[MOVIE REVIEW #5] Even if everyone forgets me, you will remember me forever – “Se7en” (1995)
Originally Posted 2019. 01. 27.
[Photo from:Wikipedia]
Seven is a 1995 American crime thriller film directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey and John C. McGinley. Released on September 22, 1995 by New Line Cinema, Seven was the seventh-highest-grossing film of the year, grossing over $327 million worldwide.
All about the movie!
Detective William Somerset, played by Morgan Freeman, who is about to retire in a week, is partnered up with short-tempered but idealistic David Mills, played by Brad Pitt. Mills has recently moved to the city with his wife Tracy.
After forming a friendship with Somerset, Tracy confides to Somerset that she is pregnant and has yet to tell Mills. Somerset advises her to tell Mills only if she plans to keep the child.
Somerset and Mills investigate a set of murders inspired by the seven deadly sins. A man forced to eat until his stomach burst representing gluttony, and a defense attorney killed after being forced to cut a pound of flesh from himself representing greed. Clues intentionally left by the killer leads the two detectives to an apartment, where they find the third victim, who is a drug dealer and child molester. He was found strapped to a bed, barely alive. It is soon revealed that he was strapped to the best for a whole year by the killer, representing sloth.
The detectives use the library records to search for books related to the seven deadly sins, and the readers. They track down a suspect to his apartment. The suspect flees, and Mills nearly gets killed during the chase. The suspect’s apartment contained hundreds of notebooks revealing his psychopathy, and also another clue to the next murder.
The detectives arrive too late to the crime scene. A man was forced at gunpoint to kill a prostitute by raping her with a custommade strap-on with blades on it. The murder this time represented lust. The following day, they visit the scene of a fifth victim. A model whose face has been mutilated by the killer. The killer then glued a phone to one of her hands, and sleeping pills to the other. She was given an option to call for help and live disfigured, or commit suicide by taking pills. Since the model chose the latter, the murder represented pride.
As Somerset and Mills return to the police station, the killer turns himself in, covered in the blood of an unidentified victim. The killer, John Doe, offers to take the detectives to the final 2 victims and confess to the murders, but only under specific terms that the 2 are the only ones accompanying him. Somerset is wary, but Mills agrees.
The detectives follow Doe’s directions to a remote desert location. A few minutes later, a delivery van approaches. Mills holds Doe at gunpoint while Somerset goes to intercept the driver with a box to deliver. Doe begins to taunt Mills by telling him how he was jealous of his life with Tracy. Somerset opens the box and, in a sudden panic, warns Mills to stay back and drop his gun. Doe then says that his sin was envy. Doe killed Tracy and delivered her head in the box to this exact location. Mills finds out from Doe that Tracy was pregnant. Despite Somerset’s warnings, Mills shoots Doe, completing Doe’s plan by making Mills kill him representing wrath. The police takes the devastated Mills away, and Somerset finally decides not to retire and go on with his life as a homicide detective.
[Photo from: bloody-disgusting]
My thoughts!
I decided to watch Seven after coming across clips of this movie on Youtube. At first, I was just happy to see young Brad Pitt and Gwyneth Paltrow being lovely married couples. However, I was shocked by how the tone of the movie turned instantly dark. The crime that represented lust, where a man was forced to rape a prostitute with bladed strap-ons were extremely disturbing enough only with decriptions and words. During the final scene where detective Somerset panics as he finds Tracy’s head in the box, then runs towards Mills shouting “Drop the gun” gave me chills down my spine. With a combination of a storyline so disturbing, yet filled with suspense and a perfect cast made this classic movie much more memorable.
[Photo from: mentalfloss]
Ichigo-ichie 