Seven
125 minutes, rated X
Directed by David Fincher
Seven is a dark, grisly, horrifying and intelligent thriller - a film too disturbing for many people, I imagine, although if you can bear to watch it you will see film making of a high order. It tells the story of two detectives - one ready to retire, the other at the start of his career - and their attempts to capture a perverted killer who is using the Seven Deadly Sins as his serial killing scenario.
As the movie opens we meet Somerset (Morgan Freeman), a meticulous veteran cop who lives a lonely bachelor's life in what looks like a furnished room. Then he meets Mills (Brad Pitt), an impulsive young cop who actually asked to be transferred into Somerset's district. The two men investigate a particularly gruesome murder, in which a fat man was tied hands and feet and forced to eat himself to death.
His crime was the crime of Gluttony. Soon Somerset and Mills are investigating equally inventive murders involving Greed, Sloth, Lust and the other deadly sins. In each case, the murder method is appropriate and disgusting (one victim is forced to cut off a pound of his own flesh; another is tied to a bed for a year; a third, too proud of her beauty, is disfigured and then offered the choice of a call for help or sleeping pills). Somerset concludes that the killer, 'John Doe,' is using his crimes to preach a 'sermon' to society.
'Seven' is a very dark film - it is not set anywhere, or at any discernible time. It constantly rains, the darkness of the sets, only illuminated by the yellow glow of the police torches makes this a movie in the tradition of Film Noir.
Both men react in different ways to the killings. Somerset is the cold impassive detective working steadily at the clues - shutting himself off from any emotional attachment to the killer or his crimes - it is his job. Mills is full of rage and passion against the killer, whom he labels as mad. The only light in the film is given by Mills' wife, although she too is tortured by the question as to whether she can bring a child into this dark and ugly world.
Unlike many thrillers of this sort, the killer appears on screen with half an hour to go - he is given a voice, a character and a personality and motive -he is not simply a quarry to be chased. We discover that his 'sermon' is being preached directly at the two policemen, and they must form a pact with him to discover the last two murders in his chain of seven. The crucial scene before the appalling denouement is the conversation they have in a car en route to the end. The killer explains why he has done it. The dialogue at this point is particularly poignant. As Somerset listens coldly and without passion, Mills accuses him of madness, and claims the victims are innocent, but the only sane person in the car appears to be the killer. They deserve it, he says, and lays out their crimes of greed, sloth, malice and pride, and makes an excellent case for each of their ends. 'Because you see these lives at the street corner and in everyone every day of your life, you get used to it,' he says. A telling commentary on how we all tolerate sin because of its familiarity. He claims to speak for God in pronouncing judgement on these 'innocents'.
The finale is a shocking twist, which leaves us in no doubt as to the godlessness of the killer - but which leaves both policemen radically changed in their outlook. The one determined to continue the fight against crime, the other emotionally and morally destroyed by it.
It is rare to have a film out of Hollywood that has no 'feel good' factor at the end - but the silence of the audience was palpable as we walked out, having glimpsed something of the reality of the sin we tolerate in the world and in ourselves.
Tim Thornborough
In publishing the occasional review of films that are X-rated, EN in no way endorses, or encourages readers to see them. We review them because they give helpful insight into the way the world is thinking, and help to locate points of contact for the gospel today.
