Fincher. David Fincher has now spent 25 years as a top filmmaker. His includes nine (9) archiveable films, three (3) in the top 500 (Fight Club, Zodiac, Seven), and another two (Social Network, Gone Girl) that should enter when the top 500 when the 10 year moratorium lifts. Fincher makes films that are not only consistently brilliant but brilliantly consistent. When searching for images for this post it’s interesting- unlike most auteurs you’re not looking for a highlight shot or image from their work—you’re looking for the typical Fincher look/lighting/mise-en-scene. That’s an unbelievable compliment.
Best film: Fight Club. Fortunately, after being severely underrated for a decade or so, this is slowly being correctly canonized as one of the best films of the 1990’s.
total archiveable films: 9
top 100 films: 0
top 500 films: 3 (Fight Club, Zodiac, Seven)
top 100 films of the decade: 5 (Fight Club, Zodiac, Seven, The Social Network, Gone Girl)
most overrated: Nothing. Don’t come to be looking for overrated Fincher films.
most underrated: Gone Girl. . Metacritic almost always underrates Fincher (The Social Network aside)- the first film of his to score over 70 was zodiac in 2007. I have little doubt it’ll change soon but right now Gone Girl is #14 on TSPDT for 2014 (it was #22 in 2015) and that’s outrageously underrated. It might be the best written film of 2014, is sumptuously shot, and might be the best edited film of the year as well.
gem I want to spotlight: The Social Network. It is a marvel and much more than just a hair-on-fire genius screenplay by Sorkin. Even if repeat viewings lessen the sting of Sorkin’s dialogue (which I highly doubt they will) your appreciation for Fincher’s work, lighting, rowing montage, will expand. It’s a masterpiece that may combine the best work of both David Fincher and Aaron Sorkin. Hard to top Travers: “The Social Network lights up a dim movie sky with flares of startling brilliance. Director David Fincher (Fight Club, Seven, Zodiac) puts his visual mastery to work on the verbal pyrotechnics in the dynamite, dick-swinging script by Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing), and they both do the best and ballsiest work of their careers. The Social Network gets you drunk on movies again. It deserves to go viral.”. From the opening you know you’re watching something special. Fincher paints the mise-en-scene so well with his patented darkness (he may have to take the mantle of the master of darkness from Gordon Willis), green/yellow lighting—the dialogue is fire—there are tiny flaws “I could do without the Stairmaster line” going as broad as that— apparently the opening dialogue scene was shot in 99 takes—a Fincher trademark—such a perfectionist. It’s the 21st century Citizen Kane– told in a creative flashback narrative, genius/billionaire of our times, layered, dark. The case for it being Fincher’s best (it’s this or Fight Club I believe) is that it’s as procedurally formal as Zodiac (hmm), as “of our times” as Fight Club, and has an ending as devastating as Seven. Shakespearian weight to these characters, the setting—the morality play 2.5 scenes (including that jaw-dropping opening) with Rooney Mara and it’s a star-maker… Eisenberg was already established but this is his best, Garfield is mesmerizing, Armie Hammer became a star, too. Trent Rezner’s score is masterful- it’s the theme is only used a few times but it’s one of the best scores of the decade. A medication on jealousy. The case against it being Fincher’s best is that you’re just in the throes of the narrative machine at work for 10-15 minute stretches a few times without really admiring (too much) what’s in front of you visually—this is getting really nit-picky though and only worthwhile when making the distinction between like this and In the Mood for Love or Tree of Life on the masterpiece level. Garfield gives us the big final scene though I think I’m going with Eisenberg who has the slightly better achievement- neither are the wrong answer— Garfield’s little dance over to him at the Jewish party and then saying “I’m buying” with those eyes—it’s a remarkably sympathetic character—and then he tears your heart out at the ambush at the end. One of the best 10 screenplays in the artform’s history- Chinatown, Casablanca, The Godfather, Pulp Fiction, Sunset Boulevard, Seventh Seal—a few others. Lines could go on forever “You would’ve invented Facebook” I’m 6’5 220 lbs and there are two of me”—the entire “do I have your full attention” scene—“I was your only friend”. Fincher is a ridiculously good editor- one of the best we have and the Regatta scene, paired with music and stunning photography is just him showing that skill off without Sorkin at all—but his largest overall achievement in the film is the mise-en-scene specifically the lighting. It’s just very rare in cinema’s history that an auteur/director make his movies so specifically unique to look at in every frame and so beautiful. It’s unmistakably a Fincher film from the lighting. Timberlake is revelation and the film is off again- he’s intoxicatingly good. It’s not him though, and as much as I like the cast it’s not the cast—it’s Fincher—he made Ben Affleck amazing in Gone Girl–The dialogue makes for a chess match and a tennis match simultaneously. Sorkin is taking us in and out of a series of conversations, testimonies in the larger structure—and then within the scenes the verbal wit is without a peer. Another show-off editing for Fincher is Timberlake’s dinner montage. “The ambush”- lighting as mise-en-scene as Fincher shoots Garfield low- it’s Welles. I might change the ending with the Beatles song—“baby you’re a rich man”—the Beatles are notoriously hard to get and it’s a coup—but I’d go back to Rezner’s notes like the opening and the ambush—the ambush scene is one of the best of the decades because of the lighting, Garfield, Sorkin and Rezner. A masterpiece.
stylistic innovations/traits:
Lighting, lighting, lighting- Fincher is a master of mise-en-scene and the creative god-child of German expressionism. Look at the list of directors above and below on this list—there have been great auteurs before Fincher and there will be great auteurs after but nobody’s films look like his. He’s is the current master of darkness (unofficial mantle I took from dp Gordon Willis) and his films are both gorgeous and easily identifiable- there is no mistaking a Fincher film when flipping around your tv at home. Try watching a film of his (for a second) with the lights on in your house- it’s impossible with the glare. His narratives are almost all a mirror image of that darkness- like a dystopian gloom whether he’s ruminating on masculinity (Fight Club, Gone Girl) or malevolent incarnate (Seven, Zodiac). Detractors say that his films are no more than experiments in style but those same people probably would say the same about Wes and QT. I guess Fincher doesn’t write his own work (many of the great auteurs don’t- Scorsese, Hitchcock) in his world like Wes and QT but Fincher has also reigned over some of the best narratives in the last decade so he either has had some input or has a remarkable ear for good narrative.
top 10
- Fight Club
- The Social Network
- Zodiac
- Seven
- Gone Girl
- The Curios Case of Benjamin Button
- The Game
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
- Panic Room
By year and grades
| 1995- Seven | MS/MP |
| 1997- The Game | R |
| 1999- Fight Club | MP |
| 2002- Panic Room | R |
| 2007- Zodiac | MP |
| 2008- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button | R |
| 2010- The Social Network | MP |
| 2011- The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo | R |
| 2014- Gone Girl | MS |
*MP is Masterpiece- top 1-3 quality of the year film
MS is Must-see- top 5-6 quality of the year film
HR is Highly Recommend- top 10 quality of the year film
R is Recommend- outside the top 10 of the year quality film but still in the archives
Can you also do a list on the 100 Greatest Screenplays of All Time?
@Randy– good idea. That would be fun to do.
Love this analysis and I love the film.
I’m not sure, however, I agree with your objection to the “stair master” line.
Yes, it does kind of seem out of place, then again there’s no accounting for what she might say in that situation.
It’s like in a short story when a character speaks (dialogue) that’s the character speaking.
Anyway I’m nitpicking.
He’s right. It’s cheesy and out of place. I don’t know why so many people excuse badly-written dialogue as “oh, but it’s like real life,” yeah, that’s the problem, real-life conversations are generally spontaneous and thus sentences are poorly put together, but when you’re writing something you have the opportunity not to do that, and create something of quality, whereas writing something of very poor quality, and passing it off as “realistic,” merits no defense, since there is none. Of course, this line isn’t quite as bad as the criticisms I brought up, but it’s still not great. But the film is a masterpiece for just about everything else in it.
Is Mank(2020) your most anticipated film coming in the late 2020?A great auteur coming back after a five year absence.I don’t think Gary Oldman ever worked with a great director like Fincher before in a leading role.Really hope he gives one of the best performances of his career in this one.
@Anderson He was the lead in Dracula directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Admittedly Coppola was no longer at or near his peak at that point, but still, one of the greatest directors.
@Anderson and @Matt Harris— well Anderson it certainly is either Mank or Steve McQueen’s Small Axe — both directors were on my top 10 of the 2010’s decade. Matt is right to bring up Coppola. I can’t call his role the lead but he’s a big part of Oliver Stone’s JFK (and Stone was on in impressive run there in the late 80’s and early 90’s) but yeah- very excited for this collaboration here. I see they (netflix) recently pushed it from October to November.
I’ve seen some images and it looks great, very excited, personally i feel more excited for Mank than for Dune.
Drake, did you hear that there won’t be Dune for another year? When it comes out, what year will the movie count? It will be like the movie you mentioned of Kieslowski
@Aldo- I’ll be counting Dune and many others that were originally slated for this year as 2021 films (assuming they debut in 2021). It is a weird year, but I don’t think it is quite the same as a lost film that resurfaces or a film held back because of political censorship or something.
My favorite director ever since I saw Fight Club. I rate TGWTDT highly, I don’t understand why people don’t like it, I feel like its because its a remake, same reason why Cape Fear gets shit on even though I love that movie.
How I’d rank his top 5:
Fight Club
Seven
Gone Girl
TGWTDT
Social Network
I am rewatching Zodiac soon though so this may or may not change
I did not know that Mank was going to have a release in the theater, i thought it was only being transmitting on Netflix.
Did anyone see Mank?
Anyway, i’ll see Mank at the theater today, the reviews are normal, but they underestimate Fincher, hoping it’s more The Social Network than TGWTDT
@Aldo- I get what you mean by “reviews are normal” but as you said the critics seem to always underestimate Fincher at first aside from The Social Network. I saw on metacritic that Mank is actually the second best reviewed Fincher film — bodes well
My ranking :
MP :
1 – The Social Network
2 – Fight Club
3 – Zodiac
MS/MP :
4 – Seven
MS :
5 – Gone Girl
R/HR :
6 – Benjamin Button
7 – Panic Room
R :
8 – TGWTDT
9 – The Game
10 – Alien 3
I personally believe Fincher and Tarantino have 5 MP each. Who’s are stronger? (I realize some may not view which of their films are MP the same as me)
Fincher: Tarantino
Zodiac Pulp Fiction
The Social Network Inglourious Basterds
Fight Club Kill Bill (I count it as one film)
Gone Girl Reservoir Dogs
Seven Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Sorry messed up format
Fincher vs Tarantino
Fincher:
Zodiac (2007)
The Social Network (2010)
Fight Club (1999)
Gone Girl (2014)
Seven (1995)
Tarantino:
Pulp Fiction (1994)
Inglorious Basterds (2009)
Kill Bill (2003 and 2004)
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019)
It’s easy to forget what an incredible run of music videos he was churning out in the 80’s and 90’s, especially with Madonna. “Oh Father” is totally Citizen Kane and “Bad Girl” is jaw dropping visually.
Seven MP
The Game R
Fight Club MS
Panic Room R
Zodiac MS
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button R
The Social Network MS
The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo R
Gone Girl HR
What is so bad about dragon tattoo that you rate it as one of his worst? I saw that you upgraded panic room and benjamin button, so that’d make the game and dragon tattoo as his worst 2 films according to you. I’m curious for the reason why because theres no page about it, and I think it’s his 6th best film, with the same top 5 as you altho in different order (still, fight club as his #1)
@Dylan- Thanks for the comment. I wouldn’t say there is anything bad about Dragon Tattoo (at least anything that comes to mind without recent notes)- just more to praise in the other works. I just do not have a page for it. I do not have a page for Fight Club either. Sorry. I have ceased doing pages for individual films- at least for now- but maybe I can find more time in the future and add ones for all of Fincher’s films.
Looking at the metacritic scores:
Seven, 65
Fight Club, 66
Zodiac, 78
Gone Girl, 79
The Game, 61
Ridiculous, especially Fight Club and Seven. The Game is admittingly not one of his best but I actually think it gets overlooked. Zodiac with a 78 is not as bad as Fight Club and Seven but still greatly underates what I think is one of the best films of the decade
MPs
1. Zodiac
2. The Social Network
3. Fight Club
4. Gone Girl (putting this over Seven might raise some eyebrows but I am comfortable with this ranking)
5. Seven
MS
6. Mank
HR
7. The Game
8. Panic Room
9. R
The Curios Case of Benjamin Button – admittinly I’ve seen viewed once and it was in theatres back in 2008
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo – I haven’t yet seen Fincher’s version (only 2009 orginal)
@James Trapp- You should try for The Curios Case of Benjamin Button again. I saw it about a week ago. Probably my third time- maybe fourth
@Drake – I’m up for it, going to add it to my upcoming list. I need to see The Game again as well, only once but remember enjoying it
Drake what is your opinion on Affleck’s performance in Gone Girl
@Matthew- Ben Affleck is strong. I remember the casting announcements for Gone Girl long before the film was finished and I was just scratching my head at all of the choices by Fincher. But credit to him- it all comes off.
@Drake – Agreed for the most part but did not care for Neil Patrick Harris in this film. I think he is hilarious in other work but I did not love this casting choice. Tyler Perry seemed like an odd choice but I thought he played the role perfectly as the high profile hot shot defense attorney.
@Matthew – curious what Drake says but I’ll give my unsolicited opinion as an unofficial member of the “Gone Girl is a MP Club” that I just made up.
Affleck is somewhat limited in regards to his range but is exceptional in this film in my opinion. However, I think David Fincher deserves a fair amount of credit for this casting decision as well. Despite my love of movies I could care less about celebrity culture, celebrity gossip,etc. Even so I am aware that Affleck has dated multiple high profile celebrities and been the subject of much speculation, rumors, etc. and this fits so seamlessly into Gone Girl which is heavily based on the real life Case of Scott Peterson who was convicted of murdering his pregnant wife, Lacey Peterson. Affleck performance is effective in my opinion because he leans into his real life persona in a way that will naturally both attract and disgust female fans, at times simultaneously. There is a scene in the film where an attractive woman shamelessly hits on him offering to make him a chicken frito pie but lashes out when she realizes he is not interested. The first time I watched I really had no idea whether or not he was guilty as he played the character in a way that really had you jumping back and forth. His character is fairly laid-back as the lead detective notes but he can play angry well, the scene where he smashes the glass and kicks the detectives out of his house upon discovering Amy is pregnant. I think some of his best acting comes near the very end when he discovers Amy is pregnant and comes to the realization that he is not going to leave her; he has that emotional conversation with his sister Margo, and reallly Afflecks body language and demeanor is of a man who has come to a crushing realization that he is going to have to remain with his psychotic wife.
With all that set Rosamund Pike gives the best performance in the film. Amy Dunne is one of the best movie villains of the decade in my opinion.
I really enjoyed reading this, hadn’t thought of a couple of these points
On another note, and this goes to anyone, what are your thoughts on the Criterion Channel? I’ve never had it but looking for a good way to gain access to a lot of classics
@Matthew – thanks, I am a huge Fincher fan and believe Gone Girl is his most underrated work.
Regarding Criterion it is great, $100 for a yearly subscription or $11 a month. There might be a free trial for a few weeks I can’t remember. I ordered it about a year or so after getting really into Cinema and was blown away. I was browsing through it and noticed it has pretty much every Kurosawa film; I was like a kid at a candy store. It has over 1,000 films streaming at any given time. And for a number of the all time greats it has practically all of their films. For Kurosawa, Fellini, Godard, Truffaut, Bergman, and Ozu just to name a few it gives you accress to pretty much all their best films and all of the extras that comes with it.
Sounds like an absolute game changer. With the holidays around, might make for a perfect gift
@Matthew- It is an indispensable resource- enjoy!
@Matthew – I have 4 primary places I watch films, here is how I would grade them:
Criterion – A+
Amazon Prime Movies – A
Netflix – B
MUBI – C
This doesn’t include physical media, I also get Blu Ray 4K. This is expensive though so I only get films I have as MP or MS for those, but I usually try to stick to only getting those when they are on sale.
Cont…
To be fair I have only had MUBI for a short amount of time, but I am slightly disappointed so far as only a small portion of the films they have are available for streaming at any given time where as Criterion has over 1000 of their approximately 1600 films available for streaming.
@James Trapp- I’d agree on your Criterion and MUBI descriptions and grades here. Criterion I can count on– when I’m watching something on MUBI it almost seems like an accident (one of the daily emails caught my eye on something I’m afraid of missing the window on, or I do an IMDB search on a film and find out its on MUBI)
@Drake – “MUBI it almost seems like an accident” haha. Perfect description. Lady Vengeance and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance have both been added within the past week…a month after ending Park Chan Wook Study as I settled for free sites although the quality was actually really good for both.
Haha. So about a month ago I got the MUBI free trial, was unimpressed and canceled it before the trial ended. It has now led me to Criterion (I also use Amazon and Netflix). HBO Max is also a really good source too
@Matthew – honestly I may be going down that path myself in the near future, part of my reason for getting MUBI is for Decision to Leave which will be streaming December 9th. I’ll give it another month or so to impress me and if it fails to so then I’m probably done with it.
Youtube is another source, you can buy or rent just like with Amazon although most of what is available on Youtube is also available onAmazon and usually for the exact same price. Some exceptions though, for me it was the only place I could find Once Upon A Time In America(1984)
that I have used although only a couple of times
@Matthew – think I need to do the same. Just speed through everything MUBI has that I want to see then ditch it, quite a disappointing service.
The warning signs were there when they had De Palma’s Passion as the movie of the day 😂. Feel like they just randomly pick something rather than “curate” like the marketing says.
@Harry- Yes, there’s just that one off movie every month or two that you’ve had a hard time finding anywhere else. That’s how they get you and/or keep you.
I just rewatched my favorite film of all time, Fight Club, for the first time in a long time
Everything about Fight Club is just perfect. All the tracking shots, the zoomed out shots, the color, the freeze frame on Tyler Durden, the split diopter when Norton is telling us about Tyler Durden while he’s cutting a film, etc etc. I don’t know much about the technical stuff like what all the shots are called, but everything about Fight Club is fantastic from start to finish, the camera is always moving and the screenplay+acting by the 3 leads is so good. Also, having Norton narrating to the camera(like Liotta in the end of goodfellas) while Durden is doing things in the background like cutting porn into a movie, pissing on people’s food etc is brilliant.
And I recently rewatched Gone Girl. While it was still REALLY great film, it doesn’t really come close at all to Fight Club…. 10/10 masterpiece in my opinion.
Will be rewatching Seven and The Game soon as well. I hold Seven as a big masterpiece too, his 2nd best film, and The Game as mid-tier Fincher, probably his 7th best film (on my last rewatches of them)
One thing I never understood about your Fincher ratings though is you having just R for Dragon Tattoo. I remember it being pretty much on Gone Girl’s level. Really good thriller with good acting by Craig+Mara(Craig is probably better than Affleck, but Pike is better than Mara) and great cinematography as you can expect from a Fincher film. Is the camera not moving much in this film? I can’t remember. Maybe I should rewatch it again too to see why, I have it as his 6th best film, and a big step above The Game
@Dylan- Thanks for sharing on Fight Club Dylan. Never say never- I could use a rewatch Dragon Tattoo myself- but my notes do not have it near Gone Girl’s level. It is a Fincher film still – just much quieter stylistically. Again, I’ve been wrong on Fincher before – look forward to catching this one again.
Ok, I have it on my list to rewatch I will see. Gone Girl isn’t as good as I remembered but its still great. I would say MS is correct for Gone Girl. I just don’t see Tattoo being worse than Panic Room which youve got as HR, which Fincher himself even said Panic Room and The Game are both footnote movies. As far as I know he is proud of Dragon Tattoo, I haven’t read him saying anything bad about it. Also he hates Alien 3 of course.
Artistically, too, the men were at loggerheads. At the time, Fincher explained the split by commenting that “Darius makes films, and Panic Room is a movie.” The more I dwell on this remark, the more significant it seems. It highlights a curious philosophy; that there are movies and there are films, and the two are somehow distinct. “Oh absolutely, there’s a big difference,” Fincher says. “A movie is made for an audience and a film is made for both the audience and the film-makers. I think that The Game is a movie and I think Fight Club’s a film. I think that Fight Club is more than the sum of its parts, whereas Panic Room is the sum of its parts. I didn’t look at Panic Room and think: Wow, this is gonna set the world on fire. These are footnote movies, guilty pleasure movies. Thrillers. Woman-trapped-in-a-house movies. They’re not particularly important.”
I’m interested in seeing your take on Alien 3, which isn’t on your list and is clearly not one of Fincher’s best. It’s flawed for sure, and I’ve read the accounts of how the studio and Fincher were at creative odds over it, and how he himself hates the film. But wow does it have the look and feel of what was to follow from Fincher! Also I agree with the contrarians that consider it far from the worst of the franchise. I would think it’s at least worthy of an R, and not just because it’s an early look at how this great director developed.
@Tom Van Buskirk- I think Recommend is fine- certainly feels like the best possible grade if you will. I have seen it a few times over the years.
Fincher with new film, The Killer, to be released in November. The film stars Michael Fassbender, which is very exciting as he clearly has a talent for playing darker roles such as all 3 of his collaborations with Steve McQueen.
Apparently its 3 hours and described as a “neo noir epic” which is interesting as I do not think I have ever seen a noir or neo-noir that I would necessarily label an epic
https://screenrant.com/david-fincher-new-movie-killer-high-hopes/
@James Trapp- can’t wait for it- I feel like “neo noir” is thrown around quite a bit. The wiki definition is almost comically large. I could certainly see someone calling Refn’s Copenhagen Cowboy as an epic neo noir
I read the comic book when the film was announced, it was a quick read. I can’t imagine anyone else adapting it instead of Fincher, it’s perfect material for him but quite different from his other works.
I can definitely imagine Fassbender playing the assassin. It can be his big comeback after almost 8 years of nothing.
@Alt Mash- Thanks is all good news- thanks for sharing!
@Drake – Agree on its overuse, I have even seen films like Oldboy (2003), No Country for Old Men (2007) and Bad Lieutenant (1992) labeled “neo-noirs”. It seems like almost any film with elements of a Mystery or Crime film can be labeled “neo-noir” by some people
@AltMash – A History of Violence (2005) is one of my favorite films, that one is based off a “Graphic Novel” which is not exactly the same as a “Comic” but similar.
@James Trapp – Ok so it seems like I haven’t finished it yet, because of your comment I googled it and found out it has more volumes than what I read.
So you are probably wrong here just google the name, it says “french comic book”.
It is a comic series with many issues collected into 5 volumes, unlike A History of Violence which is a graphic novel.