Se7en

If I were to define this movie in terms of books, I would call it as a cross between a Stephan King novel and a Sydney Sheldon fast paced thriller. Yeah, its a thriller with gore that can make Stephan King happy (He is reported to have once said "I have the heart of a small boy. It is in a glass jar on my desk.")

In case you are wondering what the name of the movie means, it represents the 7 sins and/or the 7 murders that is supposed (yeah, supposed) to take place. The killer is a psychopath who acts as self appointed judge who murders people for committing the 7 sins and set it as an example to the world.( 7 sins ) There are a couple of points that the plot loses out on. The first one being that the suspense is killed off just as it is born. No sooner has the first murder been committed, than does Morgan Freeman make a statement to the like of "This is not a lone case. There is going to be some more murders." Also, I would have liked to wonder about the connection between the series of murders. The quality of any good mystery is to let the audience wonder about the mystery and keep him/her on the tenterhooks for some time, so that the revelation has a strong impact. The problem with se7en is that the revelation happens all too soon. The connection of the the murders to the 7 sins happens a bit too soon for my liking.

However, the movie has been shot in such a way that there is very good sync between all the components. It comes out as one whole package. The music is dreary, the lighting and color scheme (there is a predominance of grayish tones with a lot of shadows), the outdoors (in almost all the outdoor scenes there is rain pouring down with the constant melancholic sound of falling rain) and even the camera angles. All of this help to push the audience into a state of induced tension. And not to mention the brilliant acting of Morgan Freeman who plays the part of a sombre, thoroughbred detective. Even Brad Pitt, rises above his usual mediocre self to create a fresh character of a talented rookie detective.

The gore is very tastefully done( I know the description is oxymoronic). There is this particular scene where a man is made to die of sloth. The scene is very well done and pretty effective in scaring the shit out of people. The killer is a godly man( in his own way) and is a perfectionist( like the Jackal in "The day of the Jackal"). The only difference is Kevin Spacey kills for his beliefs.

Let me end this by pointing at what I think is another anomaly. There are 7 sins, but there are only 6 deaths in the movie. However, the ending is pretty good. If only Brad Pitt would also have been killed for being guilty of wrath. Alright, Alright. Let me not spoil it further for you. Go ahead and watch it and I am sure you will enjoy 2 hours of good cinema.

Se7en trailer