which also contains horror and neo-noir elements, directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey and Kevin Spacey. It was distributed by New Line Cinema.

David Mills (Pitt) and William Somerset (Freeman) are police detectives working in a crime-filled city, who become deeply involved in a case involving a series of sadistic murders. Each murder corresponds to one of the seven deadly sins: Gluttony, Envy, Lust, Pride, Sloth, Greed and Wrath.

Filming took place in California and Pennsylvania. The film was released in the United States on September 22, 1995. Grossing $327 million at the box office internationally, Seven was a commercial success, and received very positive reviews from most critics.

Plot

In an unidentified city of near-constant rain and urban decay, the soon-to-be retiring Detective William R. Somerset (Morgan Freeman) is partnered with short-tempered Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt) who recently transferred to the department.

The detectives investigate a series of murders relating to the seven deadly sins, such as an obese man who was forced to feed himself to death, representing "Gluttony". They find clues at each crime scene related to other deaths, and believe they are chasing a serial killer. A set of fingerprints found at the scene of the "Greed" murder—the fatal bloodletting of a rich attorney—leads them to an apartment where they find a decaying man strapped to a bed. Though he initially appears to be dead, it soon is discovered that the man has been kept alive and entirely immobile by the killer for exactly one year to the day; a drug dealer before his captivity, this victim represents "Sloth". Though unable to learn anything from the insentient victim, the detectives agree that the killer has planned these crimes for more than a year. The man dies soon after.

Somerset is eventually invited to meet Mills' wife, Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow), who is unhappy with Mills' recent move to the city. Somerset becomes Tracy's confidante, and she meets with him after the first few murders. Upon learning that she is pregnant but has not told her husband, he confides in her his fear that the city is no place to start a family, and reveals that he had ended a relationship years earlier after pressuring his girlfriend to have an abortion. Somerset advises her to not tell Mills if she plans to have an abortion; otherwise, if she decides to keep the child, to devote everything to it: “spoil it rotten”.

Using library records, Somerset and Mills track down a man named John Doe (Kevin Spacey), who has frequently checked out books related to the deadly sins. When Doe finds the detectives approaching his apartment, he opens fire on them and flees, chased by Mills. Eventually, Doe gains the upper hand and holds Mills at gunpoint, but then abruptly leaves. Investigation of Doe's apartment finds handwritten volumes of his irrational judgments, clues leading to another potential victim, but no fingerprints. They arrive too late to find their "Lust" victim, a prostitute killed by an unwitting man wearing a bladed S&M device, forced by Doe to simultaneously rape and kill her. Some time later, they investigate the death of a young model whose face has been mutilated, the victim of "Pride". The woman committed suicide after being given the choice to either call an ambulance using a phone glued to one of her hands and live with a disfigured face, or commit suicide by taking the bottle of sleeping pills glued to her other hand.

As they return to the police station, Doe appears to them and offers himself for arrest, with the blood of the model, an unidentified victim and his own on his hands. They find out that he has been cutting the skin off his fingers to avoid leaving fingerprints. Through his lawyer, Doe claims he will lead the two detectives to the last two bodies and confess to the crimes, or otherwise will plead insanity. Though Somerset is worried, Mills agrees to the demand. Doe directs the two detectives to a remote desert area far from the city; along the way, he claims that God has directed him to punish the wicked and reveal the world for the awful place that it is. He also makes cryptic comments toward Mills.

After arriving at the location, a delivery van approaches; Somerset intercepts the driver, leaving Mills and Doe alone. The driver hands over a package he was instructed to deliver at precisely this time and location. While Mills holds Doe at gunpoint, Doe mentions how much he admires him, but doesn't say why. Somerset opens the package and recoils in horror at the sight of the contents. He races back to warn Mills not to listen to Doe, but the killer reveals that the box contains Tracy's head. Doe claims to represent the sin of "Envy"; he was envious of Mills' normal life, and killed Tracy after failing to "play husband" with her. He taunts the distraught Mills with the knowledge that Tracy was pregnant. Somerset is unable to contain Mills as he unloads his gun into Doe, becoming the embodiment of "Wrath". After a catatonic Mills is taken away, Somerset is asked where he will be; he replies, "around".

The film ends with the sun setting over the desert, with Somerset quoting Ernest Hemingway's For Whom the Bell Tolls:

'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part.

Cast

Production

The primary influence for the film's screenplay came from Andrew Kevin Walker's time spent in New York City while trying to make it as a screenwriter. "I didn't like my time in New York, but it's true that if I hadn't lived there I probably wouldn't have written Seven."[1] While writing the screenplay, he envisioned actor William Hurt as Somerset and named the character after his favorite author, W. Somerset Maugham.[1]

During pre-production, Al Pacino was considered for the Somerset role, but he decided to do City Hall. Jeremiah Chechik was attached to direct at one point.[1] After the frustrating experience of making Alien 3, Fincher did not read a script for a year and a half. He said, "I thought I'd rather die of colon cancer than do another movie".[2] Fincher eventually agreed to direct because he was drawn to the script, which he found to be a "connect-the-dots movie that delivers about inhumanity. It's psychologically violent. It implies so much, not about why you did but how you did it".[2]

Fincher approached making Seven like a "tiny genre movie, the kind of movie Friedkin might have made after The Exorcist." He worked with cinematographer Darius Khondji and adopted a simple approach to the camerawork, which was influenced by the television show Cops, "how the camera is in the backseat peering over people's shoulder".[2] Fincher allowed Walker on the set while filming for on-the-set rewrites.[1] According to the director, "Seven is the first time I got to carry through certain things about the camera – and about what movies are or can be".[2]

The urban streets filled with crowded, noisy denizens and an oppressive rain that always seems to fall without respite was an integral part of the film, as Fincher wanted to show a city that was "dirty, violent, polluted, often depressing. Visually and stylistically, that's how we wanted to portray this world. Everything needed to be as authentic and raw as possible." To this end, Fincher turned to production designer Arthur Max to create a dismal world that often eerily mirrors its inhabitants. "We created a setting that reflects the moral decay of the people in it," says Max. "Everything is falling apart, and nothing is working properly." The film's brooding, dark look was also created through a chemical process called bleach bypass, whereby the silver in the film stock is not removed, which in turn deepened the dark, shadowy images in the film and increased its overall tonal quality.

Alternate endings

The special edition of the DVD makes clear that alternate endings were considered for the film.

Planned scripted ending

In an earlier draft for the film,[3] Walker wrote a different finale for the film, in which Doe does not kill Tracy but leads the detectives on a chase. Upon approaching an abandoned warehouse where he claims two bodies are hidden, he drops through a manhole into the sewer system, and Mills gives chase. However, he is subdued by Doe and taken to an old church, but Somerset arrives to save him. When Mills tries to fight back, Doe shoots and kills him, which prompts Somerset to shoot the killer and leave him to die in the now-burning church. After Mills is given a hero's funeral, Tracy decides to move back to Philadelphia, and Somerset promises to keep in touch with her following his retirement. It ends with him returning to the police station, making it clear that he is not finished with his job.

The studio initially wanted to go with this ending, but, according to the DVD commentary, they dropped it after Pitt and Freeman refused to promote the film unless the final ending Fincher had planned was used.

Storyboarded ending

An unfilmed but alternate ending made up of storyboards features Somerset shooting John Doe in an act of self-sacrifice to save Mills and prevent Doe from winning. The buildup to the climax is played out as it was in the final product, albeit with some minor differences. Upon learning of the death of Tracy and his unborn child, Mills tries to convince Somerset to let him kill Doe, explaining that they could claim he was trying to escape. After Somerset pleads with him to give up his gun, he asks "Who will take my place?" and then shoots Doe. When a shocked Mills yells "What are you doing?" Somerset simply says, "I'm retiring", implying that he will take responsibility and cover up what Mills planned to do.

On the DVD commentary, Fincher states that once the desired resolution to the Doe/Mills/Somerset confrontation was settled upon, the film was then to end immediately after Mills shot Doe – the final camera shots being the scene of the crime viewed from the helicopter. Nevertheless, the additional scene was added with Mills' being driven off to get help and Somerset indicating that he would not yet retire.

Alternative versions

The US laserdisc adds a few scenes deleted from theatrical release as a bonus at the end of the program, including: a prologue where Somerset is going to buy a country house. He uses his switchblade (seen many times in the final cut, but not explained) to cut out a small piece of wallpaper. There is an extended scene at the Mills' when David is playing with his dogs, and Somerset talks to Tracy. He tells her about the house and shows her the wallpaper. She tells him that it wouldn't be such a good idea to show it to David, saying "He wouldn't understand". These two scenes establish Somerset's character better, and the second one helps the viewer understand why the wife chooses Somerset to talk to when she gets pregnant. She knows that Somerset is much more sensible than her husband, and will understand her. The second one however was probably dumped earlier since it is included among the dailies and outtakes and the first one appears as a deleted scene.

In the English version, Tracy calls her husband at the office and asks to speak to Detective Somerset. We see them talking on the phone, but her voice is very quiet and thus the viewer may only hear what Detective Mills and Somerset say. When Somerset hangs up, he explains to Mills that his wife has invited him over for dinner. In the Italian version, Tracy's dialogue has been dubbed over the soundtrack, letting the audience easily hear her talking on the phone and making the invitation.

In the Platinum Series DVD released by New Line in 2000, Mills has a line just as Somerset runs up to him in the climactic scene. The line is supposed to be "What the fuck's he talking about?" Clearly audible on the Criterion laserdisc, this line is obscured on the new DVD because the director, while remastering the sound for the new release, thought that the character should be whispering the line to himself rather than yelling it, as it was on the Criterion laserdisc. The song used for the opening credit sequence is a remix of "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. It was credited as "Closer (Precursor) (Remix)" by Nine Inch Nails on the Criterion laserdisc, but the new DVD simply credits the song as "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. The new DVD was made using one of the CCE silver retention process prints as the Criterion laserdisc was, while the previous New Line VHS, laserdisc and DVD releases used one of the regular theatrical prints. The song title differs on these prints. Note: The Criterion laserdisc release also moved a few seconds of Howard Shore's score for its last side break so as to keep the entire music cue intact. The cue plays as originally shot on the new DVD.

A few hundred of the 2,500 first-run prints released theatrically were created using a silver retention process called CCE. With silver retention the silver leached out during conventional film processing is rebonded to the print, thus greatly increasing luminosity in the light portions of the image and the density of the dark tones.

The writer, Andrew Kevin Walker, completed two separate drafts of the ending. The first is the one that we see, and the second is one where John Doe is killed by Somerset instead of Mills. This alternate ending sequence was storyboarded and is included in the published script, but never filmed.

The version shown on BBC TV in the United Kingdom was heavily cut. All uses of the word "fuck" were removed, as were some of the more grisly images in the various murder scenes. Most notable cuts were to the autopsy of the 'gluttony' victim (shots of the victims full body as well as the removed stomach are missing) and the interrogation after the 'lust' murder (we no longer see the picture of the implement used in the murder).

The DVD contains an alternate ending which features alternate takes of some scenes. It shows the delivery guy also hand Somerset the truck registration. Afterwards, a wide shot of Mills is shown when John Doe reveals Mills' wife was pregnant, instead of the close up. There is no quick flash of Gwyneth Paltrow's face before Mills shoots Doe, and only one shot to the head is fired. There are no additional shots fired at Doe afterwards.

The US television print is heavily edited for language and violence. Also, there is an alternate shot when John Doe takes the gun away from Mills' head. In the original film, we see a shot of Mills' head with the gun to it, and John Doe's arm. Then the gun is quickly whisked away. In the television edit, we're still looking up the barrel of the gun as it is slowly taken away.

Reception

Seven was released on September 22, 1995 in 2,441 theaters where it grossed US$13.9 million on its opening weekend. It went on to gross $100.1 million in North America and $227.1 million in the rest of the world for a total of $327.3 million,[4] making Seven the seventh-highest grossing film in 1995, behind Die Hard with a Vengeance, Toy Story, Apollo 13, GoldenEye, Pocahontas and Batman Forever.

The film was generally well-received by critics and currently has an 85% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. Gary Arnold, in the Washington Times, praised the cast: "The film's ace in the hole is the personal appeal generated by Mr. Freeman as the mature, cerebral cop and Mr. Pitt as the young, headstrong cop. Not that the contrast is inspired or believable in itself. What gets to you is the prowess of the co-stars as they fill out sketchy character profiles".[5] Sheila Johnston, in her review for The Independent, praised Freeman's performance: "the film belongs to Freeman and his quiet, carefully detailed portrayal of the jaded older man who learns not to give up the fight".[6] In his review for Sight and Sound, John Wrathall wrote, "Seven has the scariest ending since George Sluizer's original The Vanishing...and stands as the most complex and disturbing entry in the serial killer genre since Manhunter".[7]

Accolades

New Line Cinema re-released Seven in Westwood, California on Christmas Day and in New York City on December 29, 1995 in an attempt to generate Academy Award nominations for Freeman, Pitt, Fincher, and Walker.[8]

Walker received a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. Film editor Richard Francis-Bruce was nominated for an Academy Award for Film Editing, and Director of Photography Darius Khondji's extensive use of bleach bypass film processing has since been noted as a major influence on contemporary cinematographic technique, especially in the late 1990s.[9] The film was given an MTV Movie Award as best movie.

Home media

For the DVD release, Seven was remastered and presented in the widescreen format, preserving the 2.40:1 aspect ratio of its original theatrical exhibition. Audio options include Dolby Digital EX 5.1, DTS ES Discrete 6.1, and Stereo Surround Sound.

The Seven DVD features four newly recorded, feature-length audio commentaries featuring the stars and other key contributors to the film, who talk about their experiences making Seven.

This DVD is also compatible with DVD-ROM drives. Disc One features a printable screenplay with links to the film. The Blu-Ray was released September 14, 2010.[10]

Comic book

In 2006, comic book publisher Zenescope Entertainment began a seven-issue miniseries, each issue focusing on one of Doe's victims before they were killed; e.g. the first issue, SE7EN: Gluttony, focuses on the "fat man".[11] The series also reveals snippets of the origin of John Doe as penned by authors, such as Christian Beranek[12] in issue 4, "Lust", and each issue contains a two-page spread from John Doe's 2,000 densely-written journals discovered in the film.

Novelization

In 1995, a novel with the same title was written by Anthony Bruno based on the original film.

Soundtrack

The opening credit music is a spliced sample of an uncredited remix of the Nine Inch Nails song "Closer", available as "Closer (Precursor)" on the "Closer" single. The song during the end credits is David Bowie's song "The Heart's Filthy Lesson", found on his album Outside. The film's original score is by Howard Shore.

  1. "In the Beginning" – The Statler Brothers
  2. "Guilty" – Gravity Kills
  3. "Trouble Man" – Marvin Gaye
  4. "Speaking of Happiness" – Gloria Lynne – written by Buddy Scott & Jimmy Radcliffe
  5. "Suite No. 3 in D Major, BWV 1068 Air" – written by Johann Sebastian Bach, performed by Stuttgarter Kammerorchester / Karl Münchinger
  6. "Love Plus One" – Haircut 100
  7. "I Cover the Waterfront" – Billie Holiday
  8. "Now's the Time" – Charlie Parker
  9. "Straight, No Chaser" – Thelonious Monk (Taken from Monk in Tokyo)
  10. "Portrait of John Doe" – Howard Shore
  11. "Suite from Seven" – Howard Shore

References

  1. ^ a b c d Montesano, Anthony (February 1996). "Seven's Deadly Sins". Cinefantastique. p. 48. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ a b c d Taubin, Amy (January 1996). "The Allure of Decay". Sight and Sound. p. 24. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ horrornews.net
  4. ^ "Seven". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2008-03-26. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ Arnold, Gary (September 22, 1995). "Sinister Seven a killer of a thriller". Washington Times. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ Johnston, Sheila (January 4, 1996). "Sin has seldom looked so good". The Independent. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ Wrathall, John (January 1996). "Seven". Sight and Sound. p. 50. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ Cox, Dan (December 22, 1995). "Seven gets new dates for Oscar season". Variety. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ Showreel article : David Fincher's Zodiac A change in the stars
  10. ^ First Blu-ray News: Seven
  11. ^ [1] [2] [3]
  12. ^ [4]
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