BENNETT INVENTORY : That Moment

Se7en -- Opening credit sequence

I'm not sure how much has already been said about this iconic piece of art, but I'm sure it's plenty. I do know that still, today, I recognize its influence - in everything from big blockbusters to little indies to TV shows; exhaustively imitated, never duplicated.
The thriller boom of the 90s was always about "getting inside the mind of the killer" - often through clumsy, gimmicky methods. Here, through a morbid, dirty montage of extreme closeups, they effectively set that tone without any kinda explicit exposition, onscreen violence, or even dialogue. We're witnessing a sinister backstory with an uncomfortable level of intimacy - it's a sickening calm before the storm.
With the help of Nine Inch Nails' "Precursor" remix of "Closer" (which I suggest listening to on its own for even more scares) the sequence accomplishes something rarely achieved in mainstream cinema: accessible abstraction - it's just a mood and a mystery.
Another reason it's so effective is that key phrase: "sets the tone," with the emphasis on "sets." As stated, dozens (probably hundreds) of other movies and shows have 'borrowed' this aesthetic for their credit sequences, while some ambitiously (and foolishly) tried to maintain this pace for an entire feature - and always with dumb results. Dumb because it's never crafted as eloquently (or practically) as how Fincher's crew assembled theirs, but also dumb for how these other movies take the concept of an appetizer and and try to spread it out over an entire meal.
For all his stylish cinematography and lurid subject matter, David Fincher maintains a quiet restraint in camera movement, editing, and overall storytelling - the body of the movie segregates the opening as its own thing, not as a disjointed transition, but a complimentary starter pistol. And clearly it has set the example, and will be puzzled over and studied and followed... forever.
Saul Bass should've been jealous.

- Paul