While his latest creation, The Killerhas just been released on Netflix, you can also (re)discover 3 cult David Fincher films in streaming: Fight Club, Gone Girl And Mank.
Of Seven has The Social Network Passing by ZodiacDavid Fincher’s cinema has always oscillated between effective detective intrigues and a scathing look at our modern societies.
Regularly cited as one of the best current directors, the American filmmaker has also put his recognizable stamp on the world of series with masterpieces like House of Cards Or Mindhunter.
To unveil his brand new film, The Killer, David Fincher has chosen Netflix again. But other productions by the filmmaker are also available on the SVOD platform.
You thus have the choice between the murderous introspection of The Killerthe duel at the top of Fight Clubthe homage to the seventh art with Mank or the worrying disappearance of Gone Girl.
The Killer on Netflix, the relentless killer
A man waits alone, in abandoned premises. He watches the world from his window, offering in passing, in voiceover, his sarcastic analyzes on life and capitalism. Until the observer himself becomes observed… With The KillerDavid Fincher returns to his first love: the sticky thriller, always tinged with well-placed irony.
He develops the story of a hitman hunted by strangers, traveling around the world to try to find them. Played by the chilling Michael Fassbender (X-Men: The Beginning), this meticulous character, with repetitive protocol, seems at first rather unbearable, like many of Fincher’s protagonists.
But as the minutes pass, we end up displaying an unexpected empathy towards this imperturbable antihero, whose voice-over tirelessly lulls us. It must be said that the director has ample control over his subject, demonstrating once again his talent for depicting dark stories.
Here he adapts the French comic strip The killer, by Matz (Alexis Nolent) and Luc Jacamon, by modernizing the subject and the environment of this not-so-cold-blooded murderer. An oppressive success divided into 6 chapters, the credits of which are already a little bomb in themselves.
- To see if you liked: Fight Club; Zodiac ; Rear window ; the Samurai ; Prisoners ; Night Call ; Collateral ; John Wick ; Hitman ; Barry ; Dexter
- To see if you are looking for: thriller; action ; fighting; Voice off ; hitman ; antihero; irony; solitary character; tension ; cerebral; violence ; see Michael Fassbender drinking whiskey with Tilda Swinton (Doctor Strange), quiet ; put your own loneliness into perspective
Fight Club on Netflix, the cult film whose name must not be pronounced
A real flop when it was released in 1999, Fight Club is one of those films which have acquired the status of an essential reference in the seventh art over the years. Open to many possible interpretations, the feature film features a very solitary narrator (yet another one), who soon meets Tyler Durden, an ultra-charismatic man, with whom he will found Fight Club, a clandestine place where fights are kings. With one fundamental rule: never talk about Fight Club. A cult film for an entire generation, this peak of David Fincher’s career allowed him to establish himself as an essential filmmaker.
The production, completely hallucinatory, thus masterfully sublimates the performances of Brad Pitt (Seven, Bullet Train), Edward Norton (American History X, Glass Onion) and Helena Bonham Carter (Harry Potter, The Crown) in the main roles. The whole thing is coated in cynical anti-capitalist thinking, with monologues that still flourish everywhere on the Internet or elsewhere at the slightest opportunity. A classic, which we really never get tired of.
- To see if you liked: Mr Robot ; Shutter Island ; American Psycho ; Trainspotting ; Clockwork Orange ; Taxi Driver ; Donnie Darko ; Joker ; Mulholland Drive
- To see if you are looking for: psychological thriller; fighting; drama ; violence ; romance; chills; cerebral; unforgettable twist; golden casting; develop an entire repertoire of anti-capitalist punchlines; never hear again Where is my mind Pixies in the same way
Mank on Netflix, diving into the seventh art
After the son, we ask the father: in 2020, David adapted the screenplay of his father, Jack Fincher, posthumously, with Mank. Centered on the screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, an alcoholic in his (long) spare time, the film above all reveals the underbelly of Hollywood and the writing of Citizen Kanedirected by Orson Welles.
In his first creation directly released on Netflix, David Fincher presented an extremely sharp, family scenario. To appreciate this biopic shot entirely in sublime black and white, you must have a serious foundation in cinephile, otherwise you will not understand much of the long dialogues in 1930s style which are scattered throughout the film.
Mank especially goes for Gary Oldman’s performance (The Dark Knight), totally inhabited by her character, and Amanda Seyfried (The Dropout), perfect in the role of actress Marion Davies. But we especially recommend it to be reserved for the most passionate cinema lovers or the curious who want to perfect their knowledge of the seventh art.
- To see if you liked: Citizen Kane ; Ed Wood ; Dalton Trumbo ; Hood ; In Mary’s Shadow ; The Artist ; Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood ; Babylon ; Hollywood ; Tolkien
- To see if you are looking for: drama ; biopic; black and white ; 1930s; stories about cinema; life of screenwriter; sarcasm; policy ; historical; golden casting; inspired by real events; see Gary Oldman pretending to be drunk for about 90% of the movie
Gone Girl on Netflix, the controversial thriller
Of David Fincher’s entire filmography, one feature film in particular has experienced numerous controversies since its release: Gone Girl. Alternately denounced as an anti-feminist work then praised as the portrait of a complex female character, the film plunges us into an investigation alongside Nick Dunne. As he was preparing to celebrate his fifth wedding anniversary with his wife, Amy, the latter suddenly disappeared. But as the media and the police gradually unravel the threads of their relationship, Nick’s guilt seems more and more obvious…
Narrated again by a haunting voiceover, here that of Rosamund Pike (The Wheel of Time, State of the Union), Gone Girl mixes the tracks with each new sequence, the better to lose us in its labyrinthine narration. Adapted from the bestseller Appearances by Gillian Flynn, also a screenwriter, this psychological thriller will clearly not please everyone, but deserves at least one viewing to form your own opinion on the subject of the film. And as a bonus, you’ll even win performances by a golden duo, composed of Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck (Batman v Superman).
- To see if you liked: Millennium ; I Care A Lot ; Sharp Objects ; The Rebel Wedding; The Girl on the Train ; Shutter Island; Prisoners; Basic Instinct
- To see if you are looking for: psychological thriller; police officer ; mystery ; drama ; violence ; golden casting; investigation ; revenge ; cerebral; book adaptation; suspense; riddles; twists and turns; form your own opinion on whether the film is misogynistic or not, in the company of the brilliant Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck
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