See Through The Human Nature

By: Ted Shi

    The 1995 film "Seven" directed by David Fincher is one of the most popular crime thriller film around the world. It was well-received among audiences due to its unique dark style and surprising ending. In the movie, young Brad Pitt portrays David Mills, who is a young detective that just transferred to the new work place. By contrast, Morgan Freeman portrays an old detective named William Somerset, who is going to retire very soon. The movie basically tells a story of these two detectives tracking down a serial killer named John Doe, who used seven deadly sins as themes in his serial murders. One of the most important ideas that presented by this movie is that the world is a dark place, and all people have their weaknesses.  

    Pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, and sloth, these are the seven deadly sins that human commits in Christian's point of view. The murder John Doe is actually a devout religious man. Each victim he murdered falls into one of these sins, and their death positions perfectly reflect the sin they were committed. For example, in the "gluttony" case, the victim is a very fat man who eats a lot. When John murdered him, he was forced to sit at the table and keep eating until he is way overload and dead. John's technique seems cruel, but it fit his purpose: telling the world that people are committed to the seven deadly sins.

    One of the typical scenes I would like to talk about is the "box" scene towards the end of the movie. It is a surprising ending for audiences which perfectly shows the concept that "everyone in the world has weakness". At that time, John has already finished murdering people that refer to five different sins, and there are only two left. However, he voluntarily surrenders himself to the police. When David and William think they have caught the killer and everything is done, they receive a box which John sent earlier that day before he was caught.

    William opens the box and see the head of David' s wife, he is totally shocked. He knows that David will definitely shoot John if he knows the truth. However, things are already too late, John start to talk with David about what he did to his pregnant wife, and David eventually shoots him. Yet this is exactly what John wants. John himself falls into the sin of envy, that's why he destroyed David's happy family. While David also falls into the sin of wrath since he kills John in order to wreak, which he should not do as a detective. By doing all that, John achieved his ultimate goal. Since our main character, David, falls into his trap and helped him finish the whole plan.

    The director David Fincher applied lots of shot techniques in this final scene. He used different types of shots to present the scene. There are lots close-up shots which clearly show David's facial expressions. Brad Pitt did a good job portraying a chaotic
expression when he knows his wife was murdered and the killer is right under his pistol. Through that close-up shot, audiences can definitely see his heart and mind are conflicting towards whether he should kill John or not, and it obviously shows his weakness. Contrasting with the close-up shot, there are also some extreme long shot, from the view of a helicopter, showing a broad, panoramic view of what's happening. Those long shots add to the nervous atmosphere.

    Moreover, David Fincher did a good job using high-angle & low-angle shots. The helicopter view meanwhile is an example of high-angle shots. According to the theory, high-angle shots can make characters smaller, and therefore make them more vulnerable. In the scene, even though David and William totally controlled John, but showing them repetitively in a telescope view makes the situation seems dangerous, which according to the ending, is true. The use of low-angle shots is also fantastic. Low-angle shots usually suggest dominance and power. When William finds out that the head, he suddenly knows John's final purpose and realizes the current situation. Therefore, he said "John Doe has the upper hand" to people on the helicopter. Right after his words, the camera gives John a low-angle shots, with his head covers the sun. It clearly shows his dominance at that moment. Similarly, when David shoots John, the camera also gives him a low-angle shot, showing his strong power which comes from his wrath. Overall, these shots are very important in this climax scene since it greatly contribute to the theme of the movie--human weaknesses.

    The movie ends up with William's philosophical rich line: "Ernest Hemingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting for.' I agree with the second part.", which, again, refers to the dark, cruel world. A good film is the combination of good director, good actors, and good script. "Seven" has all of them and there is no surprise it became a classic film.