Sunday, October 10, 2010

The Social Network

Movie name: The Social Network
Year of release: 2010
Director: David Fincher
Stars: Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Armie Hammer, Max Minghella, Joseph Mazzello, Rooney Mara, John Getz, Rashida Jones, David Selby, Brenda Song
Genre: Drama
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 9

Synopsis:By now David Fincher's name is well established as one of the most interesting film-makers currently working. His name is associated with films that are daring, well written and impeccably thought and executed. After the fantastic films that were "Zodiac" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button", Fincher decided to tackle a contemporary story, with a screenplay from Aaron Sorkin (who made his name as the creator/writer of "The West Wing"), about the creation of the huge behemoth site that is "Facebook".
The film introduces us to Mark Zuckerberg, a young student at Harvard, who is quite brilliant, but has problems relating to others and developing friendships. Mark's ingenious and brilliance as a programmer, gets him in contact with three individuals who want to create an online network for people who are within the circle of Harvard University. However Zuckerberg goes a step beyond and starts creating something that expands to other universities, including institutes all around the world. In the process this network starts getting more and more attention, from the people who initially hired him and want part of the gain and from Sean Parker, creator of Napster who can see the potential that the project has. In the middle of all this, his friendship with Eduardo Saverin, his initial financial backer crumbles.
David Fincher's film has an energy that is relentless - the film goes through different time frames and different perspectives, in an attempt to understand how the site got launched and the issues that were created as a consequence of it. The multiple lawsuits that Zuckerberg goes through, start peeling away the whole genesis of the site, but ultimately provide some insight to whom those people/intervenients are. The film is built upon layers, with each one providing some further knowledge of why the site is so controversial. In the end, it proves that greed is indeed a main motivating party for a lot of these people. The film has great performances from Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Rooney Mara, who in the few scenes she has, gives a gravity and strength to the role that resonate throughout the entire film. Also to highlight the beautiful cinematography from Jeff Cronenweth. A fantastic film!

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