Seven (1995) Full Length Reaction

Oh thanks for those tidbits! I love to hear little fun facts about the movie afterwards. I'm super glad I didn't know anything about this movie going in, it really shocked me! Still need to see Full Metal Jacket someday 👍

Jen M

Rewind the clock back to 1995 for a moment, this movie was being talked about everywhere, people just couldn't get over that twist ending which is funny considering how popular the movie has been that there are those like yourself that didn't know about the ending. A few other tidbits.... You spoke about the rain in the film, it rains everyday except the last day. We never really find out what city the film takes place in. It was meant to be ambiguous. The police captain mentions that "somebody had a problem with the fatboy and decided to torture him..." This is a reference to the film Full Metal Jacket in which the actor playing the police captain (R. Lee Ermey) played a drill instructor that abuses an overweight Marine in training that leads to deadly results. Yes that was the same actor who played Sam the bus driver in Speed. When Somerset is looking at the notebooks on the shelf while Mills is looking at the pictures he flips to the very page about the story that he will soon read about John Doe throwing up on the man at the subway. But for some reason this story is featured in a notebook all about LUST.

Yes that makes sense, I think both of those things are probably right on! 👍

Jen M

I can speculate on the tonal shift but it’d be just that speculation. The entire movie the murders and John Doe was hidden in the dark. Only when he turned himself in did the rain stop until the end of the movie. Maybe it’s John Doe or his evil coming to light? Maybe it’s commentary on evil or the corruption of good intentions with respect to Mills can happen in the bright of day? Or maybe it’s just coincidental and I’m looking too far into it 😝 In any case, I always may attention to tonal shifts in movies and that was always striking to me.

MattN

I hadn't considered that Somerset's character parallels John Doe's character, that's interesting 👍 It did really feel fitting that the good guys didn't win at the end. What do you make of the tonal shift at the end to the sunny, dry setting? Just to be that much more juxtaposition against the very grim ending?

Jen M

Great reaction Jen! This definitely isn't movie I would have ever suggest you watch although I am glad you watched it. Aside from just helping place the pop culture meme "WHAT'S IN THE BOXXXX?!", it is, in my opinion David Flincher's best work. It was clear you were very nervous in the beginning because you were talking a *lot*, but once you got into it you hit on a lot of things I definitely agree with. The sound was a masterclass in design. the production was brilliant, and the movie was designed to not give the audience a chance to breathe... from beginning to end. I like this movie not for the plot as much as the film making. The plot(aside from the ending) is pretty boiler plate for the genre. A serial killer using some religious\moral justification for killing in order to "teach the world" something. But the direction and film making really took the plot to the next level. First, was the world building to help illustrate the nihilism throughout the film. The city was dark, dirty, loud, and always raining(in stark contrast to the last portion of the film which was bright & sunny, quiet, and in the desert(that is really dry). Not only is crime rampant but people just take advantage of each other, illustrated by the story of mugger who stabbed both of the victim's eyes after getting the wallet and the realtor that tricked Mills and his wife to take the apartment without revealing how close it was to the trainline. The city is clearly in disrepair, both as a setting and perceived immorality of the citizenry. What's brilliant though is the city was unnamed and they never said when it was. It could be any time or any place. Without naming a time or place it gives the immorality and disrepair a feeling like it would never end. Making everything truly nihilistic. Second, was the set design. From the amazingly creepy wunderkammer motif of the opening scene to only be paralleled by the continuing the wundekammer motif in John Doe's apartment, to each murder scene which was individually artistic in its own way. There was an artistry of each scene that was both extremely creepy but also makes me feel like John Doe is truly in control. Next, were the characters. Mills and Somerset fell, superficially into the old odd couple partner trope. But, when viewed in contrast to the rest of the city Somerset's character is brilliantly done. He actually parallels John Doe's character in that he is tired of the immorality in the city, he is methodical and exacting, and he is doing everything in his power to bring control to the world around him(for Somerset, the metronome). Then, how John Doe never directly killed anyone. He led them to their death, but he never pulled the trigger, so to speak, even at the end. You actually touched on this a bit in your reaction... the lack of actual on screen violence. Sure, we saw the aftermath, but that was often shadowed or hidden by the set, camera, or lightening. We only saw flashes of it and even then we never saw the actual murders. Taking from the playbook of Jaws or Alien, some times it is far more scary to never see the "monster" and instead let our imagination run wild. Finally, the end is great after we put aside the shock of what's in the box. First, there's the contrast of the environment compared to the city but then the ending isn't a happy one. The good guys *don't* win. Throughout the movie, John Doe is leading all of the victims to what he thinks is the natural end for their sins. But, the end... Mills didn't sin and shouldn't have been punished. If anything, John Doe committed the sin of wrath, and only arbitrarily assigned envy to himself. But, why the "good guys" don't win is because Mills was corrupted by the immorality at the end. Which is both heartbreaking but fitting for the movie. I know I rambled a lot, but I really did enjoy your reaction! Thank you very much!!

MattN

I feel like sloth this morning

Ed Dunn