David Fincher: what attracts "Fight Club", "Seven" and other films of the director

David Fincher is an acknowledged master of intellectual thrillers in modern cinema. At the same time, the director does not release films too often. He chooses only those projects that are interesting to him, and brings them to the ideal.

Curiously, Fincher started out as a commercial writer and music video maker. He has created great videos for the songs Who Is It by Michael Jackson, Express Yourself and Madonna's Vogue, Freedom! '90 George Michael and many others.

It was only in the early 1990s that the director was invited to direct his first full-length film - the third part of the Alien franchise. Already during the work on the debut, David Fincher showed himself as a stubborn and principled author who requires that everything on the set correspond to his vision. Due to conflicts with producers, he almost gave up filmmaking at the very start.

But a few years later, Fincher returned with a new job, Seven, followed by The Game and Fight Club. By the end of the 90s, the director had already acquired the status of a master.

Why you should watch David Fincher's films

There are at least six reasons for this.

1. I want to think about his paintings

The director combines in his films a deep study of the characters of the heroes and an intricate plot. That is why he is so good at crime thrillers about maniacs and other criminals. Moreover, Fincher is not interested in the murders and cruelty themselves, but in the villain's way of thinking, in which the main characters usually try to figure it out.

The film "Seven" does not turn into a pure detective story: the maniac himself appears in the middle of the picture, revealing his terrible motives. In Gone Girl, the same story is told from different perspectives, allowing the viewer to understand the logic behind each character. And in "Zodiac" all the action is focused on the journalists who are trying to figure out the mysterious villain.

The apotheosis of the author's attempts to immerse himself in the mindset of a maniac can be considered the series "Mind Hunter", in which Fincher acted as an executive producer and director of several episodes. A significant part of the action here is FBI agents walking around prisons and talking to criminals.

2. His characters are unusual, but understandable

Almost all of David Fincher's paintings are about traumatized people who are experiencing or have suffered in the past some kind of shock and are trying to cope with it. Suffice it to recall the nameless protagonist of "Fight Club", mired in a routine and found a way out in fights.

In "Panic Room" a mother and daughter are hiding in their house from criminals, in "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" a significant part of the life of one of the heroines is recovery from rape. And even in The Game, the character played by Michael Douglas seems to be a successful and wealthy person, but suffers from loneliness.

Fincher spoke about the fate of this unusual, but very touching hero in The Mysterious Story of Benjamin Button. In this film Brad Pitt played a man living in the opposite direction: he was born a deep old man and is getting younger over time. The director took the story of Francis Scott Fitzgerald as a basis, but greatly expanded its plot. And it is the screen version that allows you to look at our life from an unusual angle.

3. The director perfectly works the picture and soundtrack

To help the viewer immerse themselves in the plot even better, Fincher makes the visual itself with a set of clues. The author often focuses on small details, shooting them in close-up. For example, the splash screen of the movie "Seven" already shows many important symbols.

In addition, the director often plays with the light. In his paintings, warm yellow colors reflect kindness and humanity. Moreover, the most violent scenes take place not only in the dark, but also in cold white lighting.

The very setting of the shot in Fincher's works becomes no less an important part of the plot and atmosphere than the acting of the actors. By placing the hero in the big shot and leaving a lot of empty space around the character, the director shows loneliness and loss. And the position of the actors in the frame can reflect the dominant position of one and the weakness of the other.

And even the music in Fincher's paintings helps the viewer to immerse themselves in what is happening on the screen. For example, "Zodiac" uses songs from the 1960s – 70s, the time of the film. And to the picture “Munk»Composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross recorded their original soundtrack using equipment from the 40s to fully match the spirit of the era.

4. He experiments with filming formats

To realize his ideas in terms of movie production, Fincher often turns to unusual techniques and new technologies. So, in "Panic Room" the director was one of the first to use an imperceptible transition from "live" shooting to computer effects: the camera seems to fly through the keyhole and the handle of the coffee pot and move along floors.

In "Zodiac", based on a real investigation into the activities of a maniac, Fincher worked on some scenes exactly in the places where the events took place in reality. But since over the years, almost all the surroundings have changed, most of the locations had to be edited on a computer.

But even when the director does not need to show too complex scenery, he often makes the frame as unusual as possible. In Fincher's paintings, the camera often flies around the characters or watches them from above. Moreover, sometimes it is difficult to notice the transition from hand-held shooting to static shots, or even a computer model altogether.

5. Fincher makes great books on the screen

Many of David Fincher's paintings are based on literary sources. Moreover, the director often takes very popular works, but seriously revises them. So from a short story by Francis Scott Fitzgerald "The Mysterious Story of Benjamin Button" the film grew by two and a half hours.

In Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club, the director changed the ending. But the picture turned out to be successful, and even the writer himself believes that it is better than the original.

Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl did not seem to be adaptable at all. In it, most of the plot twists are based on "unreliable storytellers" - the main characters see the world differently. However, the adaptation of this particular book became Fincher's highest-grossing film.

Of course, don't forget about The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, based on Stieg Larsson's bestseller. Moreover, the film based on the book had already been released in Sweden two years before Fincher. But he managed to make the story more versatile and aesthetic.

6. He talks about real people

In addition to fictional stories, David Fincher periodically brings to the screens biographies interesting personalities. Sometimes this happens in the framework of all the same detective thrillers, as, for example, in "Zodiac" or "Mindhunter". On other occasions, he films dramas about outstanding creators.

So, in collaboration with screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, the director filmed "The Social Network" and told from the screens about the formation of Mark Zuckerberg - the creator of Facebook. Moreover, in this picture you can also see the theme of loneliness and loss of the protagonist. The history of the emergence of the social network, important for the whole world, the elaborate drama and dialogues made the tape one of the most important films of the beginning of the 21st century.

And in 2020, Fincher released on Netflix "Monka" - a biography of screenwriter Herman Mankevich. For many years, the director tried to transfer the plot of this film, invented by his father, to the screens.

What films should you start acquaintance with the work of David Fincher with?

1. Seven

Se7en

• Thriller, drama, detective.
• USA, 1995.
• Duration: 127 minutes.
• IMDb: 8.6.

Experienced detective William Somerset is about to retire. But before that, he must, together with his young partner David Mills, catch another criminal. A mysterious maniac kills people, accusing them of biblical mortal sins.

David Fincher agreed to direct this film thanks to a trivial accident. Andrew Kevin Walker wrote the screenplay with a dark ending inspired by his work in New york. When he sold the idea for New Line Cinema, the studio decided to change the ending to a more positive one. But Fincher was mistakenly sent the first draft of the plot. The director took up filming and flatly refused to add a happy ending to the picture. But precisely because of the realistic ending, the film "Seven" has become one of the reference thrillers.

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2. Fight club

Fight club

• USA, Germany, 1999.
• Drama, thriller, crime.
• Duration: 139 minutes.
• IMDb: 8.8.

The main character spends his life at an unloved job and suffers from insomnia. One day on the plane, he meets the soap merchant Tyler Durden. He convinces the hero that the main and only goal of life is self-destruction. They create "Fight Club" - a secret place where anyone can come just to fight and blow off steam. But it soon turns out that Tyler's plans are much more dangerous.

In this film, David Fincher took on a difficult task: to convey in the frame the subjective feelings of the narrator, played by Edward Norton. To do this, the director and the team had to go to many tricks. For example, with the appearance of Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), the pale and gloomy picture becomes brighter and richer. At the same time, Norton went on a diet during the filming so that his character looked more and more thin and haggard. And Pitt, on the contrary, began to pump muscles to make it seem as if one hero is getting stronger at the expense of the other.

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3. Zodiac

Zodiac

• USA, 2007.
• Thriller, drama, detective.
• Duration: 158 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.7

In the United States of the late 1960s - early 70s, a maniac nicknamed the Zodiac is in charge. After each murder, the villain leaves messages to journalists that supposedly will help to get on his trail. Several employees of a large newspaper decide to help the police find out the identity of the culprit. But that turns out to be almost elusive.

While working on a film about the search for a real maniac, David Fincher actually took up the investigation himself. He tried to reconstruct the events from documents and information received from detectives. The producers of the film even hired a private detectiveto track down one of the surviving victims of the Zodiac. After the release of the picture, the police reopened the murderer's case, which was closed in 2004.

The audience can only be confused by the ending. Since the real Zodiac was not caught, the picture does not give an exact answer to the question of the identity of the killer. And in order not to leave false hints, the role of the criminal was played by three actors of different sizes at once.

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4. Social network

The social network

• USA, 2010.
• Drama, biography.
• Duration: 120 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.7.

For fun, Harvard University student Mark Zuckerberg creates a site where you can select girls based on their physical attractiveness. Soon, his experiment turns into the social network Facebook. But colleagues are suing Zuckerbergaccusing them of stealing their ideas.

The picture cannot be considered fully consistent with the facts. It is based on the book “Grudging Billionaires: How Facebook Was Created, A Story About Sex, Money, genius and betrayal "Ben Mezrich, in which he combined real events with fictional dialogues. But during the filming of the film adaptation, the authors consulted with lawyers representing the interests of Zuckerberg and the rest of the characters.

In the work on this picture, the maximalism of David Fincher was clearly manifested. The opening dialogue alone took about a hundred takes.

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5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

• USA, Sweden, Norway, 2011.
• Detective, thriller, drama.
• Duration: 158 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.8.

Businessman Henrik Vanger hires bankrupt journalist Mikael Blomkvist to investigate the murder. But the crime itself happened 40 years ago. But Blomkvist, along with the genius hacker Lisbeth Salander, who has a photographic memory, gets down to business and comes to surprising conclusions.

Taking on the film adaptation of the dark detective Stig Larsson, the director immediately decided that he would not remove scenes of violence from the plot in order to lower the film's age limit. But it was precisely this approach that allowed him to fully convey the plot, only slightly reducing it to fit the timing of the film. As a result, the picture not only paid off at the box office, but also received five Oscar nominations.

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6. Disappeared

Gone Girl

• USA, 2014.
• Thriller, drama, detective.
• Duration: 149 minutes.
• IMDb: 8.1.

The married life of Nick and Amy Dunn seems happy, but on the fifth wedding anniversary, the wife disappears without a trace. Initially, all evidence points to a kidnapping. But gradually the police began to suspect her husband of murder. The truth will be even more frightening.

David Fincher became interested in the adaptation of the book of the same name by Gillian Flynn when he read a draft of the script, which was written by the author herself. After that, the director consulted Flynn a lot, helping her turn the thoughts of the characters, which occupy a significant part of the story, into the visual series of the picture. As a result, some scenes from the original had to be cut out and others redone many times. But the film retained the spirit of the novel and became one of the most successful thrillers of the last decade.

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What other films by David Fincher can you watch

1. Alien-3

Alien³

• Thriller, fantasy, horror.
• USA, UK, 1992.
• Duration: 115 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.5.

After the events second In the film, Lieutenant Ripley's spaceship crashes on a prison planet containing only men. Together with the guest, a dangerous xenomorph gets there, which begins to hunt prisoners. To destroy it, everyone will have to join forces.

Even before the arrival of David Fincher, problems began with the third part of the famous franchise. The script was repeatedly rewritten, completely changing the whole plot. The aspiring director managed to turn the fantastic horror into a chamber and very tense story, in which part of the action is even shown from the perspective of the monster himself.

Over time, "Alien-3" became the same cult film as the first two parts. But Fincher himself does not like to think about this picture too much, because during the filming he had to constantly argue with the producers and defend his vision of the story. Since then, the director has been demanding that he be given full control over the films.

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2. The game

The game

• USA, 1997.
• Thriller, drama, detective.
• Duration: 129 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.7.

Nicholas Van Orton is a successful but completely lonely businessman. One day, on the advice of his brother, he gets involved in an unusual game that should help him feel the taste for life again. The hero needs to look for clues and move towards some goal. But with each stage it becomes clearer and clearer that the venture could cost him his life.

David Fincher had planned to start filming this movie after Alien 3, but switched to Seven and returned to work only after the release of this famous thriller. Against his background, The Game may seem more mainstream, but only at first glance. The director tried to break the rules puzzle plots: the action deceives not only the main character, but also the viewer himself. And most importantly, the picture touches on the topic of self-seeking and rebirth.

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3. Room of fear

Panic room

• USA, 2002.
• Drama, thriller, crime.
• Duration: 107 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.8.

Meg Altman moves in with her daughter Sarah. Their new big house, which used to belong to a millionaire, has an "emergency room". If someone is locked inside, it is impossible to get into it from the outside. It is there that the heroines have to hide when criminals, led by the grandson of the previous owner, break into the house.

In Fincher's early works, the action most often took place in many different locations. But when the director started work on "The Room of Fear," he decided to show just a night in the same house. Together with the decoration built in the pavilion, the creators of the picture made a full-fledged computer model of the dwelling of the main characters. This allowed the director to combine real footage with graphics and fully control all camera movements.

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4. The mysterious story of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

• USA, 2008.
• Drama, fantasy.
• Duration: 166 minutes.
• IMDb: 7.8.

On the last day of the First World War, a very unusual child, Benjamin Button, is born, who looks like a very old man. The father takes him to a nursing home, where the boy is looked after by a kind nurse. It soon turns out that Benjamin lives as if the opposite: every day he is getting younger.

Of course, in this picture most of all attention is drawn to the incredible image of Brad Pitt, who played the main role. According toBrad Pitt Spent 5 Hours a Day in the Makeup Chair for This Film / Showbiz Cheat Sheet the actor himself, he was made up for 5 hours a day in order to achieve greater believability. But all the same, the appearance had to be finalized on the computer. This made "The Mysterious Story of Benjamin Button" a real milestone in the development of computer graphics.

The film received 13 Oscar nominations (a record 14 were only three films in history), but lost in the main categories “Slumdog millionaireDanny Boyle. Although the awards for makeup, visual effects and production designer are still deservedly gone to Fincher's creation.

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5. Munk

Mank

• USA, 2020.
• Drama, biography.
• Duration: 131 minutes.
• IMDb: 6.9.

A talented but disgraced screenwriter Herman Mankevich, after a car accident, goes to a remote ranch. There he took up work on the debut film of the young director Orson Welles "Citizen Kane». The writer decides to add his personal memories to the main plot.

Fincher had dreamed of making this film for many years, but the studios did not allow him to release a black and white picture with a slow plot. The situation was saved by Netflix: the director collaborated a lot with the platform, and he was given complete freedom of action. Then Fincher took on the script about the golden age of Hollywood, which his father wrote. The visuals of "Monka" copy the footage of "Citizen Kane" himself, allowing you to immerse yourself in the atmosphere even better.

What TV shows by David Fincher you should pay attention to

1. House of cards

House of Cards

• USA, 2013–2018.
• Drama, thriller.
• Duration: 6 seasons.
• IMDb: 8.7.

Purposeful and sometimes brutal Congressman Frank Underwood plans to reach the very heights of power. To begin with, he is aiming for the post of secretary of state, helping a colleague to become president. But he ends up betraying Frank and denying him the position. Then the hero decides to take revenge.

This project became the first own series of the Netflix platform. In addition, it was House of Cards that was released in a new format - the whole season in one day. It was produced by David Fincher. He also shot the first two episodes, setting the style for the whole project.

Now many people forget that "House of Cards" is based on the British TV series of the same name. But this is the rare case when remake turned out to be better than the original. The impressions of some viewers were spoiled only by the final season: they had to change the main character, since Kevin Spacey was fired after being accused of sexual harassment.

2. Mind hunter

Mindhunter

• USA, 2017–2019.
• Thriller, detective, drama.
• Duration: 2 seasons.
• IMDb: 8.6.

In the late 1970s, FBI Special Agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench develop a new line of investigation. They interview imprisoned serial killers and try to understand their way of thinking. This should help them figure out the maniacs they haven't caught yet.

Another collaboration between David Fincher and the streaming service Netflix is ​​based on the book of the same name by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker. Those, in turn, retell the real events that gave rise to new methods of investigation by the FBI. Due to the complex structure and unhurried action, the ratings of "Mindhunter" were not very high, and the series was canceled after the second season. But among fans of detective stories and thrillers, the project instantly became a cult.

3. Love, death and robots

Love, Death & Robots

• USA, 2019-2021.
• Horror, fantasy, comedy, drama.
• Duration: 2 seasons.
• IMDb: 8.5.

Each episode of the animation anthology tells its own story. Sometimes they are dedicated to the technologies of the future, sometimes - to mystical creatures. Moreover, the series not only has its own atmosphere, but also a unique video sequence.

Back in the 2000s, David Fincher and Tim Miller tried to launch a new animated anthology inspired by the classic Heavy Metal comics. But then not a single studio agreed to a risky project. Collaboration with Netflix helped the directors realize the idea. Moreover, they turned the show into a real forge of personnel, bringing together animators from all over the world. Therefore, the series differ in plot and presentation.

What works of David Fincher do you like? Share in the comments.