Do you have a favourite director? There may be a few that you may have
recognised to have achieved a significant standard in the world of film-making,
but I have a favourite and it is David Fincher.
In such a short and recent period of time, he has been behind some of
the best films ever made. Straight off,
I'll mention Fight Cub and Seven.
As for his background, he started early, practicing his
craft amongst friends with the use of an 8mm camera. At the age of 18, he got a job with George
Lucas' special-effects company, Industrial Light and Magic (ILM), between 1981
and 1983, contributing to the matte photography of Indiana Jones and the Temple
of Doom as well as The Never Ending Story, whilst serving as Assistant
Cameraman on The Return of the Jedi.
After that, he went on to become a very successful figure in the
direction of TV commercials and music videos before his shot at helming feature
films came along.
Off the back of his achievements in the direction of music
videos, he was presented with the opportunity to direct the third film in the
Alien franchise, starring Sigourney Weaver.
His bad experience in the production of that film is well-documented and
I will not elaborate on it further here.
It was a film that he would have walked away from had it not been a
major production with a budget of $60 million in 1992. Three years later, his proper debut arrived;
the iconic serial killer horror-thriller Seven with Brad Pitt and Morgan
Freeman. I shouldn't need to explain
Seven, apart from saying that if you haven't seen it you need to. Seven re-established his reputation and was
followed by the psychological thriller The Game, starring Michael Douglas. That is what I see as the start of his contribution to the comparison I'd make
between him and Alfred Hitchcock. In an
elaborately plotted story, the film succeeds in making us empathise with a
character that you wouldn't usually root for.
The Game continued to establish Fincher's distinctive style and, whilst
entertaining enough, does not really compare to his following production.
Fight Club arrived in 1999.
The adaptation of the Chuck Palahniuk novel wasn't seen as a major
success at the box-office, but has since become a cult classic. On release, the visceral film wasn't received
well by the studio and went on to uphold their concerns with conflicting
reviews and disappointing box-office results.
Similar to the journey of The Shawshank Redemption a few years earlier,
the film went on to achieve overwhelming success and a cult following when
released on DVD/Video.
He went on to direct 2002's Panic Room with Jodie Foster and
Kristen Stewart, which he acknowledged was more mainstream compared to his other films; a popcorn movie
about survival. It's an entertaining
piece about a mother and daughter hiding in their house's safe-room when
criminals break in, needing to access the room in which they're hiding in order
to get to the fortune they seek. He
referred to the script reminding him of aspects of 1954's Rear Window, again
linking back to the comparisons I make between him and Hitchcock, with the
opening titles of Panic Room sharing the style of those you'd associate with a
Hitchcock thriller.
It would be five years until his next film, the masterpiece
that is Zodiac. Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark
Ruffalo and Robert Downey Jr led the cast in the adaptation of the true story
behind the unsolved investigation of a serial killer in San Francisco during
the late 60's and 70's. It's a detailed
and intricate film, which was heavily researched by Fincher prior to production, and the
result could be described as something akin to the 1976 film All The Presidents
Men.
His next film was a departure from his usual adults-only material
as he teamed up with Brad Pitt for a third time on The Curious Case of Benjamin
Button, leading to his first Academy Award nomination for his direction. The adaptation of an F Scott Fitzgerald short
story, which had been in development since the 80's, Benjamin Button was a
fantasy drama with Brad Pitt playing the lead character aging in reverse with
Cate Blanchette playing the love of his life.
A couple of years later, Fincher directed what many refer to
as the Facebook film, The Social Network.
Starring Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield, it tells the story of the
legal battle that played out concerning the founding of the social media
website. It received universal acclaim
and resulted in Fincher receiving another nod at the Oscars. Screenwriter
Aaron Sorkin was deservedly awarded for his adaptation of the book, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, A Tale of Sex,
Money, Genius, and Betrayal. The score
for the film, created by Trent Reznor, from industrial rock bank Nine Inch
Nails, and Atticus Ross was also awarded and resulted in the partnership
producing the scores for Fincher's following films. Their signature sound effectively drives
Fincher's version of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and his most recent, Gone
Girl. One of the things I love most
about Fincher's Dragon Tattoo is the opening titles sequence. It sets the tone with stunning cyberpunk
visuals accompanies by Karen O's powerful vocal over a Reznor and Ross-produced
rendition of Led Zeppelin's Immigrant Song.
The film is technically superb and brilliantly acted by an impressive
cast headed by Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara.
Yet another tour de force.
His most recent release was Gone
Girl, which I heard him describe in an Empire podcast as a satirical adaptation
of a supermarket thriller. I read the
novel earlier this year and was gripped from start-to-finish. Referring to Hitchcock once again, I remember
thinking that it would be exactly the kind of story that he would make a good
film from were he alive today. A few
months passed and Fincher's Gone Girl, from the screenplay adapted by the
author of the novel, Gillian Flynn, did not disappoint. It was everything that I had hoped it would
be and I wouldn't be surprised to see it result in another Best Director
nomination early next year.
David Fincher's next project will
be another collaboration with Gillian Flynn; an American remake for HBO of the
channel 4 TV series, Utopia. It'll be
his second television project after the brilliant Kevin Spacey and Robin Wright
Netflix series, House of Cards.
All of Fincher's films have a
distinctive look and feel to them and
once again, in summary, to explain why he's my favourite director, his amazing
CV includes: Seven, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, The Curious Case
of Benjamin Button, The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and
Gone Girl.
