 | | The Social Network *****
| Year: | 2010 | | Director: | David Fincher |
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David Fincher's The Social Network is the stunning tale of a new breed of cultural insurgent: a punk genius who sparked a revolution and changed the face of human interaction for a generation, and perhaps forever. Shot through with emotional brutality and unexpected humor, this superbly crafted film chronicles the formation of Facebook and the battles over ownership that followed upon the website's unfathomable success. With a complex, incisive screenplay by Aaron Sorkin and a brilliant cast including Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake, The Social Network bears witness to the birth of an idea that rewove the fabric of society even as it unraveled the friendship of its creators.If there is a theme running through David Fincher’s films, it is characters that put a lot of effort into incredibly inventive ways of being lazy and actively avoiding responsibility, supported by a sensational event that lets them off the hook. While no-one could judge Brad Pitt’s dreadful dilemma in
Se7en, you could accuse the script of a naïve contrivance in trying to be profound. But I still loved it, and it’s one of my favourite films.
Fight Club isn’t a favourite though, featuring a guy who is basically a depressed terrorist who wishes he had a terminal illness, just so people would feel sorry for him. And don’t get me started on the shameless and deplorable
Benjamin Button! It seems all that film could tell us was that growing backwards is the best excuse for sleeping around and abandoning your family!
However, all of this supports the fact that Mark Zuckerberg was born to be the perfect Fincher lead character, with the ultimate justification that his story is true. Well… a bit. It’s the fascinating tale of how Facebook came into being and yes, I did just use the word “fascinating” for a film featuring a social networking site. Maybe you love Facebook (sorry,
‘Like’ it), or hate it. Perhaps you’re just bemused by the whole strange affair. This film is for everyone, because it isn’t actually about Facebook; it’s about how our unique time and generation could allow Facebook to exist and, in the process, make kids into billionaires. It’s a scary world out there for business men who tend to think you have to build your fortune up over, you know, a decade or two of hard work. Not a half-baked idea during a drunken stupor while at college. Just what was Mark and his (few) friends actually studying there anyway?
Like any college movie about students’ extra-curricular activities, we never actually find out what their aspirations were outside of college. And let’s be clear now, Mark went to posh college (Harvard) so he came from money and there must have been a plan for his future. But Mark is a David Fincher character, so not having to be responsible enough to complete the course is ideal. The fact he destroys his only friendship in a bitter court battle over the creative rights of Facebook is perfect. And that he is actually anti-social (ironic), bitter, fragile and most likely an exploited victim (also ironic) is the final sublime touch
The Social Network needed to be one of the best films of the decade.
David Fincher has crafted a superlative film. The sense of time and place, something I felt was missing from his
Zodiac, is absolutely tangible here. Fincher’s regular cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth uses a beautiful Autumnal palette, especially in the Harvard scenes, that gives the film a real identity. Trent Raznor’s audacious and brilliant score completes a sombre, but lively mood that never wavers throughout a running time that flies by. It’s very entertaining, even though you might assume it to be a dry subject.
It won’t surprise fans of Aaron Sorkin’s
West Wing that his adapted screenplay crackles with great dialogue and he has deserved all the plaudits. What really impressed me though is the structure. While it flows smoothly, it confidently frames the story within the legal hearings. So often, historical films seem to free-wheel without an obvious end-point, but here, the narrative can be felt ticking away in the background. The other notable element is that Mark Zuckerberg is a lead character with no arc, without a sense of his own destiny or purpose, even. It’s a story built around the people nearest to him and how they react to his invention (this particular films staple sensational event). I say “his invention”, but it’s a bit more complicated than that! Whatever you think of the situation, the final shot could not be more perfect and ends the film on a memorable and lasting note that speaks directly to everyone that ever logged onto Facebook.
Jesse Eisenberg is excellent as Mark, making an unlikeable man oddly likeable. His relentless performance anchors the film, but its heart is his aggrieved friend, Eduardo Saverin, played by Andrew Garfield. He is a superb actor and it’s his integrity and underlying humour that you will identify with. It’s their awkward friendship, invaded by Justin Timberlake’s enigmatic Napster has-been Sean Parker, which is the real meat of the story. Armie Hammer, with help from body double Josh Pence, is brilliant in the demanding role of both Winklevoss twins. He does particularly well, because the twins don’t have the personal connection to Mark that Eduardo does, so it’s almost another film, folded seamlessly within the plot.
The whip-smart production filters through to the stunning Blu-Ray, which even has a menu that feels like an extension of the film. Sound and video quality are as good as anything I’ve seen on the format. You wouldn’t think a film such as this was demo quality, but it really is as it has a very rich environment of audio, while the video loses none of its depth. It feels like a very natural film, which is all the more astonishing when you see the thorough documentary showing Fincher using dozens of takes to meticulously build each scene. His characters might be irresponsible layabouts, but their director is a committed craftsman with a relentless attention to detail. Many reviews claimed this to actually be Aaron Sorkin’s film. His involvement was constant, but it is absolutely a David Fincher production and he should have been recognised by the Academy for it.
How much of this story is actually true is not important. Some of the facts speak for themselves, but otherwise, it’s a document of and for our time. It could be David Fincher’s best film; it is certainly his most important and should be embraced. You can put that on your
‘Wall’!
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