The killerthe return of King Fincher
In his long and masterful introductory sequence, The killer shows the hitman in question patiently and meticulously preparing for a precision shot… only to then fail. It is the first misstep of David Fincher’s film, but elegantly not apart from the fatal waltz of which the director Seven AND The social network invites its spectators. The killer it is in fact a film completely out of sync, in arrhythmiaa tragic introspection hidden in a B series to which it equally pays homage 1970s exploitation film noir compared to the comic of which it is adapted.
One might believe so at first glance The killer it is a “small” Fincher, a “minor” film in a filmography of great works. Because this chaptered revenge story, structured simply around executions, doesn’t have the baroque trappings of the Seventhe madness of Fight clubor the excessive ambition of Zodiac OR The social network. But first only.
There is a numbness that spreads The killer, but more than laziness or boredom, it is a carefully studied slowness, with a calm and conventional framework to follow simple shots. It’s only for the better, when trouble reaches the killer – perfectly embodied by a silent Michael Fassbender – that the camera begins to shake, to move, to tip over. The perfect example is this phenomenal fight sequence in the darkness of a house in Florida, where David Fincher remembers being a master at shooting shadows, gray areas, the color gradient of loss of control.
A killer (and director) obsessed with control
Control is what the killer is obsessed with. On several occasions we see him reading his heartbeat on your connected watch. Some information, but also a rule: act calmly, maintain control. A mantra that he often repeats to himself, in his permanent internal monologue, and which eventually dissolves: “Stick to the plan. Move up. Don’t improvise. Only perform the contract you are paid to perform.“The killer has a rhythm, a method, and when he misses the first shot, that’s it this rhythm and this method that are questioned. She would like to stay on the sidelines, she would like to abstract herself from the world, and from the crazy speed in which he acts. But, and it’s not for lack of trying, she can’t take it anymore.
From Paris to Santo Domingo, then to New York passing through Louisiana and Florida, how can we avoid leaving traces? How to disappear in an ultra-connected world, which consumes and eliminates at high speed, building mountains of data. What identity should you have? The killer is full of contradictions : it always looks the same, but it keeps changing its name. She has the routine and discretion of a monk, but she lives inside a luxurious villa, a carefully decorated inactive cocoon. An invitation to idleness which he nevertheless denounces at the beginning of the story. Like its main character, as well as its director, The killer it is therefore and deliberately full of these same contradictions.
An allegory of dizzying precision
David Fincher directed The killer a splendid work on image editing and perhaps even more so on sound editing, which traps us in the psyche of his character. A work of goldsmithing, in which each element has its right place. Thus, the rest of the cast – Charles Parnell in the role of a lawyer-sponsor of murders, Tilda Swinton in the role of an elegant and ferocious assassin – may at first glance appear underused, but in reality they are perfectly used, subject even to disintegration rhythm of the killer’s movements and actions. He is “the man who wasn’t there“, and they’re not even really there, disappearing as soon as they arrive. So, that The killer Like it or not, everything fits together in total coherence.
The highest quality of The killer it is to offer a multiple allegory, to resolve numerous of them paradoxes. Can you be a cold, relentless killer and still have humanity? Can we, in this confusing world, stand out? Does being part of the elite mean knowing how to blend in with the masses? Can we make a nice artistic gesture in a B series? And we can, finally, take the long time see an opera at the cinema on Netflix? Many questions whose answers can be found in this highly successful thriller by David Fincher.
The killer by David Fincher, on Netflix on November 10, 2023. Above is the trailer. Find all our trailers here.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
