David Fincher's "Seven" had a different idea for the legendary title background! ?

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2018.03.12Fumio Koda

Turning point for film director David Fincher

``Seven'' pioneered a new genre of psychological suspense, not only because of its title background, but also because of its strong shadowy visuals that dominate the entire film, its worldview, and its hopeless story. At the box office, it was number one in the US for four consecutive weeks, making it the pinnacle of its genre alongside `` The Silence of the Lambs ''. Needless to say, it also made the name of young director David Fincher famous.

Fincher was just 33 years old at the time. ``Seven'' is the director's second film after `` Alien³ ''. Due to his style and early debut as a director, Fincher has a strong image of being part of the film elite, but not everything was smooth sailing.

Fincher joined ILM as a teenager after The Graduate from high school and began working on the film scene, then went independent at the age of 24 and established Production Production Propaganda Film. There, he produced numerous music videos and commercials, working with top-notch artists such as Madonna, Aerosmith, and the Rolling Stones, and quickly became the darling of the MTV world.

“Madonna Vogue” MV

The 27-year-old Fincher, who has the potential to make a flying The Birds fly, was approached by the director of Alien³. Of course, the production cost was 50 million dollars at the time, making it a gigantic project. At the time, it was the highest production cost ever for a director's first film.

However, Alien³, the sequel to the hugely popular series directed by Ridley Scott and James Cameron, was not an easy task. . Various difficulties befall Fincher, including a series of script revisions and troubles with Sigourney Weaver. Being 27 years old was also a problem. Most of the staff around me were older than me, so I was unable to give clear instructions regarding my vision. In short, the veterans around him were not really listening to what he had to say.

Even seniors faced difficulties! “Blade Runner” is the lonely struggle of Ridley Scott, a man from England.

As a result, ``Alien³'' was a box office flop and received harsh reviews from fans. Fincher, who was criticized by the public for his position as a director, proclaimed, ``I'd rather die from colon cancer than make another movie!'' and ended up walking away from filmmaking.

Fincher, who managed to return to directing at the age of 33, cites the good thing about filming ``Seven'' as being able to work with people his own age. I was finally able to thoroughly engrave my vision on film. That's obvious when you watch ``Seven''. This is David Fincher! Because it's completely filled with pictures.

When you think about it, in a sense, ``Seven'' may have been a turning point for David Fincher as a film director.

However, Fincher is a talented writer, but even now, even when he seems to have realized his vision, he says, ``Filmmaking is a series of compromises.'' .

Reference materials: "Seven" Blu-ray audio commentary, unreleased video collection

Text: Fumio Koda

Editorial staff and writer for CINEMORE. My favorite movies are ``The Goonies'' and ``Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.'' My recent favorites are 4K digitally remastered classics by Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu.

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