F-0209

Title:

Se7en
Seven (USA, alternative spelling)
The Seven Deadly Sins (USA, working title)

Category:

S

Produced:

1995

Country:

USA

Released:

Film: Sep 1995 (USA)
DVD: Dec 2000 (2-DVD); Feb 2004
VHS: ?
Soundtrack: Sep 1995 (CD); Sep 1995 (MC)

Director:

David Fincher

Writer:

Andrew Kevin Walker

Actors:

Brad Pitt (Detective David Mills); Morgan Freeman (Detective Lt. William Somerset); Gwyneth Paltrow (Tracy Mills); R. Lee Ermey (Police Captain); Andrew Kevin Walker (Dead Man - as Andy Walker); Daniel Zacapa (Detective Taylor); John Cassini (Officer Davis); Bob Mack (Gluttony Victim); Peter Crombie (Dr. O'Neill); Reg E. Cathey (Coroner); George Christy (Workman); Endre Hules (Cab Driver); Hawthorne James (George, Library Night Guard); William Davidson (Library Guard - as Roscoe Davidson); Bob Collins (Library Guard)

Description:

A film about two homicide detectives' desperate hunt for a serial killer who justifies his crimes as absolution for the world's ignorance of the Seven Deadly Sins. The movie takes us from the tortured remains of one victim to the next as the sociopathic "John Doe" sermonizes to Detectives Sommerset and Mills -- one sin at a time. The sin of Gluttony comes first and the murderer's terrible capacity is graphically demonstrated in the dark and subdued tones characteristic of film noir. The seasoned and cultured Sommerset researches the Seven Deadly Sins in an effort to understand the killer's modus operandi while green Detective Mills scoffs at his efforts to get inside the mind of a killer... (Mark Fleetwood)

This thriller portrays the exploits of a deranged serial-killer. His twisted agenda involves choosing seven victims who represent egregious examples of transgressions of each of the Seven Deadly Sins. He then views himself as akin to the Sword of God, handing out horrific punishment to these sinners. Two cops, an experienced veteran of the streets who is about to retire and the ambitious young homocide detective hired to replace him, team up to capture the perpetrator of these gruesome killings. Unfortunately, they too become ensnared in his diabolical plan.... (Tad Dibbern)

The most viscerally frightening and disturbing homicidal maniac picture since The Silence of the Lambs, Seven is based on an idea that's both gruesome and ingenious. A serial killer forces each of his victims to die by acting out one of the seven deadly sins. The murder scene is then artfully arranged into a grotesque tableau, a graphic illustration of each mortal vice. From the jittery opening credits to the horrifying (and seemingly inescapable) concluding twist, director David Fincher immerses us in a murky urban twilight where everything seems to be rotting, rusting, or molding; the air is cold and heavy with dread. Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt are the detectives who skillfully track down the killer--all the while unaware that he has been closing in on them, as well. Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey are also featured, but it is director Fincher and the ominous, overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere of doom that he creates that are the real stars of the film. It's a terrific date movie--for vampires. (Jim Emerson, Amazon.com)

The murders in David Fincher's serial-killer mystery are grisly tableaux, each artfully arranged to illustrate one of the seven deadly sins: a fat man is force-fed until his stomach bursts, a lazy man is strapped to his bed and allowed to waste away, and so on. This kind of self-conscious literary conceit can work if it's handled with a light, parodic touch. Unfortunately, the movie's clammy design, glum cinematography, and lugubrious pace try to persuade us that what we're watching isn't an ingenious, silly piece of pulp but a serious meditation on the nature of evil. The police detectives-weary old Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and brash young Mills (Brad Pitt)-search for clues by flashlight, at crime scenes where, typically, the only other source of light is a lamp with a twenty-five-watt bulb. And when the action moves outdoors it's always raining-sheets of water on the windshield keep the morose cops sealed off from the rest of the world even while they drive on busy streets. Freeman, with his immense dignity and authority, manages to keep his head above water, but Pitt goes under. Fincher, whose background is in commercials and music videos, doesn't seem to understand that narrative filmmaking requires something more than a striking look; a style that's effective for three minutes can become awfully tiresome stretched over a hundred and twenty-eight. The movie seems to last an eternity, and that's with only seven sins to account for-just be thankful that the murders aren't patterned on the Ninety-five Theses of Martin Luther. Also with Gwyneth Paltrow. (Terrence Rafferty, Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker)

Language:

English / Portuguese

TT:

127 min

J.S. Bach's Music:

Air (Mvt. 2) from Orchestral Suite No. 3 in D major, BWV 1068

Format:

Film: Color (DeLuxe), DTS / Dolby Digital
DVD: (Anamorphic, 2-DVD Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Special Edition, Widescreen, NTSC, Region 1) | (AC-3, Anamorphic, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Widescreen, NTSC, Regionw) | (PAL, Region 2) | (Letterboxed, NTSC, Region 2) | (# Anamorphic, Full Screen, NTSC, Region 2)
VHS: (NTSC) | (PAL, German) | (PAL)
Soundtrack: CD; MC; MP3 Download

Company:

Film: New Line Cinema
DVD: New Line Home Video [DVD, 2-DVD]
VHS: New Line Home Video
Soundtrack: Tvt [CD]; Tvt [MC]; TVT Soundtrax [MP3 Download]

Comments:

Watch selections:

Buy movie at:

DVD: Amazon.com [2-DVD] | Amazon.com | Amazon.com [Region 2] | Amazon.com [Region 2] | Amazon.com [Region 2] | Amazon.com [Region 2] | Amazon.com [Region 2]
VHS: Amazon.com | Amazon.com [German] | Amazon.com | Amazon.com
Soundtrack: Amazon.com [CD] | Amazon.com [MC] | Amazon.com [MP3 Download]

Source/Links: IMDB
Contributor: Aryeh Oron (November 2007)