During the second short-lived homeschooling period that hit Vietnam in Spring 2021, I got the privilege to work on a "short to moderate", 350-word film review, for whose topic I chose "Se7en", a 1995 modern classic featuring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, as well as the star of our favorite villain, Kevin Spacey. While the only minus, my teacher graded, was the length, as much as it violates, I feel the desire to post this primarily to include some extra commentary. Also, the film was objective, and subjectively, good. But it is mainly the former. Whatever is said, this sets a strong foundation for what we later discuss.

So far, no film has set the bar higher for future detective films than the 1995 detective thriller “Seven”. Directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker and starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Kevin Spacey, Seven (stylized as SE7EN), after 26 years, has yet to find enough worthy opponents; if anything, its somber yet realistic, neo-noir aesthetic and the indisputably arresting approach to forensics, as a running gag, have only “rendered others detective films obsolete”. The film was a hit, grossing over $327 million worldwide, nominated for Best Editing, and thanks to which the performances of both protagonists went down in history and led them to countless Academy Awards.

Seven first introduces the viewers to a gloomy New York-like city, an unnamed smoggy dystopia where every nook and corner spells bleakness and desolation: from widespread corruption, institutionalized crimes, and calloused negligence, to constant air, noise pollution and a detestable atmosphere. The first scenes opened, and there came the soon-retiring detective lieutenant William Somerset (Freeman) meeting up with his unlikely partner, the short-fused detective David Mills (Pitt), who would be in their joint adventure to unmask the man behind the infamous, well-planned, and unique series of absurdities: first, an obese man forced to eat until his stomach literally burst, then a corrupted lawyer with his flesh put on scales, then five more, all of which related to Christianity’s capital vices. During his time with Mills, Somerset also partook of a private conversation with Mills’ wife Stacy when she revealed her concern over having a baby in such a downtrodden living condition, which stays pivotal to the film’s subversive conclusion.

The true absurdities and misadventures that befell our two detectives, and sold this film, only further amplified the overarching theme of inhumane conditions. Ceaseless, repetitive rain outside coupled with drafty interiors and utterly dark hallways; unmuted background noises, inaudible chatters, and deafening police sirens interfering with movie dialogues; crawling action sequences disrupted by apathetic bystanders: the attention to details combined with down-to-earth cinematic shooting angles that have aged like own wine, and a gripping soundtrack and a high-saturation style of color correction (resulting in flying colors), such deliberate artistic choices in worldbuilding created a sense of disorientation necessary for the audience’s total immersion, but overall atypical of movie-making. 

Yet, beneath the overwhelming chaos and thrillers that pervaded the film’s setting, our experience through the lens of the city’s struggling protectors ferried a message of necessary sympathy and the general will to fight for one’s fate. No man’s life hinges on others’, yet without human connections and selfless acts, as in sympathy, society crumbles as shown in this film. The former addresses the inevitability of committing sins, as human natures as they are, and thus sympathy should be practiced, that some misdeeds, especially as part of personalities, could be overlooked in favor of more promising aspects of a person. Respectively, the former is the rigidity of reality, as proven by other realist works, in that established ideas (stigmas, dogmas, religions among others) and living conditions are among aspects of society that could hardly transform. Yet in the face of impossibility, or even death, so long as living is an option, one must neither regret nor settle nor succumb, in that the movie proves how the smallest inspirations may cost everything to achieve. 

All this must be accredited to not only Fincher’s directing and Walker’s writing but also Freeman and Pitt’s phenomenal acting, and adding to that is Kevin Spacey’s last-moment delivery as the antagonist, the best-portrayed villain in cinema history, and a cherry on top to the already-renowned masterpiece. A year after the film’s release, all three actors won the 1996 MTV Movie Award.

For those intrigued by the film’s artistic directions or by its insight into human psychology or by its reference to ancient Christian works, never miss out on Se7en. While its theme might not suit the faint-hearted, Seven’s core message has resonated with a large audience and may do so for decades to come. And with upcoming detective movies in the horizon, most expectant of being Matt Reeves’s “Se7en”-inspired “The Batman”, only time will tell when the table will turn for this classic masterpiece.

End of part 1.