#3
Zodiac
(2007)
Is there any way to classify which of Fincher’s films is the coldest? If so, Zodiac would be number one on my list with a bullet. This is a clinical approach to the investigation into the Zodiac killer with such cool precision it’s a masterclass in restraint and it pays off in some of the greatest ways.
Featuring wonderful performances from Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards and others, this is a film that simply pulls you into the narrative without you realizing what’s happening until a scene such as the one below plays or the scene where Gyllenhaal, as Robert Graysmith, heads down into a darkened basement. Fincher turns a murder investigation into an outright horror film and in terms of sheer filmmaking, Zodiac is probably his most accomplished feature to date.
#2
Fight Club
(1999)
If Zodiac is Fincher’s most accomplished film and my #1 Fincher film is my absolute favorite, I’d have to say Fight Club is his most entertaining, though darkly entertaining at that (as if there is any other way to describe a Fincher film).
I assume my appreciation for Fight Club is just as much about the film itself — the direction, production, screenplay, performances, cinematography, editing, etc. — as it is about the fact I saw it when I was 22 years old. I was right in the sweet spot for a film such as this, catching all the satire while at the same time reveling in the monstrous and twisted nature of its protagonists.
#1
Se7en
(1995)
After the debacle that was Alien 3, Fincher went on to direct music videos for Michael Jackson, Sting and Aerosmith before receiving a script from Andrew Kevin Walker (Brainscan), a guy Fincher refers to as being “kind of in my world, and thinking about films the same way I was, and revered the same kinds of movie that I revered”. The screenplay was for a film called Se7en and it’s a film I saw at the age of 18 and love to this very day for everything from the opening credit sequence, Kevin Spacey as John Doe, for proving Brad Pitt was more than just a pretty face and delivering a film that mirrored its dark and seedy storyline without looking as if it was even trying.
So many of today’s films go for this “dark and gritty” approach, but they don’t have the material or the MPAA rating to go along with it. That said, for as disturbing as Se7en can be at times, when it comes to the “head in the box” moment the audience is given nothing and yet it’s one of the most alarming scenes in the film, that is other than the moment the “Sloth” victim (Michael Reid MacKay) jerks awake in his bed and begins writhing around.
Fincher recently revealed he originally wanted Ned Beatty for the role of John Doe, a role Beatty would tell him, “I can’t do this. This is the most evil thing I’ve ever read.” Good thing, I can’t imagine anyone other than Spacey in that role and I don’t want to.
In my opinion, Se7en is about as perfect a film as a filmmaker can make and I love every minute of it.
So there you have it, now let’s have your rankings in the comments below and if you need an even further refresher on the works of David Fincher, here’s a 17-minute tribute video that should suffice.
