Brad Pitt is not exactly the person that pops into your mind when you think of the thriller genre – although his work in the past shows he is great at it as well. However, you’ll be surprised to know that one of his films may have influenced another movie that blew the audience’s brains out.
We are talking about the 2004 disturbing film ‘Saw,’ which, at the time, seemed to be a new concept. Others, however, noticed a similarity between its story and Brad’s ‘Seven.’
Plots
Brad starred alongside Morgan Freeman in the 1997 thriller ‘Seven.’ The brilliant movie is about a serial killer who murdered people based on what they think are their imperfections.
The killer takes lives based on the seven deadly sins. Brad and Morgan’s characters are two detectives who must apprehend the bad guy.
‘Saw,’ meanwhile, has a twisted story that revolves around Jigsaw, a puzzle master who creates intricate and elaborate games for his victims. He kidnaps people who he feels don’t value their life and puts them in well-crafted tests to check their endurance — if they fail, he will kill them. In essence, the victims must find the value of life when they come face to face with death.
Jigsaw and the killer in ‘Seven’ share the same wicked sense of justice and resort to the extremes just to teach a lesson.
Writer Speaks Up
Although we can only predict if ‘Seven’ really influenced ‘Saw,’ it is only Leigh Whanell, the writer and one of the stars of the James Wan-directed movie, who can tell us the truth. He admitted that as the screenwriter, he definitely feels that Brad’s movie definitely inspired him.
‘Seven,’ he said, is a well-constructed picture and if you’re writing the same genre, there’s no harm in studying it. However, story-wise, Leigh and James never felt that ’Saw’ has the same arc as the older movie.
Leigh also noted the differences between the two thrillers: ‘Seven’ is more on the story of the detectives as they chase a serial killer while ‘Saw’ is about the victims of Jigsaw and the law enforcement authorities only take the minor roles.
Besides, the writer said ‘Seven’ isn’t the only film he drew inspiration from. Avid fans may also notice that ‘Saw’ also has elements of ‘Memento’ and ‘Cube,’ which are also some of his favorite films. No matter, it is safe to say that he was able to seamlessly blend all the essential factors needed to create a spectacular thriller.