There are many different types of villains in film, from action packed masterminds like the Green Goblin in Spiderman, to much more reserved and controlled criminals like Hannibal Lecter discussed in the my first blog post. In David Fincher’s underrated masterpiece Se7en we see a mixed interpretation of a villain who was surprisingly portrayed by Kevin Spacey. The film includes seven murders each one related to a different deadly sin committed by John Doe (Kevin Spacey). The seven deadly sins consist of Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride. Each murder victim is killed in such a way that they represent each of the sins. For instance we see one of the victims force fed until his stomach explodes! This is John Doe’s representation of gluttony, Fincher is clever in his approach towards each death as he does not show John Doe actually killing any of his victims creating a sense of mystery, this paralleled with Spacey’s already mystic attitude creates a dark atmosphere.
Before the release of the film we were not told that Kevin Spacey is playing the criminal, it is not until three people have been murdered and he hands himself in to the police when we see who the mastermind is behind the deadly sins examples. Taking a closer look at Spacey’s portrayal of John Doe we can see how dedicated and attached he is to the role. We do not generally associate him with a role in crime within film which is why I believe he conducts it so expertly, in order for the viewers to connect with his psyche he never reveals more than he must leaving us on countless cliff-hangers and speaking in riddles.
John Doe: People will barely be able to comprehend it, but they won’t be able to deny it.
Taking a closer look at Kevin Spacey as a villain we can see that it is his natural instinctive manor that allows him to create a sense of viciousness through organisation and to the detectives the unknown. Throughout the film we see clinical timing that allows John Doe to kill people without actually being anywhere near them. The fact that he is imprisoned by the police and people are still dying due to his actions creates a suspicion that he is not working alone, but I feel that is dedication towards his actions provide enough evidence that he is in fact alone and would not want anybody receiving recognition for his beliefs. In a blog similar to mine there is an analysis on Se7en and the writer states
‘We begin to understand him, but even worse, we begin to feel for him. Everyone has been disgusted at one point or another when a shady defence lawyer is able to get a murderer cleared of charges. When a morbidly obese person sits down next to us in a public place, we wonder how they let themselves get that way. We’re disgusted by these people.’
I completely agree with this quote yet at the same time I feel that our sympathy towards John Doe is completely cut at the end of the film when we see detective Mills open a box to find his wife’s head inside. Not only is Mills a loveable character but he is being played by Brad Pitt whom to many is an idol and will win over any movie enthusiast. Also we just because a person is obese and have ‘let themselves get that way’ does this mean they deserve to die? John Doe is a murderer, regardless of his motives or his beliefs it does not provide him with the right to play god. Yet it is due to the fact Kevin Spacey is playing John Doe in such a manner that we can relate to him even if he is a psychotic serial killer.
In terms of the direction of the film David Fincher makes brilliant specific themes such as weather, lighting, timing and character conversations. For instance throughout the entire film it is raining in such a way that it creates a dreary atmosphere, the timing of the rain stopping is mirrored in the plot twist towards the end. Predominantly the film is shot indoors, either in run down homes, prison cells or abandoned warehouses. This ensures that even if there is light it is not a constant more of little rays which I feel represent little glimmers of hope in proving John Doe guilty.
‘David Mills: Wait, I thought all you did was kill innocent people.
John Doe: Innocent? Is that supposed to be funny? An obese man… a disgusting man who could barely stand up; a man who if you saw him on the street, you’d point him out to your friends so that they could join you in mocking him; a man, who if you saw him while you were eating, you wouldn’t be able to finish your meal. After him, I picked the lawyer and I know you both must have been secretly thanking me for that one. This is a man who dedicated his life to making money by lying with every breath that he could muster to keeping murderers and rapists on the streets!
David Mills: Murderers?
John Doe: A woman…
David Mills: Murderers, John, like yourself?
John Doe: [interrupts] A woman… so ugly on the inside she couldn’t bear to go on living if she couldn’t be beautiful on the outside. A drug dealer, a drug dealing pederast, actually! And let’s not forget the disease-spreading whore! Only in a world this shitty could you even try to say these were innocent people and keep a straight face. But that’s the point. We see a deadly sin on every street corner, in every home, and we tolerate it. We tolerate it because it’s common, it’s trivial. We tolerate it morning, noon, and night. Well, not anymore. I’m setting the example. What I’ve done is going to be puzzled over and studied and followed… forever.’
This interaction between John Doe and detective Mills is a summary of each characters personality. John Doe is disgusted by Mills’ attempt to rile him and get him to crack, at first we think it may be working when he begins to retaliate but inevitably he does not reveal anything but his motives for killing these people. And in his description of the reasons he is doing so we realise that even that what he is doing is sick, twisted and most of all wrong he is correct that all around us there is ‘sins’ being committed and because of the society we are placed in it is accepted as normal and no rational minded person even bats an eyelid.
Paying closer attention to John Doe’s actions we find out that he sliced the ends of his fingers off in order to leave no evidence of him even being at any of the crime scenes. This is sick in itself as he could have just worn gloves to prevent this but I feel that there is another reason in doing this. It is almost a sacrifice for the sins he is about to commit, in order for him to fulfil his master plan he must first sacrifice something of his own. Also he visits each of his victims in order to care for them and ensure they do not die, the man who is found brain dead and clinging on for his life was looked after for months, forcibly keeping him alive in an unbearable state. This is just more evidence that although he is insane he had a cleverly structured plan that he has been carrying out for a long time. We finally see the extent of his master plan when he is in prison and is killing people from what seems his prison cell, he is moved to solitary confinement where we see that he has already dug a tunnel under the prison to the exact cell he is moved to meaning everything he has done up to that point has been intentional.
‘John Doe: Realize detective, the only reason that I’m here right now is that I wanted to be.
David Mills: No, no, we would have got you eventually.
John Doe: Oh really? So, what were you doing? Biding your time? Toying with me? Allowing five innocent people to die until you felt like springing your trap? Tell me, what was the indisputable evidence you were going to use on me right before I walked up to you and put my hands in the air?’
Kevin Spacey is at the tip of the acting ice berg in this film and now that I have seen it I could not imagine anybody more suitable to this role than him.