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Se7en (1995)
In David Fincher's crime thriller:
- the ingenuity of the clues at the various murder
scenes (none of which were seen committed)
- the unforgettable, nail-biting, concluding climax
in which maniacal serial killer John Doe (Kevin Spacey) led arrogant,
hotshot replacement Detective David Mills (Brad Pitt) and retiring
veteran Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) to a
remote desert area, promising to reveal the last two bodies and give
his confession
- he delivered another sick and gruesome crime and souvenir
- "her
pretty head" (a severed head, never shown) delivered in a bloody
cardboard box
- Doe confessed to the sin of Envy before killing Mills'
pregnant wife Tracy (Gwyneth Paltrow): "I
wish I could have lived like you did...I'm trying to tell you how much
I admire you and your pretty wife...Tracy...It's disturbing how easily
a member of the press can purchase information from the men in your precinct...
I visited your home this morning after you'd left. I tried to play husband.
I tried to taste the life of a simple man...It didn't work out so I took
a souvenir - her pretty head"
- afterwards, he had her head delivered
to their location in the middle of the desert: ("Because I envy
your normal life, it seems that Envy is my sin - she begged for her
life, Detective. She begged for her life, and for the life of the
baby inside of her. (To Somerset) Oh, he didn't know")
- the lurid demonstration of the last of the Seven Deadly
Sins (gluttony, greed, sloth, lust, pride, envy and wrath)
- to demonstrate Wrath, anguished and angered Lt. Mills vengefully
shot Doe in the head, and then emptied his gun of bullets into Doe's
body, in exchange for his pregnant wife's beheading
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Det. David Mill's Wrathful Revenge on Doe
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- Det. Somerset's final words (in voice-over): "Ernest
Hemingway once wrote, 'The world is a fine place and worth fighting
for.' I agree with the second part"
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The "Greed" Crime Scene

"Pretty Head" in a Box: Confession of Envy by
John Doe
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