The Social Network is a film, directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, that portrays a fictional version of the events surrounding the creation of the social networking website Facebook. The film focuses on the sites founder, Mark Zuckerberg, and his relationship with co-founder Eduardo Saverin, fellow Harvard students Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and founder of Napster Sean Parker.
The first thing that the film does well is the foreshadowing provided by the way the film is presented chronologically. While it starts in 2003, throughout the film it also skips forward to years later when Saverin and the Winkolvoss twins are both suing Zuckerberg for infringement on intellectual property rights. This shift forward to past Zuckerberg's falling out with both of these parties establishes a sense of foreboding throughout the film; you know that these relationships are doomed even during the happiest times.
Another aspect of the film that aids this feeling of foreboding is the sound track, performed by the frontmen, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, from industrial rock groups Nine Inch Nails and Bauhaus. Even though there is very little violence the soundtrack builds like a horror film and it are words that serve as the murder weapons when Zuckerberg reveals his true intentions and places the metaphorical knives squarely in other characters backs.
Ultimately, The Social Network succeeds in being a masterful drama by making words performative; they serve as signifiers of mental action, which is the battlefield when discussing Intellectual Property. Any film that is directed well enough to make the words of the characters so important that it makes litigation interesting is one worth of praise, and this film does exactly that.
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