The Killer by David Fincher seems to sum up the director’s cinematic obsessions. Michael Fassbender plays Christian, a murderer who gradually begins to ask questions about violence. Also, the way death and his bloody lifestyle has degraded his consciousness to that of a predator with the sole goal of killing. But the understanding comes at a time when the character must also face the consequences of his actions. All, in the middle of a long trip around the world.
The above makes the film a strange combination of several of the director’s best-known stories. With attention to the psychological detail of Zodiac, makes Christian a dark figure full of nuances. On the other hand, the feature film emulates seven by describing the various crimes and also exploring what is hidden behind each crime. So the film is a curious milestone. It not only returns David Fincher to his favorite settings. It also demonstrates the filmmaker’s ability to mature in his way of narrating the darkest aspects of human behavior.
To celebrate, we leave you five David Fincher films that show the best of his cinematic universe. From a classic of suspense to a story that changed the perception of villains — or those who appear to be villains — in the cinema. The selection includes both the director’s most curious decisions in his work and his future legacy. One that The murderer make it clear.
seven
It is called the crime thriller par excellence of contemporary cinema and there are good reasons to consider it that way.. David Fincher managed to create a story that combines the best of the genre not to go with an exploration of the guilt of our time. To which we should add, an intriguing conception about the purpose of evil, on this occasion embodied by a serial killer.
Everything, from the perspective of two characters destined for tragedy. The plot centers on two detectives, played by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. Both investigate a series of brutal crimes inspired by the seven deadly sins. But instead of using religious or moral symbology to support his story, David Fincher explores the darkest and most dangerous places in the criminal’s psyche.
As the murders become increasingly sadistic and grotesque, the plot focuses on an obsessive quest to capture the perpetrator. But, the film is not limited to police actions. At the same time, it explores themes such as morality, justice and human nature. The main characters are confronted by the brutality and darkness of the crimes they investigate, testing their own beliefs and convictions. With an end to the story, seven It almost immediately became an object of worship.
mank
One of David Fincher’s most personal projects, it also analyzes the dark side of Hollywood. The plot focuses on life of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his work in creating the plot of the iconic film Citizen Kane from 1941.
The plot imagined by Jack Fincher — the filmmaker’s father — follows Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman), as he struggles under the pressure of famous director Orson Welles (Tom Burke). But he also faces his alcoholism, the corruption in the Hollywood industry and the weight of his professional mistakes. That, while he strives to write the plot that would become a pillar of modern cinema.
With its non-linear narrative and use of black and white, the film is an experiment in discourse, which also analyzes the story of its protagonist based on pain. But David Fincher does not forget his obsessions, which is why a good part of the plot is based on the excesses and dangerous violence of fear. A combination that makes the film a painful chronicle that shows an unknown Hollywood.
Zodiac
David Fincher has an obvious predilection for reflecting on moral evil. Hence Zodiac, is probably the feature film that comes closest to his vision of evil in contemporary times. Based on true events, it focuses on the story of the titular serial killer, who terrorized the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1960s and 1970s.
But what could be just a persecution of a criminal becomes, in the hands of the director, a sinister perspective on journalistic ethics and collective fear. The film examines how the search for the killer also reveals the way our culture consumes violence and cruelty.
The plot follows the investigation of the case as the killer sends cryptic letters and messages to the media and the police. But in an interesting twist, David Fincher delves into how the killer’s need to be recognized becomes a search for the ethical. The hardest point of the plot.
Loss
The adaptation of the book of the same name by Gillian Flynn — who also wrote the script — is disturbing and tricky. But at the same time, an original look at gender roles and cruelty, from what seems like the story of an obvious crime.
The plot follows Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike), a seemingly happy couple. But, their idyllic façade of marital coexistence falls apart, when Amy disappears on their fifth wedding anniversary.
As the police investigation progresses and the media becomes involved, Nick’s image as a loving husband begins to crumble. So suspicions arise that he could be involved in Amy’s disappearance. Much more, when it was discovered, he had been unfaithful before whatever happened to her.
But when the secret of what happened to Amy is revealed, the film takes an unexpected turn and gradually becomes a dark reflection on disenchantment. Also, fury, revenge and fear. All in a twist that surprises not only because of the irony of what it raises, but also her version of the jemotional power games between men and women.
Aliens 3
David Fincher’s foray into science fiction makes the classic movie franchise xenomorph in an exploitation of greed. The plot of Aliens 3 It takes place immediately after the events of the previous film, directed by James Cameron. On this occasion, Lieutenant Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is the only survivor to reach Fiorina 161a penal colony inhabited by criminals.
Ripley He discovers that the creature he fought is also alive and is now stalking the inmates. Considered darker and more somber in tone than any other, it is also a curious game of tension between the characters. In a film without heroes, the director manages to tell a story, in which sacrifice, redemption are just as important as the titular monster.