David Fincher
David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, most of which are psychological thrillers, have collectively grossed over $2.1 billion worldwide and have received numerous accolades, including three Academy Awards for Best Director nominations for him. He has also received four Primetime Emmy Awards, two Grammy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and a Golden Globe Award.
"Fincher" redirects here. For other uses, see Fincher (surname).
David Fincher
Fincher co-founded the production company Propaganda Films in 1986. He directed numerous music videos for the company, including Madonna's "Express Yourself" in 1989 and "Vogue" in 1990, both of which won him the MTV Video Music Award for Best Direction. He received two Grammy Awards for Best Music Video for "Love Is Strong" (1994) by the Rolling Stones and "Suit & Tie" (2013) by Justin Timberlake featuring Jay-Z.
He made his feature film debut with Alien 3 (1992) and gained his breakthrough with Seven (1995). He has since directed The Game (1997), Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002), Zodiac (2007), The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), Gone Girl (2014), and The Killer (2023). He received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Director for the dramas The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008), The Social Network (2010), and Mank (2020).
In television, Fincher has served as an executive producer and director for the Netflix series House of Cards (2013–2018) and Mindhunter (2017–2019), winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the pilot episode of the former. He also executive produced and co-created the Netflix animated series Love, Death & Robots (2019–present) which received three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Short Form Animated Program.
Career[edit]
1983–1991: Early work[edit]
While establishing himself in the film industry, Fincher was employed at John Korty's studio as a production head. Gaining further experience, he became a visual effects producer, working on the animated Twice Upon a Time (1983) with George Lucas.[5][9] He was hired by Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) in 1983 as an assistant cameraman and matte photographer[5] and worked on Return of the Jedi (1983) and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984).[10] In 1984, he left ILM to direct a television commercial for the American Cancer Society that depicted a fetus smoking a cigarette.[5]
This quickly brought Fincher to the attention of producers in Los Angeles, and he was soon given the opportunity to direct Rick Springfield's 1985 documentary, The Beat of the Live Drum.[11] Set on a directing career, Fincher co-founded production company Propaganda Films and started directing commercials and music videos.[11] Other directors such as Michael Bay, Antoine Fuqua, Michel Gondry, Spike Jonze, Alex Proyas, Paul Rachman, Mark Romanek, Zack Snyder and Gore Verbinski also honed their skills at Propaganda Films before moving on to feature films.[12]
Fincher directed TV commercials for many companies including Levi's, Converse, Nike, Pepsi, Revlon, Sony, Coca-Cola and Chanel, although he loathed doing them.[5][13] Starting in 1984, Fincher began his foray into music videos. He directed videos for various artists including singer-songwriters Rick Springfield, Don Henley, Martha Davis, Paula Abdul, rock band the Outfield, and R&B singer Jermaine Stewart.[14] Fincher's 1990 music video for "Freedom! '90" was one of the most successful for George Michael.[15]
He directed Michael Jackson's "Who Is It", Aerosmith's "Janie's Got A Gun" and Billy Idol's "Cradle of Love". For Madonna, he directed the videos for "Express Yourself", "Oh Father", "Bad Girl" and "Vogue".[11] The black-and-white video for "Vogue" took inspiration from the films of the 1920s and 1930s and has been frequently cited as one of the best videos of all time.[16] Between 1984 and 1993, Fincher was credited as a director for 53 music videos.[14] He referred to the production of music videos as his own "film school", in which he learned how to work efficiently within a small budget and time frame.[17][18]
1992–2000: Breakthrough[edit]
In 1990, 20th Century Fox hired Fincher to replace Vincent Ward as the director for the science-fiction horror Alien 3 (1992), his film directorial debut.[19] It was the third installment in the Alien franchise starring Sigourney Weaver. The film was released in May 1992 to a mixed reception from critics and was considered weaker than the preceding films.[20] From the beginning, Alien 3 was hampered by studio intervention and several abandoned scripts.[21][22] Peter Travers of the Rolling Stone called the film "bold and haunting", despite the "struggle of nine writers" and "studio interference".[23]
The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Visual Effects.[24] Years later, Fincher publicly expressed his dismay and subsequently disowned the film. In the book Director's Cut: Picturing Hollywood in the 21st Century, Fincher blames the producers for their lack of trust in him.[25] In an interview with The Guardian in 2009, he stated, "No one hated it more than me; to this day, no one hates it more than me."[26]
After this critical disappointment, Fincher eschewed reading film scripts or directing another project.[27] He briefly retreated to directing commercials and music videos, including the video for the song "Love Is Strong" by the Rolling Stones in 1994, which won the Grammy Award for Best Music Video.[28] Shortly, Fincher decided to make a foray back into film. He read Andrew Kevin Walker's original screenplay for Seven (1995), which had been revised by Jeremiah Chechik, the director attached to the project at one point. Fincher expressed no interest in directing the revised version, so New Line Cinema agreed to keep the original ending.[27][29] Starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, R. Lee Ermey, and Kevin Spacey, it tells the story of two detectives who attempt to identify a serial killer who bases his murders on the Christian seven deadly sins.[30] Seven was positively received by film critics and was one of the highest-earning films of 1995, grossing more than $320 million worldwide.[31] Writing for Sight and Sound, John Wrathall said it "stands as the most complex and disturbing entry in the serial killer genre since Manhunter" and Roger Ebert opined that Seven is "one of the darkest and most merciless films ever made in the Hollywood mainstream."[32][33]
Following Seven, Fincher directed a music video for "6th Avenue Heartache" by the Wallflowers[34] and went on to direct his third feature film, the mystery thriller The Game (1997), written by the duo John Brancato and Michael Ferris.[35] Fincher also hired Seven screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker to contribute and polish the script.[36] Filmed on location in San Francisco, the story follows an investment banker, played by Michael Douglas, who receives an unusual gift from his younger brother (Sean Penn), where he becomes involved in a "game" that integrates with his everyday life, making him unable to differentiate between game and reality.[35] Almar Haflidason of the BBC was critical of the ending, but praised the visuals—"Fincher does a marvelous job of turning ordinary city locations into frightening backdrops, where every corner turned is another step into the unknown".[37] Upon The Game's release in September 1997, the film received generally favorable reviews but performed moderately at the box office.[38] The Game was later included in the Criterion Collection.[39]
In August 1997, Fincher agreed to direct Fight Club, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Chuck Palahniuk. It was his second film with 20th Century Fox after the troubled production of Alien 3.[40] Starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter, the film is about a nameless office worker suffering from insomnia, who meets a salesman, and together form an underground fighting club as a form of therapy. Fox struggled with the marketing of the film, and were concerned that it would have a limited audience.[41] Fight Club premiered on October 15, 1999, in the United States to a polarized response and modest box office success; the film grossed $100.9 million against a budget of $63 million.[42] Initially, many critics thought the film was "a violent and dangerous express train of masochism and aggression."[43] However, in following years, Fight Club became a cult favorite and gained acknowledgement for its multilayered themes; the film has been the source of critical analysis from academics and film critics.[44][45]
In 1999, Fincher was shortlisted by Columbia Pictures, as one of the potential directors to helm Spider-Man (2002), a live-action adaptation of the fictional comic-book character of the same name.[46] Fincher's pitch featured an older, experienced version of the titular character in his adult years and the post-adolescent portion of his life as a photographer and his crime-fighting double life as a vigilante, with a more grounded, character-driven and drama-oriented tone and direction. Fincher later said of his pitch, "I went in and told them what I might be interested in doing, and they hated it". Sam Raimi was chosen as director instead.[47][48]
Filmmaking style and techniques[edit]
Influences[edit]
Fincher did not attend film school. He has listed filmmakers George Roy Hill, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick, Alan J. Pakula, Ridley Scott, and Martin Scorsese as his major influences.[109] His personal favorite films include Rear Window (1954), Lawrence of Arabia (1962), The Graduate (1967), Paper Moon (1973), American Graffiti (1973), Jaws (1975), All the President's Men (1976), Taxi Driver (1976), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), and Zelig (1983).[110][111] He suggested that his film Panic Room is a combination of Rear Window and Straw Dogs (1971).[112]
For Seven, Fincher and cinematographer Darius Khondji were inspired by films The French Connection (1971) and Klute (1971), as well as the work of photographer Robert Frank.[113] He has cited graphic designer Saul Bass as an inspiration for his films' title sequences; Bass designed many such sequences for prominent directors, including Hitchcock and Kubrick.[7]
Personal life[edit]
Fincher married model Donya Fiorentino (sister of actress Linda Fiorentino[147]). They had one daughter together, Phelix Imogen (born 1994),[148] before divorcing in 1995.[149][150] Fincher married producer Ceán Chaffin in 1996.[151]