Lucas
Versantvoort / August 24, 2013
Making a
film based on the creation of something which is in a sense ‘invisible’ is
challenging. But Fincher’s impressive The Social Network is less about
the popular website itself and more about the people involved in its creation
and subsequent popularity growth.
The film opens smack-dab in the
middle of a conversation in a bar between soon-to-be Facebook ‘inventor’ Mark
Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) and his girlfriend Erica Albright (Rooney Mara).
Erica, eventually fed up with Mark’s desire to attain status, breaks up with
him. Mark, enraged, starts posting degrading comments about Erica and women in
general on his blog. He also creates a website called “Facemash” where Harvard
students can rate women based on their ‘hotness’. The website becomes massively
popular the very same night and causes Harvard’s severs to crash, which for a
‘computer geek’ like Zuckerberg is an achievement rather than a problem. Two
other students, the Winklevoss brothers, are impressed and recruit Mark to
create a website focused on social interaction. Mark, however, takes their
idea, adds things and creates his own website behind the Winklevoss’ backs,
called “The Facebook”. The film then proceeds to go back and forth in time to
show both the (legal) drama that is to come and the current evolution in
popularity of “The Facebook”.
One of the film’s highlights is the
quick-witted script by The West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin. For those who
say the script feels unnatural, I can only refer you to Network, a film made
about 30 years ago, known for its brilliant and yes, unnatural screenplay, that
is still talked about to this day.
Anyway, there’s not much to say about the script that hasn’t been said already:
it’s occasionally ‘tech-y’ but not too much, clever, smart and lightning-fast,
something the film’s fantastic editing emphasizes (the first time I felt I had
a chance to catch my breath was during a rowing match somewhere halfway in the
film!). Fincher’s direction believably places the viewer in the college
experience, showing glimpses of parties, classes and the oppressive college culture
lying underneath it all where financial success is everything. Fincher also
deserves a lot of credit for coaxing uniformly excellent performances from such
a young cast. The extras present on the special edition reveal how Fincher
spent weeks around the table with the actors, endlessly discussing the
characters.
A film like this, based on
historical events, will always be partially judged on how well it stays true to
the very history it attempts to recreate. I have doubts whether The Social
Network follows everything down to the smallest details, but I always saw
the film more as a social commentary. Fincher seemed to have a strong interest
in the moral degradation underlying the character’s world and actions. This is
something Fincher is more than familiar with, having explored similar issues in
films like Se7en, The Game and Fight Club and (his next
film) The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.
It’s interesting to note in
hindsight the battle between The King’s Speech and The Social Network
at the Oscars. While The Social Network had been dominating the
awards season up to the BAFTA’s, the Academy went with The King’s Speech
in the end, awarding it Best Picture and Best Director among others. Why this
sudden change? There are a number of reasons, two of which are the most
popular: 1) The King’s Speech checked more boxes in the so-called ‘award
bait’ category (disease/disability, British Royalty, overcoming the odds) and
2) it captured the ‘hearts’ of the Academy. People expected voters to vote with
their hearts than with their minds. In other words, The King’s Speech
was the more likable film. I’ll end this review with a quote from the
ending to The Social Network that, in retrospect, captures this
sentimentalism:
MARYLIN
I’m talking
about a jury. I specialize
in voir
dire--jury selection. And what
the jury sees
when they look at the
defendant.
Clothes, hair, speaking style,
likability—
MARK
Likability?
MARYLIN
I’ve been
licensed to practice law for
all of 20
months and I could get a jury
to believe you
planted the story about
Eduardo and the
chicken. Watch what else.
Why weren’t you
at Sean’s sorority party
that night?
MARK
You think I’m
the one who called the
police?
MARYLIN
Doesn’t matter.
I asked the question and
now everybody’s
thinking about it. You’ve
lost your jury
in the first 10 minutes.
Note that
Mark says ‘Likability?’ in a mocking manner, showing he already knows he’s not
the most charismatic guy around. Also, replace the word ‘jury’ with ‘Oscar
voters’ in that last sentence and you see why The Social Network lost
its chances at the Best Picture Oscar in the first 10 minutes.
*Excerpt
from the script taken from: http://flash.sonypictures.com/video/movies/thesocialnetwork/awards/thesocialnetwork_screenplay.pdf
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