Se7en (1995)

User Rating:

8.6/10   

Director:

David Fincher

Writer (WGA):

Andrew Kevin Walker (written by)

Release Date:

22 September 1995 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Thriller

Tagline:

Long is the way, and hard, that out of hell leads up to light.

Plot:

Police drama about two cops, one new and one about to retire, after a serial killer using the seven deadly sins as his MO.

Plot Keywords:

Seven Deadly Sins | Detective | Serial Killer | Gluttony | Police

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 19 wins & 17 nominations

Cast

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 (as Reginald E. Cathey)
George Christy	...	Workman
Endre Hules	...	Cab Driver
Hawthorne James	...	George, Library Night Guard
William Davidson	...	Library Guard (as Roscoe Davidson)
Bob Collins	...	Library Guard

Also Known As:

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

MPAA:

Rated R for grisly afterviews of horrific and bizarre killings, and for strong language.

Runtime:

127 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Portuguese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

Israel:16 (re-rating) | USA:R (certificate #33601) | Philippines:R-18 | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-15 | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:AA (Ontario) | Argentina:16 | Australia:R | Belgium:KNT | Chile:18 | Denmark:16 | France:-12 | Germany:16 (nf) | Hong Kong:IIB | Iceland:16 | Ireland:18 | Israel:18 (original rating) | Italy:VM14 | New Zealand:R18 | Norway:18 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:M18 | Singapore:PG (cut) | South Korea:18 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Alexandria Hotel - 501 S. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

As preparation for his traumatic scene in the interrogation room, Leland Orser would breathe in and out very rapidly so that his body would be overly saturated with oxygen, giving him the ability to hyperventilate. He also did not sleep for a few days to achieve his character's disoriented look.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The gluttony victim can be seen breathing, despite being dead.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Detective Taylor: Neighbors heard them screaming at each other, like for two hours, and it was nothing new. Then they heard the gun go off, both barrels. Crime of passion.
William Somerset: Yeah, just look at all the passion on that wall.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dogma (1999)

Soundtrack:

Lust

No one is without sin

This is one of those dark movies, where it's constantly raining and wet and where the light always seems to be dim. Appropriately enough, this changes to bright and shimmering heat in the very end. As a kid, I hated dark movies. But perhaps it is appropriate in this case, because Seven attempts to be a statement about humanity: no one is without sin.

The seven deadly sins are gluttony, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and wrath. Prime examples of people committing these are being punished one by one, brutally and efficiently, by a psychopathic killer. Detectives, and reluctant partners, William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and David Mills (Brad Pitt) are assigned to track down the killer. Needless to say, the job gets accomplished. While some might argue it is done surprisingly, I'd argue otherwise.

For once, I wasn't impressed with Pitt's acting. I thought Freeman did a great job. As usual, the villain, John Doe played by Kevin Spacey, provides a chilling performance, even though he is not given as much center stage as, say, Anthony Hopkins was in Silence of the Lambs. In fact, the whole movie seems to hurry through without giving key characters enough time to build up their emotional worth, particularly Mills' wife Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow).

In the end, Seven does manage to get its point across effectively. While watching the movie itself, I thought it a bit anti-climatic, but when mulling it over later, the images echo very strongly in my mind. One of the most disturbing films I've seen.