“Makes me a little queasy”: David Fincher’s unease at becoming an adjective
David Fincher is one of the few directors with such a specific style of filmmaking that an adjective has been named after him to describe said style. His films are characterised by their clear-cut precision, steely colour palette and general level of visual deception, hoodwinking audiences through his use of visual effects that are hardly even noticeable, only there to add accuracy as a character throws a jelly-bean or blood spatters across a wall.
However, despite the flattery intended behind the term ‘Fincher-esque’, the director is not a fan of the term.
Fincher is known for many modern masterpieces such as The Social Network, Mindhunter, Seven and Fight Club, pioneering this new visual style that feels both clean and grungy. His characters are often grappling with heavy moral dilemmas and conundrums that mirror a level of cynicism about humanity, leading to a shattering of illusions as they resign themselves to the atrocities of the world.
His attention to detail extends to every aspect of his films, something that has been praised by many of his collaborators. There is even some behind-the-scenes footage from Zodiac in which Jake Gyllenhaal’s character has to throw a folder of documents onto the passenger seat in his car. It sounds like a simple shot, but not to Fincher, who is so specific in his vision that Gyllenhaal had to do 36 takes to get it just right. But Fincher creates suspense through the precision of these details, creating a clash between the perfection of the style and the grunginess of the subject matter.
However, when asked how he feels about the use of this term in describing his style, Fincher said, “‘Fincher-esque’ makes me a little queasy. Although I think it’s a good thing to have an audience, have some expectation of you because it gives you opportunities to subvert that. When you’re making a movie like Gone Girl, it’s not a bad thing that people have seen Seven and know that shit can go seriously off the rails. The threat of that is actually kind of positive. You get to play with expectations. It’s your responsibility to be aware of that and use it to your advantage, as opposed to letting it get in the way of the story you’re trying to tell”.
Fincher has definitely used the ‘limitations’ of this description to his advantage, using this style to subvert what would typically define his work. In his work on the Netflix-produced series Mindhunter (which to this day is the unfinished project that haunts me the most), he twists the trademarks that he’s most known for by playing with the idea of ‘the hero’, cleverly subverting Jonathan Groff’s character to explore the psychological makeup of a sociopath and mirror the character’s journey in discovering how serial killers are created.
The series is a masterclass in character building, mis-en-scene and framing, and I’m still upset that it was never greenlit for a final season. But alas, who knows where Fincher will extend his genius to next, and many are eagerly awaiting to see the next story that is shown through his steely perspective.
