David Fincher hasn’t seen Fight Club in 20 years: “I don’t want to”
The filmmaker looks back on his relationship with his old films and gives his opinion on Artificial Intelligence.
While his new film The Killer is about to be released on Netflix, David Fincherdirector admired by the public and critics, spoke on various subjects during an interview for GQ. The master of the thriller also denies the autobiographical relationship between the obsessive character of his assassin character in The Killer (played by Michael Fassbender) and his own professional rigidity on the sets.
According to Fincher, The Killer is therefore not a sort of self-portrait on the obsession with detail and a job well done. He also seems to maintain a detachment from his previous works and frankly admits about Fight Club : “I haven’t seen him in 20 years. And I don’t want to.”
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Unlike other filmmakers like Tarantinowho are fans of their own films, Fincher considers that reviewing his work “is like looking at old class photos”. While some find nostalgic comfort in it, the director of Se7en does not seem unduly moved by the past.
He also expresses his opinion on Artificial Intelligence and its use in visual and media culture: “I think AI is a very powerful tool. And I’ve yet to hear an AI-generated Beatles song that can reach ‘Eleanore Rigby’. So until someone plays me an AI song that slaps me in the face… Maybe this is where we are today, and maybe I’ll change my mind in a year, but I think that what makes us vibrate in poetry, writing, music, photography is something personal.”
He goes on to compare AIs with artists: “I have friends who are photo geniuses and who have fun with AI. When I look at this, I always have the impression of seeing a pale copy of Roger Deakins (the cinematographer of Prisoners, 1917 Or No Country for Old Men). And I understand what the AI is inspired by to do this.”
“But I’ve also seen short films made by people who embrace the aesthetic of AI, and that results in films that can be very emotional and touching and interesting, but it’s obviously AI. Until I see a film where I say to myself ‘Oh my god, it breaks my heart‘ and someone explain to me ‘Well it’s just someone who spoke into a microphone and this is the resulting film‘, I don’t worry too much”, he concludes.
The Killer will be available on Netflix in France from November 10, 2023. While waiting to find out, here is its trailer.
