The Social Network: A Mark Zuckerberg Production

David Fincher’s newest film, The Social Network, is a departure from his usual fare but the director still delivers a masterful film filled with riveting tension and humanity.

With 500 million users, approximately a twelfth of the population of the planet, it is doubtful that there are many people that don’t know what Facebook is. What many people don’t know is the behind the scenes story. That is what The Social Network seeks to shed light on.

Mark Zuckerberg is a sophomore at Harvard University when his girlfriend breaks up with him. In order to vent his frustrations, he hacks the entire university database and downloads pictures of every female student. He uses the photos to create facemash.com, a website where users can rate the level of attractiveness of the girls relative to each other, two at a time. The site takes off with such speed that in one night, within a few hours, the website crashes the university network. This stunt earns Zuckerberg notoriety throughout Harvard. But it also helps him catch the eye of three members of one the prestigious and incredibly exclusive clubs at Harvard, Cameron Winklevoss, Tyler Winklevoss, and Divya Narendra. They ask him to help them create a social networking website by writing the code for them. Their idea plants the seeds in Zuckerberg’s mind.

Mark enlists the help of his best friend and roommate, Eduardo Saverin, who had supplied him with an algorithm crucial to making facemash.com. Eduardo joins Mark, supplying all the capital for the start up. In February 2004, thefacebook.com launches and all the trouble begins. Mark’s life fills with turmoil as his friends and enemies turn on him and he isn’t sure whom he can trust.

When this project was first announced, Aaron Sorkin and David Fincher seemed like an odd pairing of writer and director. Now it is clear they are a match made in heaven. Fincher’s penchant for running take after take, hitting at least twenty with most shots, really helps the actor’s find the rhythm in Sorkin’s rapid fire, acid tongued dialogue. I also had concerns about how Fincher’s visual style would blend with Sorkin’s habit of writing scenes of people in rooms talking. Fincher really reigned himself in for this film. That’s not to say that the film isn’t beautiful – it very much is. But in a film centered around computers and the internet, Fincher chooses to use next to no visual effects. Instead, he focuses on the performances of the actors, letting them carry the weight of the story.

And Jesse Eisenberg carries the heaviest load in the role of Mark Zuckerberg. Eisenberg carries this role with ease. He is amazing to watch. The darkness and arrogance he brings to it is something he hasn’t shown before. The way he fires out lines of dialogue dripping with venom at the people that challenge his achievement is absolutely enthralling to watch. This is a kid that created something incredibly successful and refuses to bend to the will of those that don’t want to take him seriously because of his age. Not only will he not tolerate that, he’ll show you just how much smarter than you he is. This performance is so good, so thrilling to watch, I believe that it will win Eisenberg an Oscar.

There to match Eisenberg along the way is Andrew Garfield as Eduardo Saverin. Garfield fills Saverin with traits that seem to be lacking in Zuckerberg. He is reasonable, he respects authority and institution, he understands there are channels of discourse. But he also has fear. He is fearful of taking a big risk with the company or letting it sit until Mark deems it is ready to monetize. But he is more than simply a foil, he is Mark’s only friend. He is the only person that not only tolerates all of Zuckerberg’s alienating qualities, but understands him and cares about him. Garfield is a phenomenal actor. When Mark reveals information to him, you can really see that information hit him. You can see the giddiness of creation shining in his eyes when they launch the website and the smoldering venom in those same eyes when Mark begins to drift away. You can see it in the way he carries himself, the way he walks into a room with shoulders raised and head held high or the way he stares at the ground as he walks away, looking as if every muscle in his body has collapsed. He is acting with his whole body in wonderfully subtle ways.

This is one of the most interesting films in a long time, if for no other reason than the members that were assembled to collaborate on it. Trent Reznor was brought in to work on the score. Now when I think of the creation of Facebook, when I think about people in rooms talking, I don’t think of the primal energy of Nine Inch Nails. And when you listen to the music on its own, it is just that. Working with Atticus Ross, Reznor composed a score that is relentless and dark, filled with echoing snyths and a vibrant percussive attitude. But seeing the music used in the film, it is exactly what the film needed. The electronic nature of the music feels very appropriate given that the world of the film has computers and the internet used as the backdrop. The relentless beat feeds into the energy of Sorkin’s dialogue and the momentum of the scenes. The music is a rather perfect complement to the world that Fincher and Sorkin have created.

If there is one central complaint I have with the film it is that I wanted more. I wanted more of Eduardo and Mark’s relationship. Those moments let the audience in to a side of Mark that is never really seen otherwise. They show the full depth of his character. He isn’t just some arrogant kid. He has doubts. He has regrets. He has weaknesses. And while these moments are hinted at throughout the film, I would have liked to have seen a little more.

The Social Network is an endlessly entertaining film. It is gripping from the very first few seconds to the last moment of the film. It is a film that turns people typing on computers and talking in rooms into something as exciting as a bank heist. To use a term that is more and more becoming common vernacular, I like this on Facebook.

Mark Romanek's Never Let Me Go: A Review

After eight years, Mark Romanek has directed another feature film, Never Let Me Go. Romanek has delivered on all the promise of his first film, One Hour Photo, and created a film that is utterly remarkable.

Kathy, Tommy, and Ruth meet each other as students at Hailsham, an English boarding school governed by strict rules. Their lives become intertwined as they move beyond the walls of Hailsham and from adolescence to adulthood. The film is a period piece love story that also has a bit of sci-fi mixed in. While the film takes place in the past, it is an alternate past where different technological breakthroughs were discovered. I don’t want to give away any more than that. This film is far too interesting to damage with too much synopsis.

The performances in Never Let Me Go are stunning. Each and every single one of them. Isobel Meikle-Small is amazing as the young Kathy. It is surprising to see an actress so young give a performance that is so subtle and reserved. As the young Tommy, Charlie Rowe brings a wonderful vulnerability to the character. You can see the emotions surging around in him as his body tenses or he throws open his arms and screams. Ella Purnell’s performance as the young Ruth shines through her eyes, which flash intrigue, understanding, and plotting, and can even carry an edge of cruelty at times. Furthermore, it is impressive to see these performances carry over from the children into their adult counterparts.

Carey Mulligan’s portrayal of Kathy is still subtle and reserved but now carries a weight of regret that you can read on her face. At times, she lets go of her control and expresses her anger and frustration, but still tactfully and succinctly. This a woman that would rather carry her burdens alone so that others may be happy, a woman that can bear great weight placed on her shoulders. She seems to have a firmer grasp on the world than those that have spent more time in it.

Andrew Garfield will break your heart in this film. The timid boy of Tommy still exists, as he is unsure whether he can accompany Kathy on a walk- even after having been her friend for ten years. And when he is given permission to join, bounces down the road, stepping in puddles, and laughing. He’s someone that lives with his heart, and sometimes his head can take a moment to catch up. But unlike when he was a boy, Tommy has learned to control emotions so that they don’t come bursting out. But Garfield shows these emotions bubbling below the surface with a look out of the corner of his eye, or the way his shoulders tense, or the slight quiver in his lips as he tries to find the words to express himself. It’s a beautiful thing to watch.

Keira Knightley plays the older Ruth. She brings a painful beauty to the role. Ruth is a woman that desperately wants to be more than she is. She claims to know more about the world than she does and imitates television to fit in with those around her. It is only when things come crashing down on her, that she can admit to herself what she truly is and accept the pain that she has caused. Knightley has such wonderfully expressive eyes that you can actually see the pain and longing and venom and anger swimming around in them.

The work by cinematographer Adam Kimmel is absolutely beautiful in this film. There is such beauty captured in the landscape or on a red ball laying in the wet grass or a lone boat beached on the sand. But the whole film has a level of desaturation that doesn’t mar the beauty but instead creates a fleeting nature to it. It is temporary and for that reason more beautiful.

Also remarkable is Rachel Portman’s score. This score may be one of the most painful and beautiful scores I have ever heard. Every moment is perfectly chosen, grounding the emotion in scenes in a way that work in concert with the performances and the cinematography. While the score can carry great emotion, it never becomes overpowering – the score doesn’t tell you what emotion to feel, rather it lets you feel your own, regardless of how painful or beautiful it may be.

All of these elements – the performances, cinematography, and score – create a very interesting and unique tone. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a film like it. Every moment is at once, beautiful, poignant, and tragic. Yet in those same moments there is such a level of acceptance and matter-of-factness that a sense of tranquility is established. After several days of thought, the best word I can use to describe the tone is stoic, but even that word falls short. Ultimately, the incredibly fascinating tone of this movie is something unto itself.

Romanek has crafted a beautiful, subtle, tragic film that I can find no fault in. Never Let Me Go is the most poetic film I have ever seen. Every element works in concert with each other, enhancing and empowering – they are all brushstrokes in a wonderful painting. This film is a masterpiece.