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Film Theory Scott Hancock Wednesday 3-5:50 Spring 03 Eisenstein/Bazin SEVEN directed by: David Fincher David Fincher's Seven, a psychological thriller in which a serial killer has been killing people based on which of the seven deadly sins they have committed. This dark and damp tale with it’s realistic atmosphere and inventive title sequence would have pleased, and also to an extent, infuriated the likes of classic film critic André Bazin and montage master Serge Eisenstein. Considering the film was made in 1995, years after both Bazin and Eisenstein theorized over film language, the film as a whole may not have been what each would have considered a perfect film, but there are elements of Seven which each would have appreciated. As the film opens we are introduced to Detective Somerset (Moorage Freeman) standing at a sink in a static wide shot of a kitchen. There appears to be a door in the foreground, frame-left. This shot gives the viewer the sense that he/she are in the room with this guy kind of peering around the corner. Everything in the foreground is out of focus. Bazin would have disliked the foreground being out of focus as he prefers more depth of field, but would have been pleased with the width of the shot and the mise en scene. The shot does not hold too long but the amount of information you get from just that one shot is exactly what Bazin is looking for. Bazin placed a great deal of emphasis on the shot and the duration of the shot. The film was shot by Cinematographer Darius Khondji. In a scene which follows the initial meeting of Somerset and David Mills (Brad Pitt) we are outside having just come out of a crime scene. Somerset and Mills are in a low angle medium two-shot. This shot follows the two men down the street as we are introduced to their relationship and we watch how it begins. Bazin would have liked this scene first for the duration, over two minutes, and second for the rawness and realism of the scene itself. Filmed on location the scene takes on a very harsh reality which is achieved through the mise en scene, which includes torn awnings overhead, extras passing by, storefronts, and rain. There is then the question however, would he had disliked this shot because the shot was low angle, not a very realistic representation of reality, and because of the moving camera, draws too much attention to the filmmaking process?
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