David Fincher Essay, Research Paper

DAVID FINCHER

Although he hasn t directed many films, David Fincher has quickly been recognized as one

of Hollywood s most influential directors. People became familiar with his name from his movie

Alien 3. Because the movie didn t do that well, Fincher was determined to change. His next

project was for New Line Cinema. He chose the 1995 thriller, Se7en. He also had a series of

highly successful films, including the 1997 thriller, The Game, and his recent 1999 film, Fight

Club, a powerful yet disturbing look at our society.

David Fincher was born in Denver, Colorado in 1962. In 1980 David saw George Lucas’

The Empire Strikes Back. This experience gave him a new outlook and helped drive him to his

own style of filmmaking. David has been making movies since he was eight years old. In order to

get more experience in the field, he started working at an animation company loading cameras.

Fincher started working in the film industry at 18 when he applied for a job at Lucas Industrial

Light and Magic. At this young age, he was already working on films such as Return Of the

Jedi and Indiana Jones. He worked here for four years.

But David Fincher got his big break directing Alien 3. This was his opportunity as a

filmmaker to learn and grow. He learned more about the mechanics and politics of filmmaking.

He directed TV commercials, his first of which was for The American Cancer Society. He has

also directed many music videos for musicians such as Aerosmith, Madonna and Paula Abdul, six

of which have made the MTV’s Top 100 list. He was finally introduced to Andrew Kevin

Walker’s screenplay for a grisly detective story titled Se7en.

Se7en, is a psychological thriller. Detectives David Mills and Somerset are teamed up to

find the serial killer who murders his victims according to the seven deadly sins. The killer is very

religious and his murders are carefully planned. There are not many movies that allow you to

understand the killer. We learn a lot about the killer by that long drive on the road.

The Game, is a movie that attempts to give the main character a profound life experience.

Nicolas Van Orton’s younger brother Conrad gives him a certificate for a birthday present: The

Game, is controlled by an organization called Consumer Recreation Services. Nicolas never

understood the rules of the game, but he soon finds himself trapped and he is unable to control his

life. Soon everything starts to fall apart. People are out to kill him, and he doesn t know who is

part of the game or not. He learns how to control the game and thinks he can beat it.

Fight Club is an observation of our society. Fincher went to extremes while making this

movie. He created a society of total anarchy. This was his most controversial movie hitting the

box office. The main character is a very confused man who tries to fit in the world that seems

acceptable but it doesn t work for him. He creates a world with his new friend Tyler Durden. It

is different from everything he has ever believed in, and Tyler helps him enjoy life. He creates a

club where everyone can join in on the happiness. They take all their anger out and fight others.

It gives them a great sense of satisfaction and control. In the end, he realizes that people should

enjoy their lives the way they are. They shouldn t try to invade other peoples lives and

experiences. (When he went to the support meetings) He thought that the one person who

would never understand him, Marla Singer, was actually the one that he could trust. The special

effects and cinematography are brilliant throughout this movie.

In all three movies, most of the characters have flawed personalities. There is also

one main threat throughout the movie. In Se7en, the serial killer was the main threat. In Fight

Club, the main characters imagination was his threat. In The Game, Nicholas Van Orton thought

that the entire world was acting as a threat to him. He didn t know what was real or not. What

was part of the game or not. All these movies were very dark in appearance. The lighting is dark.

The movies all look depressing. Fincher sets the mood for the movie, this way. It also rains in

some of the scenes. Some may say it contradicts the characters appearance. He wanted to make

the movie this way, in order to manipulate the character. Another common pattern are the woman

characters. There is only one main woman in all three movies and they play very important roles.

In Se7en, Tracy rarely appears in the movie but at the end, her murder is the main importance to

the plot. In The Game. Christine helps Nicolas believe that he is in an alternate universe and that

the game is out to destroy him. In Fight Club, Marla is the only person who the narrator can

trust.

In all three movies the events are controlled by invisible force. The characters do not

know who is doing what and do not know how to stop it. In Fight Club, Tyler actually turned out

to be invisible. He controlled the main character. In Se7en, police and detectives tried finding the

killer. Because they didn t know who he was, they were controlled by an invisible force. The

killer left notes and clues to help lead to a suspect. In The Game, Nicolas didn t know what was

controlling his world. He did not understand the game and how it was taking over everything.

Fincher likes to surprise and shock his audience. He doesn t like movies that always have happy

endings. He has a rebellious attitude when it comes to him making his films. All these movies

have very surprising endings.

The camera angles are very similar in all the movies. Fincher tends to focus on close-ups

of objects that can tell so much about the character. One reason David Fincher is such an

influential filmmaker is his visual style. He captures the actions of the actors and make them flow

throughout the movie. Fincher also thinks that movies do not have to show the way people want

to see themselves. He is able to expose the flaws of characters.

Fincher proves he has matured in his style. This gives Fincher fans more than one reason

to rejoice. He will in fact be directing the movie The Panic Room next, scheduled to come out this

October. Hopefully Fincher will have continued luck in the future and will direct many more

films. I really enjoyed his work and look forward to viewing more.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. ABC News Internet Ventures. Fight Club. Mr. Show Biz, Movie Preview. 1999. 2 April,

2001 fightclub.html>.

2. Biography for David Fincher. The Internet Movie Database Ltd. 1990-2001. 1 April, 2001

.

3. Dead End Entertainment. David Fincher.Net. David Fincher. 2001. 1 April, 2001

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