David Andrew Leo Fincher also known as Fincher, Finch and Davey was fascinated with film making from the age of 8, after watching the documentary Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Well in avid Fincher’s own words, “I was eight years old and I saw a documentary on the making of Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It had never occurred to me that movies didn’t take place in real time. I knew that they were fake, I knew that the people were acting, but it had never occurred to me that it could take, good God, four months to make a movie!
It showed the entire company with all these rental horses and moving trailers to shoot a scene on top of a train. They would hire somebody who looked like Robert Redford to jump onto the train. It never occurred to me that there were hours between each of these shots. The actual circus of it was invisible, as it should be, but in seeing that I became obsessed with the idea of "How?" It was the ultimate magic trick.
The notion that 24 still photographs are shown in such quick succession that movement is imparted from it — wow! And I thought that there would never be anything that would be as interesting as that to do with the rest of my life.” David Fincher has also stated that there would be nothing as interesting as film making, to do with the rest of his life.
He made music videos and commercials that made Alien franchise producers to hire him because of his impressive work to replace the former director. He regretted doing the film 'Alien 3’ and publicly disowned it. He also said that “no one hated it more than me; no one hates it more than me.”After being disappointed he retreated back to directing music videos and commercials and made some best crime thrillers including the recent Mindhunter.
Here are 5 of Fincher's best "Mindhunter-like" films
1. Se7en (Seven)
Cast- Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow
This film came from the mind of a record store employee, wow! A serial killer begins murdering people according to the seven deadly sins. Two detectives, one new to the city and the other about to retire, are tasked with apprehending the criminal. The violence shown on-screen is nothing compared to that of off-screen. Brad Pitt worked himself to the bone for this film.
Kevin Spacey got no credits because he wanted to surprise the audience. Since now he is an actual molester we are pretty happy he wasn’t credited seven. This film is Fincher’s quintessential serial killer thriller. David Fincher was inspired or for a lack of better word, the main inspiration for the plot of Seven was served by the Zodiac killer who still to this date is never caught. A decade later David Fincher would end up directing Zodiac, which is just a fascinating coincidence we don’t want to admit.
All of Seven’s three leads deliver more than perfect performances. Brad Pitt was even injured during a crucial chase sequence which he had to perform in Seven. Morgan Freeman was certainly at top of his game back in the 90s, coming off hot from the Shawshank Redemption as he received the top billing on Seven and not Brad Pitt. Gwyneth Paltrow, despite being the love interest of the main lead delivers an Outstanding emotional performance in key sequence which has crucial response towards the ending. And speaking of Endings, The chilling ending of Seven blows people’s heads off. Brad Pitt’s "What’s in the box?" went infamous. If you wanna know what’s in the box then we recommend you to watch this film.
2. Zodiac
Cast- Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.
This film is based on a book by Robert Graysmith, which is a true story. The plot is that, Robert Graysmith played by Jake Gyllenhaal, a cartoonist by profession, finds himself obsessively thinking about the Zodiac killer. He uses his puzzle-solving abilities to get closer to revealing the identity of the killer. In one of the Zodiac killer’s last letters he asked who would play him in the movie about his life and guess what? He got his answer.
The movie painfully brutal as it makes us relive certain murders which takes place in Fincher style detailing. The cast Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo were suggested by Jennifer Aniston. This cast learned to endure Fincher’s legendary multiple takes. This movie broke new ground in digital moviemaking. So much so that Robert Downey Jr. wasn’t happy with David Fincher using Digital film cameras and in protest would litter the set with Pee filled Mason Jars. To have this film in David Fincher’s filmography really feels destined as David Fincher and his movies have so much of Serial Killings and Fincher has made a whole career out of that.
One more thing which we would like to bring to notice that the way David Fincher chooses to tell the story in Zodiac, we are basically put in Robert Graysmith’s shoes and are forced to witness and unravel the events with the character. When Jake Gyllenhaal is frustrated we are frustrated. The way David Fincher does it, is probably some great filmmaking. We highly recommend you to watch this film.
3. Fight Club
Cast- Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Helena Bohem Carter
How can we even begin to talk about Fight Club, because “you don’t talk about Fight Club”, anyway Fight Club is a film based on a novel by Chuck Palahniuk by the same name. The plot is that a white collared insomniac forms an underground fight club with Tyler a careless soap salesman but then this project spirals down into something awful and sinister. Fight Club is a movie which is highly detailed and just shows how much control David Fincher has on his films.
A film like Fight Club which is hailed as a great film was received with mediocre reviews by the critics and audiences, but as the years have gone by Fight Club has become a cult classic and has a massive fandom. Fight Club was marketed as an action film, with only the scenes from Fight Club making the cut in the initial trailers of the film, hence audiences were not happy as they thought they were seeing a different movie.
Fight Club’s opportune moment came through internet as Internet helped Fight Club reach the audience that can appreciate the movie. The film has a great plot and amazing visuals. The idea for Fight Club started by an actual fight, which just does not how great of a story it manages to tell. David Fincher even though adapting a novel, injects the film with his approach and themes. The crime thriller aspects of Fight club would not have popped if it were to be told by any other director apart from David Fincher.
At the time of Fight Club’s release, it was said to be one of the most controversial films of that year, mainly because of the depiction of violence. The major criticisms came from the films portrayal of violence as fun. Brad Pitt and Edward Norton took soap making and boxing classes to prepare for this film. Brad Pitt’s salary was seven times higher than his co-stars also there is a Starbucks coffee cup in every scene of this film. Another Fun fact regarding Fight Club is that whenever a character finishes a cigarette, they throw it in fashion and not put it out in an ashtray.
4. The Social Network
Cast- Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake
The Social Network is based on Mark Zuckerberg and his creation Facebook. The film presents Mark Zuckerberg played Jesse Eisenberg, a genius who creates a social networking site with the help of his friend Eduardo Saverin played by Andrew Garfield. But then a string of lies tears their friendship apart even as Facebook connects people.
A Bill Gates impersonator played Bill Gates in the film many people thought it was a cameo. Justin Timberlake plays Sean Parker who acts as the primary antagonists for most of the movie. The opening scene of this film took 99 takes which is just damn. How can no one hate David Fincher for making them go throw such work? Mark Zuckerberg took some of the Facebook employees to see this film. No Facebook employees were involved in the making of this film.
Fincher didn’t want the actors messing with the script so none of the actors met the people they play. The Social Network is definitely the most Not-Like Fincher move to end up in a list of Top 5 David Fincher. The Social Network is scripted by Aaron Sorkin who also won an Oscar for his work in The Social Network. The script tells the story mostly through Andrew Garfield’s Eduardo Saverin who was forced out of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo Saverin.
Andrew Garfield is probably the highlight of this film whereas Jesse Eisenberg however nice his performance is, just isn’t likable as Mark Zuckerberg. Justin Timberlake on the other hand is totally disliked which just shows how good of a job he did portraying Sean Parker.
5. Gone Girl
Cast- Rosamund Pike, Ben Affleck
Gone Girl is where David Fincher returned to the life of crime and bloody gothic horror that David Fincher is known for. This film is an adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best seller which focuses on a young wife who goes missing. This film shows how Nick Dunnes played by Ben Affleck when his wife Amy Dunnes goes missing on their 5th wedding anniversary and how the whole media focus has shifted on Nick.
The prime suspect is Nick Dunnes, he gives so many reasons that he’s guilty until an awesomely shocking plot twist. Rosamund Pike is probably the unsung hero of Gone Girl, the actress plays the lead and has the whole movie named after her character, but in the following years has not gotten any credible work in comparison to Rosamund Pike’s work here with a strong assist from David Fincher. Since the release of Gonne Girl, David Fincher hasn’t returned to movie filmmaking, rather has focused his time on creating a great show such as Mindhunter.
Gone Girl also has stellar performance from Neil Patrick Harris from How I met your mother fame? He is deducted of wit and comedic dialogue instead Neil Patrick Harris gives an excitingly surreal performance as a long lost boyfriend character. Gone Girl is a mind blowing film by David Fincher when he is at top of his game. Your brain wants to know more and more about it as you watch it.
The Binge Flix Conclusion
David Fincher is all set to return this year with his Oscar front runner Mank, a story on Mank who was a screenwriter on Citizen Kane. A recent story came out regarding the film where Amanda Seyfield told that she had to 83 takes so could David Fincher can do his shot right. David Fincher is a director that have worked as a set decorator on films like Indiana Jones and Star Wars, who has a directing style that is both modern and classic in the way Fincher tells it on screen.
Seven, Zodiac, The Social Network, Gone Girl are all available on Netflix for you to watch, whereas Fight Club can easily be found on Amazon Prime. So here are Fincher’s top 5 films that are a must watch. One cinematic technique favored by Fincher is the wide-angle shot. He uses wide shots also known as full shots or long shots to display a character’s environment and situation. And as Fincher says "I am always interested in films that scars.", hope you also get amazed by his films.
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