Strong, Dark and Violent

Rating: 9/10 (18 January 2003)

I had somehow missed seeing 'Se7en' when it went out in the theaters. Now, four good films after ('The Game' and 'Fight Club' among them), this 1995 movie of director David Ficher still stands as an original and strong creation.
This is not an easy film - much more violent and graphic than the usual detective drama. It's a multiple murder story, in an American city of eternal rain, ugliness and violence. The two main characters, played by Pitt and Freeman are fighting a war lost in advance, not that much with crime but with the insanity that attacks normal life. They seem to be motivated more by the need of sanity than by the need to enforce law and morals.
It's great to watch scenes like the one where the detectives and what seems a regiment of policemen are going out to make a search - it tells a lot about the police system dominating our lives. This is the work of a great director, and with such a director at helm, there is hope that even 'Mission Impossible 3' which he is doing now might be a good film.

Pitt and Freeman are great. Spacey acts just for a few scenes, but that's enough to add his picture to the big actors playing serial killers gallery. Paltrow's role, unfortunately, is too conventional to allow her doing an act comparable to her partners.
The final scene is so different from the usual Hollywood ending, that it may shock a lot of viewers. It takes guts to put such an ending to a 'big studios' movie.
9/10 on my personal scale. A great movie, from one of the best directors around.