Angel of Death Forgive Us

Rating: 10/10 (18 February 2006)

If it weren't for Grand Guignol and Italian Giallo there wouldn't be a Jonathan Harris or a SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. If SILENCE OP THE LAMBS had not reached the theaters, there would be no SE7EN. SE7EN in itself is a step-up from its predecessor in art-directed crime thrillers that seems to not only present the madness within society as much as thrive in its murky waters.
David Fincher, a man not known for making light comedies and feel-good stories about life and love and hope plunges his viewers into this sick world which at times seems on the verge of being eaten up whole by the God of the Underworld. It's a place we could call home, but is not inviting in the least. And worse -- there is a serial killer on the loose. One of those monsters engendered by the city's own lapses into dehumanization, who have a penchant with toying with his persecutors because of the power this game grants him by default.
We've seen or heard about his type before. Jeffrey Dahmer. The Zodiac Killer. Son of Sam. Ted Bundy. John Wayne Gacy. The Green River Killer. And of course Jack the Ripper, purportedly identified as Walter Sickert by Patricia Cornwell's exhaustive investigation. More in the latter's mode of killing but taking his murders into the realm of the bizarre, the John Doe who detectives Somerset and Mills are trying to catch is one of a kind. One who writes extensive passages which say a lot, but inform rather little. One who reveals himself to be uber-intelligent, almost pleasant, but twisted to the point of no return. One who commits seven of the most unnatural acts against any human being. We recoil because we never see them happening. Only the remains of systematic torture.
There is precious little to know about John Doe and maybe this is the point David Fincher wants to establish. Despite his extensive notebooks, or his rationalization as to why these murders needed to occur there is little behind the soft-spoken man with the fey eyes -- and this makes him evil in an old-soul kind of way. All it takes is one look to know this is something that has been with him for years. All it needed was a progressive birth/abortion to see the light.
Fincher is a master of mood, of dread. His previous film was ALIEN 3 which aside from its stand-alone nature from the rest of the franchise and conscious cruelty had excellent lighting, the darkest of sets and a feeling of overwhelming trepidation. It was an express elevator ride to hell. SE7EN is, while more colorful, even bleaker. Fincher's New York is an inferno of rain and emptiness closer to the 60s and 70s. Despair dominates the movie all throughout: there is no escape. Had this film been made in the 40s it would have out-done the best of film-noirs. His quadrangle of leads could not be better: Gwyneth Paltrow as Tracy Mills has several small scenes that indicate all is not well with her marriage to Det. Mills (Brad Pitt) who due to his commitment to his job has become estranged to her. Kevin Spacey plays John Doe like a man you would open up to, which proves to be the Mills' fatal mistake. It's up to Somerset, played delicately by Morgan Freeman, to bring some closure into a film that otherwise would sink under the pressure coming from its depravity.