Netflix: Only a week left to catch this movie whose opening scene required 100 takes!

What is it about?

The social network commemorates the creation of Facebook by Mark Zuckerberg. This revolutionary invention causes sharp conflicts. What were the exact facts, who can actually claim the paternity of the planetary social network? What has become one of the defining ideas of the 21st century will explode the friendships of its pioneers and lead to clashes with colossal stakes…

100 takes an intro for the scene

Adapted from the book Revenge of the Loner: The True Story of Facebook’s Founder By Ben Mezrich, published in 2009, The Social Network harkens back to the concept of the famous social network by Mark Zuckerberg and his former Harvard colleagues, one the Winklevoss brothers and the other Eduardo Saverin, through flashbacks.

Written by Aaron Sorkin and directed by David Fincher, The Social Network was a true critical and public success and won 3 Oscars, including Best Adapted Screenplay, and 4 Golden Globes, including Best Drama. In France, the film was also successful as it attracted more than a million viewers in cinemas and was rated 4/5 by Internet users on AlloCiné.

To tell this crazy story, David Fincher called on the young film talents of the time, including Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Rooney Mara, Max Minghella, Rashida Jones and Dakota Johnson.

The Social Network is praised for the performances of its actors, its heavy-handed direction, but also for the quality of its writing and its sharp dialogue. There’s also a dialogue that specifically celebrates souls, the first of its kind: between Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and Erica (Rooney Mara).

It’s this fictitious conversation between Mark and his girlfriend at the time, also fictitious, in a bar that will lead to Facebook and that sets the tone for the film. Because Erica leaves Mark that night and he goes back to his Harvard dorm and spends the night getting drunk and hacking into the university’s computer system to create a site, a database of all girls. On campus where people can vote for the hottest.

Mark has been accused of intentionally violating security, copyright and privacy, creating controversy for his misogynistic creations. However, it was during this time that what would become Facebook was born, taking him from the Ivy League to Silicon Valley before becoming one of the world’s most influential business leaders.

This introductory scene – where the verbal battles rage at lightning speed – sheds a lot of light on Mark Zuckerberg’s personality. It is in this rhythmic sequence that we get our first glimpse into the psyche of this mysterious man, which demands a lot of attention.

Suffice it to say that this long sequence had to be perfect and that it was a long time in the making. You should know that this scene required 100 takes! David Fincher wanted to find the perfect rhythm for this dialogue, so he asked screenwriter Aaron Sorkin to read the script and time himself.

The director then asked Jesse Eisenberg and Rooney Mara to deliver their lines in Aaron Sorkin’s Invented Time. The two actors performed during rehearsals and then during multiple takes with different acting instructions each time.

If you want to re-watch this incredible series – and the absolutely epic movie – know that you only have one week left to (re)discover The Social Network on Netflix. The feature film leaves the catalog of the platform on June 30.