I thought it was absolutely fantastic

The Social Network

Yesterday, at the dinner with the Germans (I call them “the Germans”, but there’s actually more Americans and Indians than Germans), for the first time I suddenly broke into speaking German. The same thing happened later in the movie theatre when I said “Fantastisch!” to some scene I really liked.

And there were many of those scenes. First of all, I found the movie to be very funny. The slightly nerdy, elitist, ridiculous jokes were exactly my type and kind of represent the whole film: It’s a product of our generation. (How old is Fincher again?) In that respect, “The Social Network” does an amazing job at capturing how life in this generation works, even if it’s a little exaggerated (we don’t do that much drugs, at least I never actually do, but I believe no other generation did as much as they show it in the movies). It’s “work hard, party hard”; both at the ESCP and here in Atlanta, I see that very clearly. Perhaps we work a little more in Atlanta and they partied a little more in Paris, but that’s how it goes. Life is beautiful and exciting, and this is how exciting it is.
The best scene illustrating this is the scene in which they hold a hacking competition to find their interns. Again, most likely an exaggeration of real life, but it illustrates how life among crazy people works. Nerdiness is cool nowadays, and involves as much expensive alcohol as the management parties.

Fincher has mostly doing action films. Even “Zodiac” is a story-based thriller (albeit a rather boring one). “Zodiac” was the reason why I felt a little reservation which kept me up from looking forward to “The Social Network” too much. Even though “Se7en” and “Fight Club” are so great, I feared “The Social Network” would be more similar to “Zodiac” in its pacing and story-line (considering how they are both based upon real events). But I completely ignored how much character action can draw me in. I think I love this film in the same way as I did “25th Hour”. There aren’t that many friendships breaking up in films, and when a large part of a movie is about that, I can’t help but glue my eyes to the screen. Is Shii going to sue me one day too? :D (He’s going to have Pixelmatsch help him!)

I’d say the main reason why I prefer “Inglorious Basterds” is because I’m a film buff, and I am in love with Daniel Brühl. But where “Inglorious Basterds” is a tribute to films, “The Social Network” is a tribute to film-making, I think it’s a masterpiece. The fast forwards, the cuts in the very first scene, close-ups of people at the right minute, the brilliant use of music – it’s not only a film about our generation, it’s made in the way a 2010 film should be.

For me, this was a film to reflect and think about, a movie in which I saw myself even though it has no connection to me (I’m not a CS major, I’m not into internet start-ups and entrepreneurship, I surely don’t go to an elite institution anymore and don’t deal with the rich and famous – thank God). This might just as well be the “Inglorious Basterds” of 2010. Who cares about “Inception”?