David Fincher’s 1995 classic Seven tells of two detectives, Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt, who are after a serial killer who bases his killings by man’s seven deadly sins.
At the near end of the movie, Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt) and Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) are re-entering the police station trying to figure out where to look next for the killer John Doe. All of a sudden behind them comes John Doe the killer (portrayed by Kevin Spacey) into the police station, turning himself in. He later talks to the authorities and his lawyer that he can take Detective Mills and Somerset to two more bodies and will plead guilty in court or if they don’t take cooperate with him he will plead insanity. The detectives agree to the request so that they can end this long and defiant case of murders.
The three, Doe, Mills and Somerset travel out to the desert too find the two bodies with an S.W.A.T helicopter above them tracking all their movements. In the car, Doe explains his reasons for his killings and claims they were wicked people and wanted to show the world its own corruption. They get to the desert and wait for Doe to show them the whereabouts of the other two bodies. But a delivery van pulls up claiming the driver was paid $500 if he was to deliver a package out to the desert. Somerset goes over to open the package to see what’s inside. He opens the box to discover the decapitated head of Mills’ wife. He yells over to Mills to ignore whatever Doe tells him as he rushes over to stop Mills from shooting Doe. Doe starts telling Mills how he admires his life and wanted to be part of it. He confesses that killed his wife in the process also telling Mills that he had an unborn child of which he didn’t know. Due to all the rage built within Mills which he tries to hold back but soon gives in, he shoots Doe, unleashing every bullet in his gun upon him. Somerset stands their helpless knowing that Mills gave in to Doe’s plan and that Mills and himself lost and Doe won. Mills becomes the sin of wrath by killing Doe. Somerset finds out before Mill’s shoot him that this was Doe’s plan all along of being killed by Mills as a part of his seven deadly sins act.
At time 120 minutes and 14 seconds, there is the shot of detective Mills unleashing the bullets upon Doe’s body with Somerset standing with his body looking the other way showing defeat. The sky is a shade of dark green, this very eerie to me, because it shows the evil that has consumed the sky. The camera is at a low angle showing the power of Detective Mills and Somerset over Doe’s power. They’re supposed to be the justice in the movie; usually it’s the police vs. criminals, good vs. evil. Mills thinks by killing Doe he has over powered him and has won. Actually though, in a way Mills is the weakest one of the whole shot. The only thing the electrical tower can be represented as Doe himself and how powerful he actually is compared to the detectives. The electrical tower has two handles on each side of it. One side has wires crossing through Mills but on the other side no wires are seen or going through Somerset. This represents Mills still a puppet being part of the act, controlled by Doe and not being able to do the right thing or be free. He has given in and been consumed by Doe’s wrath. Doe was the puppet master, the whole show was under his control to show the world its own reflection it the mirror. Mill was always the weak minded one and played into Doe’s hands. But Somerset broke through the strings and relied on his own senses to not be controlled by Doe. He was the second strongest one of the shot. He tried to help Mills to make the right choice but Mills was too blinded by vengeance to do that. By Somerset being turned away it shows his disappointment within Mills and how he admits their defeat.
What else can the three figures (including the electrical tower) represent?
Mr. Cowlin here. Are there any points Brandon makes that you find particularly engaging? How about anything you disagree with?
This scene is chock full of symbolism because of many reasons. For one, Brandon pointed out the green sky , which is a good point. (It shows Mills' corruption as he kills Doe.) The electrical tower, in my opinion, depicts Doe in a way because he's the odd man out. (Mills and Somerset are already in the shot) Finally, The tower also represents Doe's power. It shows his relationship with the other people he killed and how the cycle has finally ended itself with Mills killing Doe in cold blood.
ReplyDeletePeople say that when the sky is red in the morning, blood has been shed- well I think in this case the greens sky shows that evil and the deviousness behind the whole plan. Because there are no electrical cords running through Somerset, I think it shows that he is the one that doesn't really want to get in between these two guys (doesn't want to get involved and is innocent). Whereas Mills has all those cords running through him because he is tangled in this trap. Im guessing that Doe is either on the ground or farther back. But even though Mills seems to be towering over Doe with his gun, ready to kill, the electrical tower behind him (i agree) does represent Doe in a sense. Doe still has him locked in his game. Doe is still the mastermind with all his devil tricks running about (and through Mills). I find that the tower is very engaging because even though its in a desert and you may expect it, you really start thinking about why its there. To fill up space or perhaps something more. It is symbolic.
ReplyDeleteWow, this shot is magnificent and represents so many different things. The one element that I found to be the most interesting was the idea that the wires running through Brad Pitt represented the idea that Doe was really pulling the strings and was controlling the detectives all along. I believe that this observation is spot on and highlights one of the most important aspects of the movie, being that Doe was the real person in power, and the detectives could never overthrow him and his power. I think the way Freeman has his backed turned and is sulking and walking away indicates that they have finally given up. Freeman is indicating that they need to forget about this situation instead of letting our emotions take over like what happened with Pitt.
ReplyDeleteI find the puppet idea quite mindblowing. Since you said this I can totally see the subtext of this shot. I feel as though with the lack of wires going through Somerset can kind of show that he is breaking away from Doe's power by not shooting him.
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