Seven (1995)

 

Seven is an American Thriller film directed by David Fincher. It stars Brad Pitt, as Detective David Mills, Morgan Freeman, as Detective William Somerset and Kevin Spacey, as John Doe. There are also supporting roles from Gwyneth Paltrow and R. Lee Ermy.

Mills and Somerset are police detectives working in an un-named, crime-filled city, where they become deeply involved in a case involving several sadistic and horrible murders. The murders all correspond with the Seven Deadly Sins: Gluttony, Envy, Lust, Pride, Sloth, Greed and Wrath.

Seven was produced on a budget of around $30 million dollars and, to date, its gross total revenue is $327 million dollars. Making it one of the highest grossed films in 1995. It received many positive reviews from critics when it was released. It also comes in, in the top 30 best films on IMDBs prestigious Top 250 Film List.

Pre-title Sequence Analysis
During the pre-title sequence of Seven we learn several things about both Detective Mills and Detective Somerset.

Detective Somerset 

Morgan Freeman as Detective Somerset

Just from the pre-title sequence we can see that Somerset lives alone, in a small apartment in the middle of the city. We can assume this because he sleeps in a small, single bed, and because the non-diegetic sounds of the cars and sirens from the street outside show this.
  We also learn that Somerset has some obsessive-compulsive tendencies, for example he picks a piece of lint off of his jacket, his bed is made perfectly, (which also suggests a military background) and everything he needs for the day (badge, flick knife etc.) is all lined up on his dresser in a specific order.
  The chess board that Somerset has in his living room shows us that he is obviously quite an intelligent man, very patient, a good strategist and also quite old fashioned. All qualities that can lead us to believe that he is a very good detective.


Detective Mills


Brad Pitt as Detective Mills



Detective Mills is quite dissimilar to Somerset as is shown by his creased shirt, loosely knotted tie and leather trench coat. While Somerset dresses like a detective from the Film-Noir period, Mills takes a more modern styling. This could also reflect on their respective policing styles.

  At one point in the sequence Detective Mills, while conversing with Somerset, gets distracted by a woman wearing a red coat, show that he is easily distracted, and also, just after this incident, a man bumps into Mills, who stops walking, turns around looking at the man like he was ready to shout something. This shows Mills to have a short temper.

  Mills is also quite short in the way that he talks to Somerset, as he makes an assumption as to why Somerset is retiring and also interupts him a few times, his lack of respect is instantly disliked by Somerset, which shows a friction between the two.

Opening Credits

Camera Angles
An extreme close up of the mysterious book shows us various words, some of which are crossed out. For example "Transexual," this could be highlighting this mysterious persons prejudices. We also see a picture of a young boy, first with the eyes scribbled out, then the whole body. This could be to suggest that the person who scribbled out the eyes maybe felt guilty about something they had done to this person, as 'the eyes are the window to the soul.' Or it could be to suggest that this young boy is that person, and he is ashamed of what he has become, and is now unrecognisable.
  We also get a close up bandaged fingers, and see someone peeling there fingerprints off. This is done to make us question why the person is doing it. Obviously it makes us think that this person is trying to hide something.

Mise-En-Scene
As the opening credits roll, the font looks almost as if it has been written by a child, but it is only the names, not the jobs (director etc.) This could be meant to link with the book, perhaps the person who is writing in the book is childlike?
  A lot of the names flicker as they appear on the screen, which shows an definite lack of stability. This could also be a link to the person who is writing in the book, suggesting that their mental state is unstable.
  The killers name does not appear in the credits at all, meaning that as the film goes on we are introduced to all of the characters showing us all of the different actors names we saw except the killer. This means that from the opening credits you can't figure out who the killer was, unless you were to assume it to be one of the main characters.
  From the dingy lighting used in the credits we can assume that there are not many windows in the room, or if there are, they are covered over. There are lots of photo negatives hanging around which suggests that maybe it is a dark room specially used to develop them. Also if there are windows and they are covered over it shows that this person likes to keep themselves private, which again makes the audience question why?

Sound
The thud of the metronome as the credits start suggest the 'calm before the storm.' It tells us that something is going to happen. It shows us that 'the time is upon us.'
  There is no real flow to the music used, it is all sort of scratched together and rather distorted, which again could be to suggest the mindset of the person we are seeing. The music however becomes clear at the end of the credits where we hear "You bring me closer to God" which suggests there is a religious overtone. Perhaps this person is motivated by religion. Hence the scribbling out of the word "transexual."

Editing
The only notable editing in the credits are all the different jump cuts, from book to hands, to pictures and back again. These cuts are often erratic and very fast which again suggests a lack of stability. Also there is a lot of distortion, in the writing and also in some of the scenes, which is also a sign of lack of stability.

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