What you need to know:
‘The Killer’ by David Fincher is now available in the Netflix originals catalog and is one of the best films of 2023 and the director’s filmography.
After the little success in criticism and reception it had mank in 2020, David Fincher is back to prove that he is one of the best directors of his generation, capable of exploring different narratives through stories that, in one way or another, define the human condition on a particular and universal level. And this 2023 he does it with Killer.
However. We are sure that when they finish watching The Killerstarring Michael Fassbender, you will feel like you haven’t seen a Fincher film. Or rather, it is very different in terms of editing or rhythm by maintaining an extremely monotonous tone with high peaks led by action scenes that, truly, are spectacular.
However, The Killer is the film that could best define Fincher’s cinema, how his mind works, his infamous obsession with details and even his hatred for making movies. And that makes it one of the most outstanding productions not only of his filmography, but of this 2023 (and these two virtues also translate to Fassbender’s work).
What is David Fincher’s The Killer about?
The Killer introduces us to a hitman, without a name, who is in Paris. He rented an empty office across from a building where his next target will eventually arrive. These are days of waiting, of observing, of sitting hours in front of the room or apartment where the “victim” is going to arrive while listening to the complete discography of The Smiths.
While we recognize his routine, the murderer does a series of monologues or reflections that reveal to us his philosophy, we understand first, to be a “good” murderer. But as the film progresses, we discover that it is a modus operandi that applies to any profession. But now we come to that.
The murderer talks about physical fatigue that comes from doing nothing. Control your body with a heartbeat count. The false idea of the existence of justice, karma and luck. The need to go unnoticed, not to be seen, or better yet, not to be memorable.
But above all things, he tells us about his contact with the world: “Fight only the battle you’re paid to fight. Forbid empathy. Empathy is weakness. Weakness is vulnerability“. And his routine: “Stick to your plan. Anticipate, don’t improvise. Trust not one. Never yield an advantage”.
Nothing can be personal. But after he fails to kill his target in Paris, For the murderer it is impossible to follow a plan, to anticipate, not to improvise on the fly, not to take advantage of an advantage. Everything becomes personal, the worst mistake you can make despite the denial of your situation.
But the interesting thing is that Not only does it become very personal because the same people who hired him now seek to kill him for failing. It is personal because your life depends on your work. Of everything he does for someone else, he must now do it for himself. And isn’t this what ordinary, ordinary, hard-working people experience in any workplace?
The Killer, a critique of capitalism and consumption
After failing with his goal, The murderer must flee. And the first place he goes is his house, which he shares with a woman. When he arrives, he discovers that she has been violated. So he begins an international hunt in which the protagonist must climb all the hierarchies of power for which he works, until he reaches the person responsible for the attack (the same one who hired him, first, to kill the subject in Paris).
What it does David Fincher with The Killer It is a criticism or an analysis of the labor relations that determine a person’s daily life and everything that comes from here. It talks about the power hierarchies that are so clear but so unequal in a workplace.
It sounds strange to talk about an assassin as a job, but it is. And here, as in the reality of an accountant, for example, There are employers and there are employees, and usually the employee is disposable. In The Killer an understanding develops that An employee, whoever he is, produces, consumes and is consumed by the dynamics to be determined with the power of a hierarchy.
With a murderer, his job is to kill. If it fails, as in the movie, a whole process of bureaucracy ensues in which the murderer becomes the target of other murderers (employees). And he must fight for his life to survive in a system that keeps you waiting for an error to happen (hence his mantra or philosophy).
In The KillerFincher is close to a premise like that of Drive by Nicolas Winding Refn in which a person capable of reaching extreme levels of brutality. The driver of Driveplayed by Ryan Gosling, It is the lowest link in the chain. But it is the most important because it is the one that executes the work.
The thing with this tape, and whose idea is repeated, in some way, in The Killer the thing is Despite being the last part of the production chain as an assassin, he is the only one who wields a gun. Those at the top, no matter how high, usually give orders, but do not execute them. So, What happens when the murderer reaches the person at the top of the pyramid?
“Bigmouth Strikes Again” and The Smiths soundtrack
One of the highlights and funniest aspects in The Killer is that the killer listens to The Smiths all the time. He uses the entire discography of the band led by Morrissey to concentrate, as a way to meditate and as an accompaniment to lower his heart rate to less than 60 (ideal for shooting).
However, the choice of both the band and the songs was not random. David Fincher chose The Smiths because at some point he wanted “How Soon Is Now?”precisely, like the song that will concentrate all his meditation exercise that leads us to know his reflections.
But in reality, we could say that The most important song is “Bigmouth Strikes Again” from 1986, which was part of the album The Queen Is Dead. In the lyrics, we hear Moz say “And I’ve got no right to take my place to the human race“, and it seems like a verse that perfectly qualifies the state in which the murderer finds himself.
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Everything you didn’t know . .
