I don’t know how this happened, but this was my first time watching Seven. This was a great movie and I’m disappointed that it took me so long to finally see it.
It’s interesting to have watched this movie right after reading The Sculptor because there were so many similarities between the serial killers. The Sculptor thinks he is so much smarter than everyone else, and he has a message for the world that will wake everyone from their ignorance. John Doe comes across much the same. He is smart, he has been chosen by a higher power to do his “work,” and his “work” has a message that is intended to impact society. He even makes the comment that you can’t just tap society on the shoulder to get its attention; you have to hit it with a sledgehammer. As characters, they come across as very similar. Team these two up and it would be a pretty deadly (but creative) pair.
The murders, though, share both similarities and differences. The Sculptor actually made his victims into statues. The actual identity of the victim didn’t really matter. John Doe killed his victims in a way related to their own sin and left very specific clues. The selection of his victims was important. However, both of them were amazingly patient and detailed. Not to mention, specific in terms of the messages they were trying to convey.
A few interesting points about the movie:
The conversation between Mills and Somerset about John Doe being crazy. Mills flat out calls the murderer crazy. However, Somerset says that calling him crazy underestimates the killer. It was interesting to see the conversation taking place on screen because it is the same issue we’ve discussed in this class.
To a point, Somerset seems a little crazy himself because there are times when he shows some of the same characteristics we see in John Doe. Somerset is a loner and has an incredible amount of patience. He spends hours researching and reading. He pushes forward to think and figure things out when Mills is ready to give up. Somerset just comes across as having this calculated patience that others around him lack. In addition, there was that scene where he gets up in the middle of the night and is throwing his knife at the dartboard. It was a little creepy. All of those traits work together, though, because he is clearly the man to figure out John Doe.
One of my favorite parts of this movie was the dead guy they find in the bed, with all of the air fresheners hanging from the ceiling ("sloth"). I would not have ever guessed that he was going to be alive. When he gasped and moved around…oh, it was great. Not only was that an awesome scene, but having that victim survive like that for a year says so much about the murderer. I loved it. It was a great detail.
That's a great point you made about Somerset. Maybe the only kind of person up to the task of catching someone like John Doe is someone who's a little "crazy" too. He's just as smart, just as methodical, and understands him in a way Mills doesn't.
ReplyDeleteI think this film puts forward the point that you can't be exposed to so much of humanity's evils without becoming tainted by it. You may be a good person, but somehow, as if it rubs off on you, we become "damaged." Not necessarily broken, but fractured.
ReplyDeleteGood post!
The Russians have a saying. If you want to catch a fox, you have to become a fox. I do think that hunters, whether in the forest or on the city streets, must have an understanding and a respect for their prey, if they want to be great hunters. While I feel that Mills was more like Doe in his attitude of "I am a man who can make a difference", he also despises Doe and refuses to acknowledge his prowess as a killer. On the other hand, throughout the movie, Somerset steadfastly maintains a respectful attitude toward their quarry; he hunts hard, but without the passion of Mills.
ReplyDeleteThose small details about the murders did indeed say a ton about the murderer, and I think it was detrimental that we saw these things to understand exactly what the detectives were working against. Somerset was equally methodical, and I hadn't seen his similarities to John Doe until you brought them up. Nice!
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