Throughout this essay I will be analysing what makes a thriller through the use of macro and micro terms. I will discuss mise on scene, cinematography, editing and sound.
This film was directed by David Fincher in 1995 and starred Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey. The film was financed by New Line Cinema, which is an independent institution. The fact that the film was financed by an independent institution means that the message behind the story is different to most movie meanings made by major institutions. The types of hidden messages that come from films financed by main stream institutions usually entail good beating evil and happily ever-afters, whereas in se7en it seems that evil wins and detective Mills will never get his happily ever-after. New Line Cinema have produced many more movies which have a variety of different messages, they have produced movies such as Nightmare on Elm Street (2012) Rush Hour 3 (2007) Mortal Kombat (2011) My Sister Keeper (2009) and Hall Pass (2011).
Se7en has a budget of $33,000,000 and grossed $100,125,000, this is a big revenue for an independent institution to turn over which connotes that this was a very successful film. The film was shot in various locations across America, from Pennsylvania in California to Downtown Los Angeles in Los Angeles. The film’s 2 main distribution companies were New Line Cinema and Cecchi Gori Pictures, but many other smaller institutions helped to distribute the film Se7en. Se7en won quite a few awards, from an Oscar Academy award in America to a BAFTA film award for Best Screen Play, this reinforces the fact that Se7en was a successful film. Although Se7en is a successful film, there are both positive and negative comments on it. ‘’Se7en is a dark, grisly, horrifying, and intelligent thriller, may be too disturbing for many people.’’ (Roger Ebert). ‘’Though not without significant flaws, Se7en isn’t transparent or moronic, and it doesn’t insult the average viewer’s intelligence.’’ (James Berardinelli.) ‘’Se7en is another crime story that leans heavily on atmosphere. But this nerve-jangling thriller… is no period piece.’’ (Peter Travers) ‘’Se7en, a grisly social allegory drawn in blood and spawned in despair, casts a lingering , malodorous spell.’’ (Rita Kempley). One of the factors that I believe leads to the success of the film is the constant suspense that is built throughout the entire film.
The target audience for this film are males from ages 18-60, I believe this as it has been given an age certificate of 18+ and there are characters that many people in this age group can relate to. Detective Mills is the masculine fatherly figure and is also quite modern in the way he works, he looks a photographs of the scene to uncover what’s going on, so modern younger males can relate to him. Whereas Detective Summerset is a more mature and old fashioned man who goes to the library and checks out books to work on the case, which means older men can relate to him equally. The fact that both men are so different makes them binary opposites and we can see the struggle between them trying to work together, this often leads to creating tension in a scene. This film appeals to various ethnicities as both of the protagonists are white and black, which draws in a bigger audience. A secondary audience for this film could be older women that can relate to Detective Mills’ wife as she is a female character that plays a key role, and without her we couldn’t have the plot. Finally, another audience it may appeal to are Christians, although they may be offended because Christians aren’t viewed in a positive light, Christians may still want to see it.
Se7en has an unconventional narrative structure, this relates to the film being financed by an independent institution, as it doesn’t follow conventional narrative structures such as Todorov’s four part narrative. This challenges Todorov’s narrative structure as we never really start off with an equilibrium. The film starts off in Detective Summersets house then immediately cuts to a crime scene that’s pouring with rain outside, this challenges Todorov’s narrative structure as it is an unusual equilibrium and we do not begin with a happy scenario ready to be disrupted, as it has already been disrupted. Another part of the narrative which challenges Todorov is the lack of a new equilibrium, the disruption is never repaired as Detective Mills is left a broken man who will never get back his happy life that John Doe envy’s. The narrative links to the thriller genre as most thrillers contain enigma codes.
There are many enigma codes in the film se7en that help to drive the narrative and keep the audience engrossed from start to finish. When the doctor examines the body of the gluttony victim, we learn that a gun was pressed on his head, presumably forcing him to eat, this makes the reader ask questions such as who did it and why? We are constantly presented with these enigma codes, with every victim that is found there’s a new question to ask. Towards the end even Detective Mills joins us in asking the question, ‘’What’s in the box?’’ Se7en follows a Linear narrative as we see the events as they unfold, this aids in engrossing the reader as it’s as if we are there un ravelling the mystery for ourselves. It is also evident that it is a linear narrative as it goes along in days and the audience is told when each day passes, so the story flows and everything happens consecutively.
The Mise en scene is conventional in Se7en as it follows the traditional Mise en scene of the thriller genre and helps to progress narrative. The first scene we see Detective Summerset with his badge, a trilby hat, and a trench-coat, this makes him seem mysterious and catches the audience, forcing the audience to wonder what the story is behind him. We also notice that Detective Summerset starts of on his own, nobody in the bed where the blazer is, which suggests he may be a lonely character. When we get to the first crime scene Detective Summerset asks ‘’Are the kids here?’’ This suggests that Detective Summerset is a caring and considerate man, this sheds some light on his background suggesting he’s a positive character. The metronome in Detective Summersets house could suggest his life ticking away or his time on the force, it’s left open for the audience to consider and the thought of time passing can actually be quite dark.
Se7en follows traditional conventions such as red herrings, cheap surprises and theatre of the mind. As Detective Mills and Detective Summerset approach the apartment with the SWAT team we are expecting to find the killers house, or even the killer. As we witness the characters making their way through the apartment, its completely silent, none of the characters are talking and everything is dark, this builds suspense as the audiences mind is left wondering what’s going on, then we find the sloth victim. This is an example of a red herring as we weren’t expecting it, which is a big convention of thrillers. After close examination of the body it starts moving rapidly and the characters get shocked, this is an example of a cheap surprise as it is made to make the audience jump. The final convention of the three is the Theatre of the Mind, this occurs when we don’t know what’s in the box, our imagination is left to run wild as we guess what’s inside, this builds tension and suspense and could also scare the viewer for the fear of the unknown. Suspense in the final scene with the box is built as it keeps switching between Detective Summerset with the box and Detective Mills with John Doe. This is part of omniscient narration as we know about the box and that John Doe is slyly winding up Detective Mills, whilst Detective Mills doesn’t know about the box and just thinks John Doe is being crazy.
In Conclusion, Se7en is a psychological thriller, this is evident as it follows many conventions of the thriller genre such as enigma codes, cheap surprises, red herrings and Theatre of the Mind. It is also represented as psychological because the audience has to follow the investigation and work out all these enigma codes.
No comments:
Post a Comment