The Social Network: The Film Of Our Generation

Rating: 10/10 (29 September 2010)

It's hard to decide where to begin talking about a film like this when there are so many aspects to touch upon. Let's go with the subject material first. Partially based on the 2009 novel 'The Accidental Billionaires', after a series of distinctly Facebook-esquire trailers, The Social Network gained the reputation of being "the Facebook movie", or "the movie about Facebook," and to those who know a little bit more about it, it's most likely "the movie about the creation of/legal battle over Facebook."
Well technically, that is in fact the premise of the film.... But that isn't what it's really "about"
Aaron Sorkin's witty screenplay is immersive, to say the very least. Was it down-to-the-letter accurate about the facts and events? Probably not even slightly. But I don't think I've ever seen a film which so skillfully takes the un-truth and presents it as reality....
From the get-go, we're given an insight into the personality of Mark Zuckerberg, a character within this cinematic world created by David Fincher. We're soon introduced to his best friend Eduardo Saverin, played by Andrew Garfield, and a host of other characters played by a set of brilliant young actors. Characters who either love one another, hate one another, and even envy one another.
All young. All connected. All people.
And this is what The Social Network is really about.
Our generation. You. Me.
The screenplay follows the events leading up to the creation of facebook, alongside the two law-suits filed against Zuckerberg a few years later. This rare then-and-now narrative simultaneously tells multiple perspectives of what took place, just as the entire chronology itself is more of the writer's perception. Hey, if you want to see things exactly as they happened, go watch a documentary. This is narrative cinema.... and of the highest possible quality.
The film itself is presented in a rare fashion, its cinematography reflecting its ever-changing yet ever-constant tone, and focuses not only on the various people involved in the events it follows, but the intricacies of the relationships between them. These people are presented in such a realistic and complete way that I wish that I could actually meet these versions of them. Written with the dual purpose of narrating a story while following a number of characters, it flows quickly and energetically, but at the same time, it involves you in each and every single moment, no matter how pleasant or devastating. Every performance was pitch-perfect, and immensely impressive, especially considering the complexities of the characters. Their actions are at times commendable, and at times despicable. They can be loved and hated. They are exactly as they should be.... Real.
Filled with irony, humor, moral ambiguity, and unrelenting intensity, The Social Network perfectly mirrors the media age, an age in which people are at the same time both removed and connected, and is an important film for our generation.
In fact, it's not just a film. It's a statement. How many of us would have really anticipated that a movie about Facebook would be the film of the year?
Yes, you heard me. The film of the year.