The Fincher Interview Megapost

Consider this an early christmas gift from frequent contributor and fellow FincherFanatic Thiago: He dug up three links to interviews with and articles on David Fincher -- and as usual they are so worth reading!

I don't know for what reason it is, but even some ten or so months after the initial theatrical release of 'Zodiac' it is still delightfully compelling to read Fincher interviews about the film. In any article there seems to be some new quote, some new aspect about his work and his personality. And since also I am not very good in keeping my mouth shut, let me share with you this amazing Fincher quote upfront:

"Thank God PlayStation wasn't around when I was in my twenties! I would have lost years of my life"

Indeed David Fincher used his twenties a lot more effectively, starting to shoot music videos and commercials from age 22 onward. With his masterpiece 'Zodiac' coming out at 44, you cannot help but anticipate, where Fincher will be at 66!

The articles themselves are quite a mix: One is a detailed account of how hard it is to get an interview with Fincher in Cannes and all the painstaking show-off surrounding that. The other two are interview articles, one from The Guardian Unlimited, the other from Telegraph.

Before you head on to devour these, let me point you to another aspect I really liked about the Guardian Unlimited article. There is this moment, where Fincher talks about the fact that he has only delivered two films in the last 8 years, 'Panic Room' and 'Zodiac':

"Fact of the matter was, after Fight Club, nobody was saying to me: 'We'll do anything you want to do.' I waited three years to find something."

And I could not help but think: I do not believe this would ever change for him! Even if his next, 'The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button' were to gross a stunning 900 million dollars world-wide, and would mingle with all the mega-successful franchise movies -- by the way, I am aware this might just not happen ... --, I believe Fincher would still remain very critical and picky, when choosing his works. After all, it's not just about some producer coming along and saying, 'what do you want to do?'. I believe it's just as much about Fincher himself finding new aspects in the stories and new venues he can explore. Let me close with an example that may seem far-fetched, but that I feel illustrates this point very well: Would you not agree that if ever any director has achieved this status of being able to do just anything he wanted to, it may have been James Cameron round about a year and a half after the release of 'Titanic' -- at the time, when the film had reeled in a nice sum of about 1.8 billion dollars world-wide. Still it has taken Cameron a whole decade to finally work in the mainstream fiction film genre again. That was no lack of opportunity. It was Cameron himself being picky about what could possibly be his next project!

Before I get side-tracked any further: Thanks, Thiago, for the links! And to everyone else, enjoy reading! Here they are:

The Cannes Version Of Fort Knox, Guardian Unlimited
Life With A Serial Killer, Guardian Unlimited
Partners In Crime, Telegraph

Another 'By-The-Way' remark:
I really like the photo they have in the Telegraph article, because to me it captures Fincher's personality really well.