David Fincher’s directorial career began with music videos, in fact he is behind some controversial videos like Madonna’s Express Yourself and iconic ventures like Paula Abdul’s Straight Up.
The director was then tied to the Alien 3 project, however, when the film was actually released he began to distance himself from the project, claiming he had very little directorial input. His first “real” feature was the mesmerising Se7en, a film which kickstarted the career of one of Hollywood’s greatest directors. Haunting, intricate and visually stunning, there really is very few directors working to the same level as Fincher. Here are five of his essential pieces.
1. Se7en
Arguably one of the greatest and most interesting thrillers ever made, Se7en follows Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman’s detective characters, Mills and Somerset, who are on the trail of a pretty clever serial killer. Besides the brilliant performances, particularly from a frightening Kevin Spacey, the script was second to none, the attention to detail flawless and ended with perhaps the greatest reveal in cinema. Se7en is probably one of the finest films ever made.
2. Fight Club
Adapted from the Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club is one of cinema’s modern masterpieces. Ed Norton’s office worker (known only as the Narrator) sets up an underground fight club with one of the real odd balls of cinema, Brad Pitt’s Tyler Durden. Helena Bonham Carter as the crazy self-help meeting addicted Marla is really the icing on the cake. “You are not a beautiful and unique snowflake” Fight Club tells us, but damn straight, this film certainly is unique. This really is essential viewing.
3. Zodiac
On its release, Zodiac was not given its due credit for just how fine a film it actually was; Fincher’s take on the serial killer who to this day remains unknown, is absolutely stunning. Again, a cast that is second to none, Zodiac begins with its hands around your throat and just keeps tightening its grip. Gyllenhaal is excellent but Downey Jr. is really the star of the production. With no real resolution in reality, Zodiac is perhaps Fincher’s most haunting work.
4. The Social Network
If you have ever seen anything as dialogue heavy as Social Network that still manages to be as intriguing and involving, then we have definitely missed something. Telling the story of Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg was never going to be an easy task, especially considering the controversy surrounding the founding of the website, but with that wonderful Aaron Sorkin script and the leading performance from Jesse Eisenberg, Fincher was most certainly on to his best film.
5. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
With one film based on the Stieg Larrson book already out there, it was going to be hard for Fincher to follow the project. In terms of profit, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was considered a failure at the box office, even though it did take in 232 million worldwide but you need to go back and watch this again. Fincher’s version of the story about a girl who aids a journalist in the search for a missing woman is much slicker than the original. Not only that, Fincher turns the tension up to its limit. And THAT scene? Still as brutal as the first time around.
Honorary mention
House of Cards
The first two episodes of the Netflix original series, House of Cards, was directed by Fincher and although this is also a remake, this is another project that is aided by the excellent acting of Mr. Spacey, a brilliant script and those tiny touches which are completely Fincher-esque.
