This evening in Paris, American director David Fincher will receive the Honorary César at the Césars Ceremony. What a lovely occasion to unearth What was in the Box.
One morning of 1995, I entered the Club 13 for a private screening. We were 3 or 4 in the theater and the movie was Se7en directed by Fincher.
Like tens of millions around the world would later this year, I loved it! Even better I got hired by the publicity department to shoot. It was going to be only Morgan Freeman, since David Fincher was famous for being camera shy, Pitt and Paltrow didn’t make the trip to Paris.
Still, at everybody’s surprise, David decided to step in front my camera. After a few classic portraits, an idea came to me and my assistant went in search of a cardboard box…
I still can hear the roaring laughter of Morgan Freeman when I told him and David that I believed that Pitt and himself “saw” David’s head in the box, not Gwyneth’s. Hypothesis born from the fact that I had imagined David being quite “difficult” on set to create this finely chiseled jewel that is Se7en.
David was a good sport and obliged after stating that was one of many reasons to never accept to be photographed and asking for “kill rights” on the image.
Well, even though he told me he liked the photograph, he didn’t want it to be published. Premiere magazine heard of it and wanted to make it the cover… I swore it never happened, the image didn’t exist but “what a lovely idea…” The cover never saw the light of day.
28 years later here is What was in the Box, I hope David will not resent me too much for sharing it, hoping that there might be a status of limitation for my crime.
GD
