As the end credits began to roll of David Fincher’s latest noir-thriller, The Killer, the legendary director struck an uncomfortable figure as the crowd at this year’s Venice International Film Festival showered him with a 5-minute standing ovation.
David Fincher premiered his new Netflix thriller at the 80th edition of the famous Venice International Film Festival this weekend.
Due to the SAG-AFTRA strikes, Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton, two of the stars of Fincher’s Netflix release, were unable to attend this year’s event to promote their new film. Fincher was forced to receive the acclaim, which has become somewhat of a tradition at the opulent Venice festival, alone.
Fincher shuffled on the spot and mouthed: “What is this?” as the applause continued after the film had ended. The renowned director looked visibly uncomfortable at all the attention, completely unaware of the Italian tradition that had been bestowed upon him and even tried to leave halfway through.
WATCH David Fincher awkwardly receives a standing ovation at the Venice International Film Festival below.
From Zodiac and Se7en to Fight Club and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, David Fincher has established himself as one of the best in the business of psychological stories, known for a signature dark and atmospheric lens that builds uncomfortable suspense until it reaches a dramatic, often devastating, crescendo. The Killer marks David Fincher’s masterful return to the thriller genre.
Michael Fassbender stars in the titular role as a calm and calculated, seasoned assassin named Christian. For Fincher, it was important to harness the emotions of the cold-blooded killer, presenting Fassbender’s character as banal and every day, to almost disarm the audience’s preconceptions of what a killer looks like and how he behaves.
Speaking with Variety at the Festival’s press conference, Fincher revealed: “He [The Killer] didn’t need to be frightening. You know, the banality of evil. My hope is that someone will see this film and get very nervous about the person behind them in line at Home Depot.”
The Killer streams on Netflix on November 10 2024.