If you see only one thriller this year, make it Seven.
David (Alien3) Fincher has directed the most brooding,
ominous and disturbing film since Silence of the Lambs.
It centres on a pair of mismatched big-city cops - a jaded lieutenant
a week away from retiring (Morgan Freeman) and the hot-headed
and idealistic rookie cop (Brad Pitt) he has to train up as his
replacement - thrown into pursuit of a serial killer intent on
staging out the Seven Deadly Sins in a series of macabre tableaux.
Part of the terror induced by this film comes from its incidental
noise - whether it's pounding rain, ticking metronomes or chattering
typewriters, not only does it serve to set the sinister tone but
because it occasionally drowns out the dialogue, confusion palpably
adds to your fear. The gloomy chiaroscuro in which Seven
is filmed is its visual equivalent.
Freeman and Pitt both turn in commanding performances and Pitt's
on (and off) screen love is played by the beguiling Gwyneth Paltrow.
As Freeman's character predicts: 'There isn't going to be a happy
ending to this story.' You have been warned.
Reviewed by Monika Maurer
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