Se7en:A Cinema Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (29 December 2011)

Director David Fincher's dark, stylish thriller,Se7en ranks as one of the decade's most influential box-office successes and one of the best films he has ever made in his career.This thriller, which also contains horror and neo-noir elements, directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker,stars Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman together with Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey and Kevin Spacey.
Set in a hellish vision of a New York-like city, where it is always raining and the air crackles with impending death, the film concerns Det. William Somerset, a homicide specialist just one week from a well- deserved retirement. Every minute of his 32 years on the job is evident in Somerset's worn, exhausted face, and his soul aches with the pain that can only come from having seen and felt far too much. But Somerset's retirement must wait for one last case, for which he is teamed with young hotshot David Mills, the fiery detective set to replace him at the end of the week. Mills has talked his reluctant wife, Tracy, into moving to the big city so that he can tackle important cases, but his first and Somerset's last are more than either man has bargained for.Then,David Mills and William Somerset are deeply involved in a case involving a series of sadistic murders. Each murder corresponds to one of the seven deadly sins of Christianity: gluttony, envy, lust, pride, sloth, greed and wrath. A diabolical serial killer is staging grisly murders, choosing victims representing the seven deadly sins. First, an obese man is forced to eat until his stomach ruptures to represent gluttony, then a wealthy defense lawyer is made to cut off a pound of his own flesh as penance for greed. Somerset initially refuses to take the case, realizing that there will be five more murders, ghastly sermons about lust, sloth, pride, wrath, and envy presented by a madman to a sinful world. Somerset is correct, and something within him cannot let the case go, forcing the weary detective to team with Mills and see the case to its almost unspeakably horrible conclusion.
This is definitely a classic thriller that presents a brutal, relentlessly grimy shocker with taut performances, slick gore effects, and a haunting finale.David Fincher is at the top of his form with Seven, one of the darkest, creepiest, and most brilliant serial killer pictures in American film history.Although the story can be considered formulaic,Fincher contrives a stylish, intentionally ugly look that transcends the pulp narrative that would leave the viewer breathless and horrified.Although it is a violent film,the director handles the violence with sensitivity, announcing its obscenity in spoken analysis and briefly glimpsed post mortem shots, but never showing the violent acts themselves for which he should be credited for the superb direction of this film.As for the performances,both Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman give excellent portrayal of the cops trying to solve the murder and catching Kevin Spacey,whose portrayal of the diabolical is one for the books and clearly has shown his acting talent and capabilities.Definitely,Seven is the most disquieting,memorable and powerful thriller in years.Truly a masterpiece.