Se7en

Se7en directed by David Fincher is one of the darkest crime thriller I have ever seen. The film is Set in a vision of New york like some anonymous US city, where it is always raining. The film concerns with Dectective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman), dectective David Mills (Brad Pitt)and the serial killer (Kevin Spacey).

     In the city, where it is always raining, the serial killer is busy slaying his victims according to the seven deadly sins;gluttony, greed, sloth, envy, lust, etc.. leaving a sick procession of corpses, each one murdered in a way related to their own particular sin. Like, a wealthy lawyer is forced to cut off a pound of his own flesh (greed);a fatty man is forced to fed until his stomach explodes (gluttony) etc... Assigned to the case are experienced cop William Somerset, a methodological thinker, a week away from retirement after long years in the force and his young new partner David Mills, recently relocated to the city along with his wife. They are always one step behind the murderer.

The victims are never killed onscreen. Instead, we catch some moments of the corpses at the crime scene. It is more disturbingly, when we have to visualize in our mind the full extent of the killer's atrocities when they are discussed, Somerset and Mills.

As the dectectives Move closer to their aim, the movie shifts from thriller to horror. We come away reeling, emotionally and mentally shaken and I think Se7en is a worthwhile crime thriller with a mystery plot, memorable finale and the solid performances. 

Turtles Can Fly

Turtles can fly, written and directed by Bahman Ghobadi takes place in the days leading up to America's second world war against Iraq, in a small village and refugee camp at the border of Iraq and Turkey. 

One of the main character is, Satellite, a boy nicknamed for his knowledge with technology. Satellite is a young man who looks after a large group of children, orphaned by war. For survive, the children deactivate and remove american landmines embedded in mountainous farmland. The other character is Hengov, a boy who predicts the future. He lost his arms. He uses his mouth to disarm the active mines. He and his sister Agrin, take turns carrying their little brother, Riga. Riga is not actually their brother. They are from Halabcheh, where Saddam Hussein gassed the kurdish population. Through flashback, we can see Agrin suffers from vivid memories of war, where Iraqi soldiers raped her in a pond of water. Riga symbolizes the memory of her horrifying experience. 


With the onset of war, the village seeks information from Satellite Television. The character Satellite relies on Hengov's futuristic vision for information on the war. When Hengov predicted a truckload of warheads would explode, Satellite trusts the forecast and acts on it. As a result, the children increase their trust in him. 

The scenes in the "Warfare Junkyard" illustrste the movie's theme. It is a landscape littered with empty, tank shells and rusted warheads. 

 Riga peeps through a stockpile of metal cylinders crying" daddy? Mummy? ", the shot is so symbolic to establish the emotional background of the story. As narrated in the film, they have no water, no electricity and no schools. Most of them have no parents. 

The politics of the film show that despite whom world leaders befriend and alienate ;and whether countries form alliances, or they become enemies;and how geopolitical agendas change over time;in any conflict or war, children suffer the most. Despite their tragedies, they stick together ;they look out for each other, and they share their belongings. 

Agrin is a strong, female character, who can not escape the tragic memory of the meaning who violated her. Eventhough Satellite cares for Agrin, she yearns for freedom from poor living conditions. 

   I like Ghobadi's use of water and shells. Water is a pool of self reflection, a means of exploration, a place for memories and a place for end them (tragically). The film's music supports the emotional timbre of each situation. Ghobadi focusses on the effects of war upon children.