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Film Theory
Scott Hancock
Wednesday -550
Spring 0
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Eisenstein/Bazin
SEVEN
directed by
David Fincher
David Finchers Seven, a psychological thriller in which a serial killer has been killing people based on which of the seven deadly sins they have committed. This dark and damp tale with it's realistic atmosphere and inventive title sequence would have pleased, and also to an extent, infuriated the likes of classic film critic Andr Bazin and montage master Serge Eisenstein. Considering the film was made in 15, years after both Bazin and Eisenstein theorized over film language, the film as a whole may not have been what each would have considered a perfect film, but there are elements of Seven which each would have appreciated.
As the film opens we are introduced to Detective Somerset (Moorage Freeman) standing at a sink in a static wide shot of a kitchen. There appears to be a door in the foreground, frame-left. This shot gives the viewer the sense that he/she are in the room with this guy kind of peering around the corner. Everything in the foreground is out of focus. Bazin would have disliked the foreground being out of focus as he prefers more depth of field, but would have been pleased with the width of the shot and the mise en scene. The shot does not hold too long but the amount of information you get from just that one shot is exactly what Bazin is looking for.
Bazin placed a great deal of emphasis on the shot and the duration of the shot. The film was shot by Cinematographer Darius Khondji. In a scene which follows the initial meeting of Somerset and David Mills (Brad Pitt) we are outside having just come out of a crime scene. Somerset and Mills are in a low angle medium two-shot. This shot follows the two men down the street as we are introduced to their relationship and we watch how it begins. Bazin would have liked this scene first for the duration, over two minutes, and second for the rawness and realism of the scene itself. Filmed on location the scene takes on a very harsh reality which is achieved through the mise en scene, which includes torn awnings overhead, extras passing by, storefronts, and rain. There is then the question however, would he had disliked this shot because the shot was low angle, not a very realistic representation of reality, and because of the moving camera, draws too much attention to the filmmaking process? Bazin seemed to embrace technology to some extent but still seemed to remain somewhat of a purist. Technology should be a tool a filmmaker can use to create art.
This film is full of photographs. In fact the film almost wholly revolves around crime scene photographs. The crime scenes Fincher gives us in the film are all as gritty and ominous as actual crime scene photos. The crime scenes seem as though they were taken from actual crime scene photos. These sets were darkly lit and often only illuminated only by the flashlights of the two detectives. The time and dedication put into these sets by Fincher and Production Designer Arthur Max paid off as they appeared to be frighteningly realistic, almost to the point that you can smell what these cramped spaces smell like. There were also many times that the ceiling in locations were shown. This to Bazin would have been nature recreated in a way in which attention to detail was an understatement.
The master shots of these scenes all could have been held and would have been just as effective, but Fincher decided to cut around to each of the characters and use cutaways which allowed the viewer to get in closer and get a sense of what these detectives were seeing and feeling. This is where Bazin would have disagreed with this structure of film. He would have preferred the master and allowing the scene to just play out. Fincher and editor Richard Francis-Bruce have the master but opts to cut into the characters and uses the faces of his actors as a tool to enhance and tell the story. Even if the actors do not say anything the fact that we are in a tighter shot on them allows the audience to get in and learn something from the face of the actor. This is heavy stuff they are looking at and we(the audience) want to see what they are looking at and what their reaction is when they see it. It appears the audience at least have changed a bit since the era of Bazin.
Another very realistic aspect of this film was the sound design. Again we can go back to the opening sequence of Somerset getting ready for work. The opening shot we hear traffic noise, tv in the background, neighbors, this really brings the viewer into the screen and makes us think we are in the room with this person. Bazin would have appreciated the realistic way the sound brought realism to the scene.
Although this film may not be a complete representation of reality in the eyes of Bazin, hopefully he would have seen the film as a piece of art in which the reality was made up by scriptwriter Andrew Kevin Walker so that David Fincher could tell a story which may scare us at times but at the same time remind us that all is not wine and roses. The important thing in the end is that this story elicits emotion from the viewer, whether it be good or bad.
Seven was edited by Richard Francis-Bruce who was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on this film. Sergei Eisenstein would have enjoyed this film for its social dynamics and conflict within the story. Two scenes of this film editorially were exactly the types of montage that Eisenstein employed. One scene is the beautifully and hauntingly done title sequence and the other is the "hitting the books" scene in which we crosscut with Somerset in the library studying up on Chaucer and Dante, and Mills at home studying the crime scene photos.
After a brief opening piece that slowly brings us in, the true beginning comes, a disturbing opening credits sequence that looks like a music video and for all intensive purposes, is. The credits shake as though we are watching an old Super 8 movie. This sequence is highlighted by the song "Closer" by Nine Inch Nails. This is an instrumental and allows for only one line. The images are razor blades, quick flashes of crime photos, notebooks, pages, needles, all of this culminating in the line, "you get me closer to God". As "God" is said we are on a close shot of tweezers removing the word god out of a dollar bill. As slow as the opening was it was all building up to this moment. Fincher purposefully made the opening slow paced so to bring us to this sequence of fast paced disturbing images and music. This collision of images and music created a sense of impending doom and is precisely what Eisenstein was going for with his theory of montage.
The next sequence in the library is a chance for the viewer to see how each of the detectives are trying to catch this killer. Somerset by reading the books he thinks the killer would be reading and Mills by studying the crime photos. This sequence is accompanied by Bach which gives the feeling of sadness which could also represent the character Somerset or the nameless city where all of this takes place. There is a slow movement both with camera movement and with movement within the shots themselves. The way in which the images are cut together is also of importance. The use of straight cuts and dissolves blended with the music lend to a sense of not only sadness but beauty. There seems to be beauty in what these men are studying and this is achieved through not only the method of cutting but the length of shots in the sequence. They seem to be longer in the beginning then slowly become shorter, then slowly begin to be longer again as scene ends with Mills giving up and watching a game on TV, and Somerset leaving a reading list on Mills desk. This scene again falls in line with Eisensteins theory of montage by using shot length, music, movement, and transitions to create an emotional response.
Anytime a director creates a film it is his/her artistic ability that will either engage the audience or not. What they choose to utilize to make this happen, whether it be a crane, fast paced editing, wide angle, stedicam, it is their decision. It is obvious a different era than that of Bazin or Eisenstein but hopefully each would have embraced this eras filmmaking. Bazin would have possibly been attracted to the video camera as he could shoot as much of one shot as he wanted and not had to worry about cost of film. Eisenstein may have embraced the world of nonlinear editing, stedicams, or music videos. Each mans own definition of film language may be different however they were both leaders in the world of film and filmmakers even today employ their theories and will continue to do for as long as film is still an artform.
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