I don’t really have favorites. Favorite food, favorite color… I feel like they’re supposed to be representative of you, and I’m just too multifaceted and evolving. However, I will say that the movie that I’ve watched the most– and would be my favorite if I had them at the present– is The Social Network.
When it first announced, I was probably someone who groaned and wrote it off as “the Facebook movie.” Although I remember liking the layering of Kanye West’s “Power” declaring, “No one man should have all that power” over previews when the face of the real life Zuckerberg was named Time‘s Person of the Year.
But after seeing the film and reading analysis, I was obsessed with it. I don’t know if it’s my age or the connection of filming digitally for a technology movie, but just the way it’s shot is beautiful. I love director David Fincher’s “trademark cool” color palettes, and his shots are unbelievably clear. Yet distant. Some people say they like vinyl records because you can hear scratches. It brings them to life. There are no scratches on digital. It’s cold, robotic, inhuman. Is that what Zuckerberg is? Is that what Facebook is making us?
To be honest, I despise that kind of question because people have always used technology to avoid each other. But perhaps due to Jesse Eisenberg’s acting prowess, you’re much more inclined to say yes. He became one of the youngest actors nominated for Lead Actor from Network and would’ve been the youngest winner if he’d won (fuck you, King’s Speech!).
His nuances were really impressive, but let’s not forget Andrew Garfield. Playing the supportive best friend, Eduardo, who eventually gets screwed out of Facebook, there is a scene in which he grabs a beer for both him and Mark, who is grabbing one for himself and doesn’t even notice Wardo. I’m so emotional!! Mark, you asshole!!!!
I’ve mentioned the medium and a little bit about method, but I also love how Fincher fills a frame. At the end of the film, after Wardo has smashed Mark’s laptop, his replacement, Silicon Vally bad boy Sean Parker is arrested, his glitz and glamour worn off. He calls Mark as the Facebook office lights shut down, and they literally occupy opposite sides of the screen, representing how incompatible they’ve become, how Mark’s risked it all to get to his position, and how alone he’s rendered once again.
I love feeling fake-sad. Real-sad? Awful. Happy? Yeah it’s alright, but I don’t know. Getting worked up about fiction is like a catharsis. Fincher’s next film was an adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which came out December 20th, 2011 and touted itself as “the feel bad movie of Christmas,” and I cheered.
Beautiful, sad stuff is just my favorite, and I feel like there’s a very limited pool of that. Obviously, it’s not fit for every film or story, but as shown by Gone Girl or Se7en, people don’t like not-happy endings! It takes a little gall to go for the unique.
So I “love” the bittersweet juxtaposition of Mark, alone after a day of his best friend suing him, text saying he’s the youngest billionaire in the world, and the soundtrack of the Beatles asking, “How does it feel to be one of the beautiful people?”
I could write more about The Social Network from its memorable lines to its score by my favorite musician (yes, I do have one). But so long as it’s the closest to my favorite movie, I’m going to watch it on its release date, October 1st, probably noticing something I didn’t catch the last time.
Film: The Social Network
Director: David Fincher
Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin
Year: 2010
Ebert Rating: ☆☆☆☆
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hariharian 