Movies · TV

The Seven Deadly Sins On Screen

A new video looks beyond Fincher at the Evil Men Do.
By  · Published on April 25th, 2017

A new video looks beyond Fincher at the Evil Men Do.

Sin, as defined by most major religions and moral institutions, is as old as man. It is inherent to our nature, because ultimately sin is self-serving, and at the end of the day we are all self-serving creatures. Wrath, pride, sloth, lust, envy, gluttony, greed – as opposed to the Ten Commandments of Christianity which include distinct acts like adultery and murder, the seven deadly sins are things of which most all of us are guilty of multiple times over. We’ve all committed them, even on a minor scale. Ever think someone has a nicer car than you? Envy. Ever gotten a touch of road rage? Wrath. Ever hit the snooze button more than once? Sloth.

These are petty examples to be sure, but they illustrate how commonplace the seven deadly sins are in our daily lives, and thus they prove why the seven deadly sins are featured so often in film, that great reflection of the human condition. The obvious go-to here is David Fincher’s Se7en, which of course is based around a serial killer enacting the seven deadly sins, but long before and long after that film the seven deadly sins have manifested in countless characters from countless films. Think about the greed of Gordon Gekko in Wall Street, or the wrath of William Foster in Falling Down, or the uncontrollable lust of Dan Gallagher in Fatal Attraction.

The point is, the seven deadly sins are all over cinema, and not just in Michael Douglas movies. To prove this, check out the latest video from Room 237 which has compiled examples of each sin from scores of different films (all of which are listed below the video) to reveal just how pervasive sin is in our culture, and thus in our entertainment.

WRATH
Full Metal Jacket
Trainspotting
Nightcrawler
The Shining
Drive
Casino
La Haine
Prisioners
Citizen Kane
Falling Down
The Untouchables
The Avengers
The Color Of Money
Pulp Fiction
Raging Bull

PRIDE
Citizen Kane
The Man Who Would Be King
Django Unchained
There Will Be Blood
Inglourious Basterds
American History X
Steve Jobs
Gone With The Wind
The Magnificent Ambersons
The Devil Wears Prada

SLOTH
The Master
Fight Club
Clerks
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
A Clockwork Orange
The Big Lebowski

LUST
Shame
A Clockwork Orange
Nymphomaniac
Las Edades De Lulú
The Wolf Of Wall Street
American Psycho
Ultimo Tango A Parigi
Eyes Wide Shut
In The Realm Of The Senses

ENVY
Seven
The Lion King
Amadeus
Black Swan
Gladiator
Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs
Rush
All About Eve
The Godfather: Part II

GLUTTONY
Matilda
Hook
Spirited Away
La Grande Bouffe
Delicatessen
The Meaning Of Life

GREED
Wall Street
The Big Short
The Revenant
There Will Be Blood
Glengarry Glen Ross
Margin Call
The Return Of The King
The Wolf Of Wall Street
Greed
Scarface

Related Topics: ,

Novelist, Screenwriter, Video Essayist