On David Fincher's Status as a Director

David Fincher has always been interested in complex male characters. Since 1995 and Seven, his first film which really cemented his style, Fincher has given us a canon of films with similar male leads (the exception being Panic Room (2002)). The serial killer in Seven (1995), Michael Douglas’ suicidal magnate in The Game (1997), Brad Pitt and Edward Norton’s anarchists in Fight Club, Jake Gyllenhaal’s determined reporter in Zodiac (2007) and Pitt’s age defying Benjamin Button. All these characters occupy dark worlds; worlds of danger and death. Additionally, they occupy real, recognisable worlds that are being manipulated by a force greater than can be comprehended. Jodie Foster in Panic Room must deal with the confinement of the room, forced upon her by the threat of three home intruders. Fincher is also occupied by the tangible threat of time, or more specifically, running out of time. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008) is Fincher’s first foray into fantasy and exemplifies this perfectly as Benjamin is constantly running from time, from which he’ll never escape.

Fincher’s latest film brings together all of his idiosyncrasies in a world less familiar than his others. The Social Network is the story of Mark Zuckerberg and the creation of Facebook. This is therefore not only Fincher’s most contemporary film, but one that is also the most relevant film that exists as its history is not only the immediate past, but also the immediate present and the changing future. The film’s accuracy will always be debatable, but what Fincher gives us is a fascinating insight into the world of a computer genius who changes the world and those who try to ride along with him. Like the serial killers of Seven and Zodiac and the anarchists of Fight Club, Zuckerberg changes the world around him in a way very different, but just as immediate as killing someone. In one hour, the film tells us, Zuckerberg receives 22,000 hits on an early version of Facebook and crashes the Harvard database. Despite the law suits, the loss of friends and the insults, the only threat Zuckerberg feels is that of time, as he fights to keep Facebook relevant and cool.

There is much to admire in The Social Network and the relevance of the film to our changing online world, makes it all the more interesting.