The Social Network
2010 · Directed by David Fincher
Original language: English
- drama
The story
In 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programmer Mark Zuckerberg begins work on a new concept that eventually turns into the global social network known as Facebook. Six years later, Mark is one of the youngest billionaires ever, but his unprecedented success leads to both personal and legal complications when he ends up on the receiving end of two lawsuits, one involving his former friend.
What it’s like
Cold blue-grey light and glossy, hard-edged digital images, with Fincher's precise, unshowy framing: crisp two-shots in Harvard dorm rooms, lit by screen glow, and long tracking moves through lecture halls and glass-walled offices. The palette runs to steely blues, muted browns and sickly fluorescents, and the camera rarely settles, so even quiet exchanges carry a restless, fidgety edge. Sound is the real engine: a pulsing, electronic Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score sits under rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue, with the clack of keyboards and the hush of empty rooms in the gaps. Vibe: cool, brainy, faintly paranoid, a sharp late-night watch for people who like their tension verbal. Pacing is brisk and talky, with the story told in alternating deposition rooms and flashbacks, so the emotional arc of a brilliant, isolated young man who keeps losing the people closest to him lands through sharp exchanges more than big moments. Intensity is low: no violence, no gore, a little profanity and some sexual talk and drinking at parties, with the sting coming from humiliation and betrayal. For viewers who enjoy clever, combative dialogue and the mood of a tech-driven thriller without action.
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