Seven is a 1995 crime thriller directed by David Fincher and starring Morgan Freeman and Brad Pitt. It follows detectives Somerset and Mills as they investigate a series of murders based on the seven deadly sins. The experienced Somerset and headstrong Mills have differing investigative styles but develop their partnership over the course of the case. John Doe is the unknown killer who turns himself in and is revealed to have committed the murders out of envy for Mills. The film subverts crime movie conventions by giving the killer a symbolic motive beyond senseless violence.

2.  Seven is a crime thriller movie that had been released on
September 22nd 1995 from the studio new line cinema.
 The film is directed by David Fincher and written by Andre Kevin
Walker.
 This movie uses two renowned actors to play as the main
protagonists in this movie which are Morgan Freeman and Brad
Pitt, as well as Kevin Spacey playing as the main antagonist in
the story.
 Seven had been the seventh highest grossing movie in 1995
earning a total of 327.3 million worldwide.
 This movie was highly acclaimed by critics and currently has a
rating 85% on rotten tomatoes.
 Seven is known for its use of seven deadly sins in its plot with
each serial killing having a meaning behind it, this defined the
crime genre by creating a serial killer with a motive juxtaposed
from that of what is a commonly seen in other crime movies.

3.  The crime genre usually uses the benevolent detective on a
journey to find the main antagonist this genre has changed
over time through the use of partnerships and serial killers
used to make the genre even more appealing.
 Occasionally you get your average cop with the same
motive but movie known to contain crime as a genre
normally use detective/s as the main protagonists.
 The antagonist in these types of films are normally your typical
sadistic serial killer that leaves a trail of bread crumbs in order
for the protagonists to find and catch him.

4.  Seven is set in modern day, based
around serial killings that correspond to
the seven deadly sins, gluttony, greed,
sloth, envy, wrath, pride and lust.
 The experienced detective Lt William Somerset and the head
strong semi experienced detective David Mills partner together
to investigate these murders who improve on their partnership
during the course of the movie
 With each killing the killer marks one of the deadly sins in the
same area as the killing creating a meaning behind each killing
rather than the cliché psychopath killing with no motive aside
from enjoying it.

5.  The headstrong semi experienced cop
known for solving a range of homicides Mills
is your typical young detective showing
slight arrogance due to his inexperience.
 Mills has the average life of a detective with
a wife and unborn child that he is unaware
of.
 After pleading to go on the assignment for
the serial killings Mills is warned about what
he is getting into but is soon accepted on
the investigation
 After being partnered with Somerset his
evident inexperience is shown through out
the course of the movie and shows a slight
sense of a rebellious nature at times


6.  The calm and collective experienced
detective William Somerset plans his
retirement due to his experience as a
detective but this interrupted when the first set
of serial killings occur.
 During his conversation about his retirement
with the police captain Somerset warns the
captain about not allowing Mills on this case
as he feels he is not ready for a case of this
magnitude but the captain reluctantly lets
Mills on the case.
 Somerset at first has problems Mills and so we
see tension between the two but later on the
course of the movie we can see that the twos
partnership grows

7.  John Doe is the antagonist of this
movie, for the majority of this movie his
identity remains unknown until he turns
himself in while in the police station.
 During the scene where all three main
characters are driving towards the next
location for another killing we can see
John Doe’s envy of detective Mills
claiming that his story will be
remembered.
 The climax of the movie is where good vs.
evil is tested as John Doe intentionally
made himself a part of the seven sins
serial killing, his envy of detective Mills
lead him to murder his wife and unborn
child.
 As Mills had been unaware of the unborn
child Somerset warned Mills not to kill Doe
as he ‘will win’, but Mills’ mixed emotions
lead to him killing Doe

8.  Tracy Mills played by Gwyneth Paltrow is the
wife of detective Mills, she tells Somerset of
the unborn child trusting that he would not tell
Mills of the child as she was fearing what Mills
will think.
 Police captain played by R Lee Ermey you
typical police captain pleading Somerset to
take the serial killing case as he is the only one
who will be successful in solving a case as
mysterious as this.

9.  Cinematography – this movie uses a range of close ups of the
characters during some emotional scenes during the movie e.g. the
close up of Mills reaction to hearing what Doe had done to his wife
and un born child, allot of two shots are used to express the
partnership between Mills and Somerset, there are also low angle
shots used to express the dominance of certain characters.
 Mise en scene/clothing – this film inflicts a dark noir feel to it this is
done to reinforce the sadistic nature of the killings, from the clothing
we at one point saw the blood on the shirt of John Doe this lets us
know of his sadistic nature as he had been covered in the blood.
 Sound – the sound plays a big part in this movie with sound being
amplified during the most shocking scenes e.g. walking through a
passage way discovering a dead body using sound that is being
amplified makes the discovery of the body even more shocking as
we know something is coming but we don’t exactly know what.

10.  La Confidential comes under the crime
genre this movie is your cliché good cop
bad cop detective movie as the two main
detectives are trying to uncover the mystery
behind the different crimes committed
 The departed is a change in your typical
crime movie as there is no partnership
between the two main cops instead they
both have different morals, the go under
cover in order to take down a mob boss
 The bone collector is another crime movie that
subverts common conventions by using a
woman as one of the main detectives for this
movie but the story of the movie is simply to
find the serial killer behind the murders that
occur throughout the film

11.  Seven typically has an antagonist that is a serial killer which is a
convention of crime movies but due to the inclusion of the seven
deadly sins is what makes this film subvert from common crime
movies the serial killer creates a meaning behind each of the
murders and he succeeds in the end.
 This movie also uses common mise en scene used in other crime
movies the dark gritty feel to the movie.
 Also the characters both are neutral towards the investigation with
similar which subverts the good cop bad cop type of characters in
crime movies.

12.  Detective Lt William Somerset being one of the detective is
evidence of post colonialism, he is evidently the dominant cop due
to his experience and so is trying to steer Mills in the right direction,
Somerset also conforms to Fanons theory as his mind has ‘been
emptied’ evidence of this would be how he has embarrassed the
western culture and shows little of his own culture.

14.  LA Confidential (defined  LA Confidential is a typical
genre) crime movie using the good
 Awards won – nominated cop bad cop stereotype as a
for 9 academy awards recurring theme thorough the
 Budget – $35 million movie.
 Box office – $126,216,940
 The bone collector is also a
 The bone collector common crime movie but
 Awards won – 0 with a twist by using a female
 Budget – $73 million as one of the main
 Box office - $151,493,655
protagonist
 The departed (re defined  The departed follows some
genre) conventions of a crime movie
 Awards won – but still is completely different
 Budget – $90 million due to the difference in story
 Box office - $289,847,354
from other crime movies

15.  Angelina Jolie – typical moral cop
subverting female stereotypes
 Russell Crowe – the cliché bad cop
from la confidential
 Leonardo DiCaprio – rough and read
undercover cop in the departed
 Denzel Washington – typical moral
detective in bone collector
 Kevin Spacey – the sadistic serial killer
subverting normal serial in seven

16.  Martin Scorsese - directed the
departed
 Phillip Noyce – directed the
bone collector
 Curtis Hanson – directed la
confidential

17.  The departed – the departed is one film of the crime genre in which
they took a different approach to towards the protagonists and
antagonists both protagonists are cops working undercover but they
are not working together, there aim is to take down a mob boss but
over the course of the story we can see the mob boss getting into
the heads of both detectives and we can see the affect this has on
the both of them. As both detectives are unaware of each others
secrets there is evident tension between the two as they both try to
unravel each others secrets in order to remain undercover and not
be discovered by the mob boss.
 La Confidential – la confidential is your cliché crime movie as the
two main protagonists are polar opposites with the same good
intentions, they are both working different investigations not knowing
the two a connected and so go about their individual investigations
differently in order to uncover the major threat in the story.

18.  Regency enterprises – film
and television production  Universal pictures – an american
company film studio one of the 6 most
major movie studios
 Vertigo entertainment –
smaller lesser known movie
production company

19.  In crime movies the stories are normally linear and follow a Todorov
like approach, the introduction of the two main protagonists good
cop and bad cop a range of serial killings that occur in which the
protagonists have to investigate and finding and capturing the
antagonists committing all the killings.
 There are normally always a good cop and a bad cop the bad cop
having a darker approach to how he would solve the crime and the
good cop who is a by the book cop who tends not to break any of
the rules usually both cops intentions are pure but in some cases the
bad cop ends up being the main antagonist.
 Depending on what type of cop movie the director wants to portray
the era varies from modern day to 1950’s los Angeles.
 Normally the audience would expect a good cop and bad cop
and psychopath killer who they have to stop, but over the years it is
clear that crime films today take a range of different and unique
approaches to the movie so subvert common conventions

20.  Mise en Scene – normally in crime movies there is always a formal
dress code it is rare it will ever be casual, most crime films have a
city setting with the murders occurring in discreet areas
 Cinematography – establishing shots are used often so that we know
the era of the story the film is set in, a rang of full body, long, mid
and close ups are used either to get a view of the murder or to see
the relationship between characters.
 Sound – dialogue between characters is often a crucial part for
crime movies so that we can see the growth of partnerships and
also understand the story better, non diagetic music is normally
played to inflict different kinds of emotion suitable for the scene.
 Editing – there are normally a range of cuts used during chase
scenes that often occur in crime movies, transitions are also
commonly used in order to maintain the flow of the movie so that
the audience doesn't lose interest.

21.  Scorsese is a renowned director known for some of his greatest
movies which include taxi driver, good fellas, casino, the departed
and many more. He was born on November 17 1942 and was raised
in the neighbourhood of little Italy which evidently served as
inspiration for some of his movies. He is hailed as one of the most
significant and influential filmmakers of all time.
 His works often portrayed roman catholic concepts of guilt and
redemption and modern crime which makes him highley significant
in crime based movies.
 He has had a big influence on the crime genre directing films which
had changed how a crime film usually is to create a unique and
enticing take on an average crime movie.

22.  It is clear that the crime genre has
drastically changed over time and so i
feel that this genre is likely heading into a
direction where sub genres will arise from
the crime genre due to the range of
different crime movies today.