Streaming Quick Picks: David Fincher
As David Fincher’s newest film Gone Girl has taken first place at the box office for two weeks in a row, we here at the Madison Film Forum can think of no better time to spotlight Fincher as our director of the week.
In the fall of 1999, I felt like there was a sense of promise in American cinema, with a number of directors who were delivering modern masterpieces on what seemed like a weekly basis. Along with films like The Limey and Magnolia, Fight Club contributed to a feeling of a new wave of American cinema. While that didn’t quite pan out the way I hoped it would, directors like Steven Soderbergh and Paul Thomas Anderson have left an indelible mark on the last decade. So too has Fincher.
In some ways, Fincher is the polar opposite of a filmmaker like Quentin Tarantino. Whereas Tarantino uses “original” screenplays to produce films that are oftentimes patchwork adaptations, Fincher seems instead to prefer to start with adapted material, from which he makes films that feel wholly original through his storytelling and technical prowess. Even his failures (Alien³ and Panic Room) are fascinating in one form or another, which can sometimes be one of the hallmarks of a great filmmaker. As much as people (myself included) love Se7en, Fight Club, and The Game and privilege them not only as outstanding films but also as pop culture touchstones, I dare say that his greatest film is the one that is the most under-seen. If you enjoy David Fincher and haven’t seen Zodiac, stop reading this right now and click on the poster below, which will take you to Netflix and provide you with 2 hours and 37 minutes of the best filmmaking of the past 10 years.
As for Gone Girl, after watching it, I couldn’t help but think it was a neatly put together synthesis of his career to date. Like The Game or Fight Club, it is a film that is more than the sum of its plot twists. Like The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, it is thoroughly modern in both production design and overall aesthetic. Also like those films, the technical gimmickry that some might accuse him of in earlier films is transformed into a more polished sense of craft. Formally, it feels less like a departure and more like a maturation, which is exactly what one wants to see in a great artist.
All of his feature work is available in one form or another. Only Panic Room is not available for streaming rental. You’ll be able to find everything else on Amazon Instant, Vudu, and Netflix. As always, we have also supplied links to our good friends from the Madison Public Library and Four Star Video Coop.
The Madison Film Forum wants you to stream or rent one great film a week, attend at least one great film a month, and meet people doing the same. Whether you’ve seen it a dozen times and want to revisit Fight Club once more, or whether you want to check out a lesser known Fincher film (ahem, Zodiac), be sure to take a look at Fincher’s work below. Feel free to share your thoughts on any of the films—including the polarizing Gone Girl—in the comments section.
