Critique of a Docudrama - The Social Network

The Social Network was directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, it was released on October 1st 2010. The film was released by Columbia Pictures. The story behind it is how Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook while still in college. Jesse Eisenberg plays Mark Zuckerberg. The docudrama shows the struggles that Mark went through but also what made him so successful.

'Terrific entertainment - an unlikely thriller that makes business ethics, class distinctions and intellectual-property arguments sexy, that zips through two hours quicker than you can say "relationship status," and that'll likely fascinate pretty much anyone not named Zuckerberg.' - NPR- Bob Mondello

The Social Network is a docudrama because it attempts to recreate the events within the event. I think the way that they manage to recreate the events is done very well. I think that in this docudrama it was important that they managed to stay as close to the original concept as they could. Unlike a documentary a docudrama is a lot more dramatic. The reason for it being so much more dramatic is so that it keeps the audience interested. By making it more dramatic the audience is more likely to empathise with the characters which has been stimulated by a certain event. This is important so that it keeps to the original idea but keeps the audience wanting more. An example of making it more dramatic, is when Mark is dumped by his girlfriend and he blogs about right after after using some offensive language to describe her, I highly doubt it was exactly like this in real time, but in this type of docudrama it's important to use dramatic techniques to tell the story. 

In this film we see everything that Mark experienced during college and the hardships that he went to while he was discovering Facebook. In this film it shows how Mark had to overcome people thinking that he was stealing their idea. Also in this film it shows how Mark lost his best friend after he lost him while discovering Facebook, I think that this part of the film is important because it shows how his experiences made him the person he is today.

'The film comes down to a mesmerizing portrait of a man who in any other age would perhaps be deemed nuts or useless, but in the Internet age has this mental agility to transform an idea into an empire.' - The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt

This film looks very slick and modern, although you can tell that this film is set in the past because of the technology that is used. The computers and network sites that are used in this film are very dated and about 10 years old. This is important because new technology wouldn't have been created when Mark was still in college. The fact that this is a documentary means that it is important that the equipment that is used in the film is what was used in the real time. At the Academy Awards the film won Best Picture and Best Editing, this is important in the way it looks because this shows that incredible care and detail was put into it.

The sound used in The Social Network is a lot of barroom chatter and shuffling feet these sounds were used to enhance important sounds than rather use a standard orchestral sounds which is used in a lot of films as a standard wild track. The sound department in The Social Network won Best Oscar for original score and nominated for best sound. The directer David Fincher oversaw Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross engineering of the films sound and score, he worked with the team to perfect the technological. Although a real world atmosphere he strove to attain. The most common source of sound that Fincher used was overlapping dialogue and real world sounds, although this technique was common and seen as repetitive.

The Social Network is told from a third person perspective, the story is told by an outsiders view, this is done through it being a docudrama. The way the in which the story was told it was very heavily criticised. Mark Zuckerberg said "I can promise you, this is my life so I know it’s not that dramatic. The last six years have been a lot of coding and focus and hard work, but maybe it would be fun to remember it as partying and all this crazy drama." This occurs a lot in docudramas because the story isn't fully the truth and always exaggerates what it actually is. 

The film does work really well for what it is, the concept is just to inform people of Mark Zuckerberg's life before Facebook and while he was inventing Facebook, the story does well in portraying Mark's character very similar to his personality traits. I think that there is nothing other that the director could have done to make it better for what it is. 

I think that this film doesn't really make you feel anything, the idea is to inform and that it does. I think this film definitely makes you think about how one person life can change over night. It is important to look at the situation and think that this could happen to anyone. Mark worked on Facebook for a period of time and in that he was successful. I think people will look at this film and think that if a 19 year old college student can make a website that successful from his college dorm, then it is possible for others to be able to achieve what they want. For me personally this is how it makes me feel, I think I look at this film as a motivation to achieve. This film exists because Mark Zuckerberg is an incredibly rich young man and people are interested in him and his story of how he got that much money and became so successful. 

This film got a lot of mix reviews, so people absolutely loved it, others despised it. I think that this film is about taste you either love it or hate it. 

'David Fincher's film has the rare quality of being not only as smart as its brilliant hero, but in the same way. It is cocksure, impatient, cold, exciting and instinctively perceptive.  - Chicago Sun Times Roger Ebert'

What people love about this film is the fact that it's a David Fincher film, an incredibly successful directer who is known for his smart and clever films. However people despise it due to the portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg's character. A lot of critiques complain that is isn't Mark's personality, it isn't nothing like Mark the way in which things are done. 

'But as a story about Facebook, it is deeply, deeply flawed. As I watched the film, and considered what it missed, it struck me that there was more than a hint of self-congratulatory contempt in the motives behind how this story was told. - New Republic'

I think that in conclusion that this docudrama was very successful, it portrayed the main aspects of Mark Zuckerberg's life, although some parts of it could have been more true to real life. However if this was the case it would mean that it wouldn't of been as successful when it came to audience response because it would have had a lack of dramatic techniques.

http://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-social-network/critic-reviews - 20th March

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/books-and-arts/78081/sorkin-zuckerberg-the-social-network  - 20th March

http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-social-network-2010  - 20th March

http://www.examiner.com/article/the-sounds-of-silence-analyzing-sound-the-social-network-and-citizen-kane-1  - 20th March

http://www.joblo.com/movie-news/what-does-facebook-founder-mark-zuckerberg-think-of-the-social-network  - 20th March

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Social_Network  - 20th March