Se7en - A Thriller sub-genre opening analysis

 What I took from a display of 'Pure Cinema'

I watched and reviewed the 1995 crime-thriller, Se7en, starring Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman. The film follows a detective duo as they investigate a series of murders that follow accordingly to the seven deadly sins.

There are multiple captivating scenes throughout the film, using everything at its disposal such as lighting, mise-en-scene, etc.. the film has moments of 'pure cinema' throughout it. Making for incredibly climactic scenes and intense moments of dialogue. Whilst dialogue might clash with the idea of 'pure cinema', the scenes involving said dialogue would be just as effective with or without sound.

The film establishes our characters through the art of mise-en-scene and pure cinema, this is apparent in the very beginning when we are first introduced to the character of Detective Somerset, all of which is completely in four simple shots. 

The opening shot presents the audience with Detective Somerset starting his day in his kitchen apartment. The framing of this shot places Detective Somerset between a wall and a shelf, making him compressed and vulnerable. In addition to this, he has his back to the camera, placing more focus on his vulnerability. The noises of traffic tell us we are in a busy city.

The audience is presented with Detective Somerset delicately fastening his tie. With this we can establish that he is a professional and proper man, with high standards regarding the way he dresses. The over-the-shoulder/mirror shot reveals his face for the first time. Showing us that he is a middle-aged to elderly man, allowing the audience to piece together who he is.

This is the most informative shot, showing the audience the things that Detective Somerset carries around with him. The most important being the badge, showing us that he is a police officer. We also see a knife, pen and a gun, all of which are weapons in their own way. To contradict the weapons, we see a handkerchief, showing a gentle side to him as seen in the film.

The fourth and final shot tells the audience more about Detective Somerset, as he picks off a piece of fluff or dust from his jacket. This brings back the sense of his professionalism, showing the audience the previously seen high standards. This also tells us that he is a clean person, which is also reflected throughout the presentation of his apartment.

This film opening does everything it needs to do, it presents the themes, gives us a clear idea of who the character is and somewhat establishes a setting, it is enough for the audience to go by within this first minute. What this film opening does exceptionally well at is making the audience curious, they will ask to themselves questions about an older man as a police officer, and its because of the way this scene is shot and presented that those questions are asked.

Se7en is a remarkable film that has had so much thought and care put into it. For example, Detective Mills shoots John Doe six times, and earlier in the film we establish that he has only ever shot one bullet before, making a total of seven shots. This is even more significant as this film is a murder mystery, and the only on-screen death is when someone is shot by a police officer. I find the subtle and hidden details like this really interesting, and I think its things like this that make films rewatchable and enjoyable.

(Se7en, 1995)

Se7en is a film that I have been able to take away a lot from, I know that there are things I am going to implement into my film and into many of my future projects. For this current project, I took away the first three shots from this opening scene, as I believe they are effective at showing the audience what kind of person my character, Mr Fantasy is.

I replicated the first shot because it created the effect of someone watching Mr Fantasy, and that someone is the audience. Making the audience a part of the scene is more uncomfortable as we dont know who the Mr Fantasy is. The other effect created of Mr Fantasy being vulnerable with half of his back facing us makes the audience anticipate something to happen, making for a more intense scene as he is the single focus of the shot.

I chose to replicate the second shot in order to reflect Mr Fantasy’s level of professionalism as he delicately fastens his tie. Much like Detective Somerset, this tells us that Mr Fantasy is a very proper ‘gentleman’ like person with high standards of his own appearance. This also shows the audience more about what kind of life he lives, working a good job with high expectations, etc. 

I replicated the third shot to show the audience who the character is. Similarly to how Detective Somerset is set up with the badge, gun and knife, we establish that he is a police officer. For Mr Fantasy however, we see a notebook and pen, a knife and a folder with photographs on the front. This shows the audience that his work is related to photography and reporting, however the knife is the key to showing us that Mr Fantasy has a darker side to him that has not yet been revealed.