As one of the world’s greatest movie makers, David Fincher, blows his 61 birthday candles, here is a walk down an unlatched carrier adorned with milestones and revolutionary movies.
Fincher, who had his debut in 1992 by directing “Alien 3”, doesn’t even want to be associated with the film, as he considers it to be his worst.
However, right after, he made what is now considered a cult classic, “Seven” in 1995, starring four of Hollywood’s brightest stars, Bradd Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Kevin Spacey in a never-seen-before performance as the villain.
“Fight Club” then came out in 1999, starring Bradd Pitt, who with time had another collaboration with Fincher.
Fight Club went from being hated, unappreciated, and heavily criticized when it first came out to gaining credibility and worth over time.
Being a dark comedy narrated by a very unreliable narrator (which was hinted at throughout the whole movie yet only confirmed at the end), it told a very twisted love story that kept the audience engaged.
After “Fight Club”, he released “Panic Room”, starring Oscar winner Jodie Foster, and Kristen Stewart, delivering a cinematic piece about survival in the middle of a crisis.
Fincher came back in 2007, with one of the best serial killer thrillers ever made, a star-studded cast, and a story with no end.
“Zodiac”, is a slow-burn movie that sets a realistic pace, with Fincher placing humanity under a tight microscope using framing, blocking, and editing to direct the viewer’s attention to certain intricate details.
Until today, “Zodiac” is still considered one of the most realistic and authentically looking historical films that have ever been made. It’s a movie about a sickening paranoia and panic that invaded San Francisco following a series of crimes committed by the Zodiac killer.
Fincher’s career went on, with “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” being a big hit, and then, a film that director Quentin Tarantino believes is the best film of 2010, “The Social Network”, which tells the story of Marl Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook.
As the director is obsessed with digital effects, employing them way more than you’d think, he used more special effects shots in “The Social Network”, a movie about dudes yelling at each other over a social media platform, than what was used in 2014’s “Godzilla”, a movie about a giant lizard destroying the planet.
Surprisingly, “Godzilla” had 960 VFX shots, while “The Social Network” had a total of 1000 VFX shots.
“The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo”, wasn’t the successful production that studios hoped for, however, it remains one of Fincher’s most well-crafted films, with a layered storyline and unmatched ways of directing actors.
Rights after, Fincher released “Gone Girl”, which marked this decade as one of the best thrillers ever made.
Dark and eerie from the beginning, it showed the complexity of modern marriages and how they survive hardships.
“Mank” was a surprise that the world didn’t see coming, a black-and-white biopic about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his development of the screenplay for the 1941 film Citizen Kane.
This year, Fincher is making a comeback with “The Killer”, which is debuting at the Venice Film Festival this month.
For television, Fincher worked with Netflix on the studio’s first-ever original series, to make “House of Cards”, a very political thriller that ended in great critical claim and several awards.
He then made the now-discontinued masterpiece “Mind Hunter”, which reportedly was “too expensive” for Netflix to keep on making, leading to pulling the plug on it after two perfect seasons.
Lastly, he made “Love Death and Robots”, an adult animated anthology television Web series consisting of stand-alone episodes on love, death, and robots.