A dark journey, literally

Rating: Null/10 (27 February 1999)

Seven is a movie that left its imprint on my mind for days. I remember being so shaken leaving the theater that I had trouble unlocking my car door, because my hands were shaking so bad. It's that frightening, not in its content but its message. It is not exaggerating to say that this film is lacking in any hope.
The movie tells the story of the last seven days in the career of a veteran homicide detective, name Will Somersett, played by Morgan Freeman in a brilliant performance. He is retiring after 30 years on the force, because he is simply tired of it. He has seen so much evil, so much hate and death and gore and trauma, that when he learns that his replacement asked to be transferred to his precinct (in a seedy section of a city I don't recall ever being given a name), he is amazed.
The cop that will replace him is David Mills (Brad Pitt), who defensively reminds Somersett of his background, that he worked in homicide for 5 years. "Not here," says Somersett, and treats him like a rookie, because in all the ways that count, he still is. He still has hope, and still feels that he can make a difference, which is why he transferred here. Boy, will he be surprised.
Their first case proves Somersett's point. A very large man is found in his home, dead. He was forced to eat at gunpoint until he hemmoraged internally, then kicked in the stomach to finish the job. Another man is forced to cut off a pound of his own flesh, and a woman is savagely mutilated, then offered both a phone and sleeping pills, and allowed to choose whether to call for help or commit suicide.
This is not your average serial killer. Mills and most of the other cops believe the killer is simply brutally insane, but Somersett believes he is trying to send a message. What kind of message? Well, at the fat man's crime scene the word "Gluttony" is carved into a wall. Other murder scenes leave behind the words "Pride" and "Greed". "The Seven Deadly Sins," intones Somersett. He knows a lot about this sort of thing because he spends his evenings at the library, reading Dante and Saint Thomas Aquinus. Mills is less educated, and has to rely on Cliff Notes to keep up.
The plot grows thicker as the killer leaves more clues, and more bodies in a trail that leads through many apartment buildings that seem to be behind in their electric payments; there hardly seems to be any light anywhere. It rains incessantly throughout most of the movie, until the climax, which I will not describe.
The movie is full of little details that add depth to otherwise small scenes. One example: a man who runs a whorehouse is brought in for questioning after another of the murders is discovered. In a lesser film he would have just been another slimy purveyor of cheap sex and kinky thrills, just to add a little color. Instead, he is asked if he likes his job. He answers by saying "No, I don't." He leans forward, and glares at the cop. "But that's just life, isn't it?" Not exactly standout dialogue but my point is the movie takes the time to flesh out even bit characters.
If I have made this movie sound dreary, bloodsoaked and hopeless, then I have described it well. It is all of these things, and intentionally so. To say that is not to criticize it; on the contrary, it is actually very well conceived and strongly acted. The plot is brilliantly set up, and the movie is not just a sick exploitation picture. Every murder takes place off-screen, save one. The filmmakers understand that it is scarier to see the aftermath of a killing than to actually see it happen. The movie has had a noticeable impact on television as well, shows such as Millennium and Profiler could be said to have been inspired by Seven.
Did I enjoy it? In a word, no. It is simply too dark, too staggeringly hopeless in it implications in the end that I cannot walk out of such a movie feeling like I "enjoyed" it. That is not to say I don't think it was a good movie. I admire its superior craftsmanship and its style. But afterward I felt like going someplace with lots of people and plenty of light.