The Social Network, 2010

The Social Network, 2010
Director: David Fincher
Cast:Jesse Eisenberg, Rooney Mara, Andrew Garfield


Stage: home /laptop in my lap on a chilly evening


The Social Network at a glance: On a fall night in 2003, Harvard undergrad and computer programming genius Mark Zuckerberg sits down at his computer and heatedly begins working on a new idea. In a fury of blogging and programming, what begins in his dorm room soon becomes a global social network and a revolution in communication. A mere six years and 500 million friends later, Mark Zuckerberg is the youngest billionaire in history... but for this entrepreneur, success leads to both personal and legal complications.

Preps: I am overwhelmed and overexcited to see this, as I am a huge fan of social media from philosophical perspective. I have heard a lot about this piece and it strikes me that it will generate millions of new users of FB and reproduce this Zuckerberg's masterpiece and blow it into the galaxy. Plus, I am very curious what the biography might tell me, because I haven't been following for real.


Reality: In the same maneuvre as FB does to masses, I am struck by this piece, not letting my eyes drop the attention for one moment. Normalwise, I would follow a biography and a success story, however in this case I am stuck on the laptop like a glue. I have this deep profound respect for such geek programmers that shape the universe with a touch of their imagination. The movie slides beautifully between different periods of Facebook development and lets the viewer shape his own mind about the phenomena. It surely gives an insight into the start up period and it shakes with the basic philosophy of turning something into a big bang with energy of few individuals.
The success leads to partial endings of some stories - the movie politely inclines. Great or even the greatest friendships can be torn apart for the sake of money or change of philosophy at one stage. Being driven by the money is supposed not to be one of Zuckerberg's ideas.. nevertheless, with such success it's truly hard not to want to earn more and more, and here comes the greed.
In my opinion the movie lacks the period inbetween. The leap from 10.000 users to 1 mio is generally speaking, too fast for the viewer and in some sense, negotiates a perfect flow of the business in all the period inbetween. Well, I am curious about the period inbetween. The courtal procedures cannot be as tasty as it would be trying to depict the time from a small success to a billion dollar worth kid.
The cast is brilliant, I totally buy main actors. The friendship seems real you could taste it with a spoon. And also the creation of the great divide between them. And the master of Napster joining the party - absolutely brilliant.
In my opinion, a movie I shall see again soon. Definitely worth your time and consideration afterwards. No special effects, no music. Just Facebook. The king of this century afterall.



My personal rating: 8,0 (a truly unique and dazzling piece, definitely a must see in this period of social media)

Social Network on IMDB
The Social Network home page