A dark, mature port, nothing to dilute this one.

Rating: 10/10 (23 November 2006)

This picture takes some considerable constitution to watch, to endure.
Se7en is not a nice film.
The sets and locations are dark, gritty, grimy, nasty and bleak. There are no bright hues, nothing flashy or rosy to welcome the viewer.
What grabs us first(perhaps) are the very real homes of Det. Mills and Det. Sommerset. There are sound effects of the police sirens passing by. There are the muffled sounds of neighbours through the walls. There is the ticking of various clocks.
This looks a lot like 'real' life.
It's quite hard for me to put a lot of this into words. The investigation, after the subsequent finding of the first victim takes Mills and Sommerset, and the film viewer into a dark, seedy world where the crimes performed by the 'killer' are inspired by the seven deadly sins. It's important, I feel to view se7en from time to time, simply to make us feel better about our own life. The score and the sound effects fit the dirty, nasty unforgiving feel of the film. You arn't sure if it's John Doe that is the enemy or the world outside. I'm sure as I type in the safety of my own home somebody somewhere is committing an unspeakable crime. Maybe they will be caught. Maybe they won't.
The acting very good from the main characters, and solid from the lessors. The interesting part of me is looking at how Mills and Sommerset work as a team, being of an entirely different nature. Sommerset is calm, collected, intellectual, elloquent, subtle and wise. Sommerset is like a sniffer dog released from the pound after a long and tedious stay. Grumpy, intolerant, verbally unrefined, impatient, yet with a good heart.
All of the crimes shown strike cords within us. Some more horrific than others; all thought provoking and psychologically challenging. Just how *do* you continue to eat, completely full and unable to swallow another mouthfull . .only there is a gun to your head and the trigger will end your life it you stop ..
It's hard to recommend this one to anyone. Film fans i.e those who appreciate a well made movie will be on the edge or their seat come the building chase. Others will look on in partial disgust, partial intrigue as the camera shows the horrific detail of John Doe's methodical skills.
What un-nerves me, is to think that out there there is a John Doe out here. He's not count Dracula, he's not Jack the ripper. He is a normal man, perhaps enjoying a simple life. We might see him in the food market or the pharmacy. We might see him and acknowledge him, or we might not. That individual has a darker plan in his mind that you or I or any *good* people could conceive of, and we won't know until something happens.
There are no apologies and no compromises. This is a brilliant, bleak, horrific and psychologically damaging look at the darker side of human nature. Highly recommended for those of a mature mindset.