An Eulogy of 'Seven': The modern Shakespearean tragedy

Rating: 9/10 (21 February 2005)

When audiences went to see the latest production of a tragedy by William Shakespeare at the Globe Theatre, there was a universal reaction by the spectators to what they were seeing on the stage. It was one of sadness, anger, sympathy and relief. The sadness was normally due to the innocent victim (who was usually a beautiful woman) being murdered in an unjustified fashion, such as Desdemona in 'Othello'; the anger would have been directed towards the villain in the play whose dastardly deeds had resulted in the deaths of heroes and heroines - here we have Iago, arguably the most evil character in the history of literature ('Othello' again); sympathy was not for the devil, but for the poor people who had overcome the denouement but had to deal with its consequences (Horatio perhaps in 'Hamlet', or maybe Father Laurence in 'Romeo and Juliet'); and lastly relief was felt because the audience had survived the play's violence and could thank their lucky stars that they did not have to live in a world so cruel. Now stay with me here, because there is, in fact, a point to all of this. I believe that Fincher's 'Seven' is the modern Shakespearean tragedy, the modern 'Titus Andronicus', if you will. The feeling that washes over you when the credits roll in Seven (which are damn good credits I might add, start and finish) is on a par with a great Shakespearean tragedy, and it is for this reason why I think that films such as Seven should be considered as more serious in a literary sense. Not only that, but the film even introduces the audience to legendary texts such as Dante's 'Inferno' and Geoffrey Chaucer's 'The Canterbury Tales' - so I would be inclined to try and influence more English professors to watch this film.
Now here's the part where I say 'Yeah Seven, woo, it's awesome! Yeah!'. I'm just going to go out and say it: this film has everything that you could possibly be looking for when watching a movie. The script, for one, is great. Original, funny in places, exciting, sexy...the list is endless really. Well played Andrew Kevin Walker; the boy done good. Next we have the acting which, to put in a Romantic sense, is sublime: people may argue that Morgan Freeman can only play one character, but I think it's similar to the situation with Hugh Grant (his one persona may be a bumbling, lovable fool, but he is damn good at it) and it's the same for Morgan. Here he is at his fatherly, worldly-wise detective best, and the comic double act of Freeman and Pitt is essential to the film. Pitt's performance is probably just about overshadowed by his portrayal of Tyler Durden in Fincher's other chef d'oeuvre 'Fight Club', but in no way is this a demeaning statement to Pitt. He is, or was, one of my favourite 'younger' actors (that's the Ed Norton, Johnny Depp ring, as opposed to the Pacino/De Niro/Hoffman circle of expertise) until 2005 came about - Ocean's 12, to put it mildly, disappointed me greatly. However, let's think positively: with Seven and Fight Club and Snatch, I'm sure Brad has something in store for fans like me. Gwyneth Paltrow is probably the unsung hero, or heroine, of the film and ironically she's the one who gets it worst (or does she? Refer back to tragedy point about sympathy). The words 'never better' spring to mind when thinking about Paltrow's 'Tracey'. There's someone else I'm not mentioning here, despite the 'contains spoiler' tick, but let's just say he/she/it provides, in my eyes, the greatest twist OF ALL TIME. Last but not least, David Fincher is where it's at. His undoubtedly cool style is the reason why this film is so...cool, for want of a better word. Thanks to him, Morgan Freeman is cool, Gwyneth Paltrow is cool, the man who works in that horrible place where the 'Pride' crime takes place is cool, even the man/woman/thing with no name is cool (to a certain extent).
To conclude, there are certain films that when the credits appear at the end, you think to yourself 'That has to be the best movie I've ever seen'. 'Reservoir Dogs' and 'L.A. Confidential' are prime examples. In my opinion, 'Seven' epitomises this type of film.