It surprised no one earlier this year when Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross officially came on board to score David Fincher‘s “The Killer.” After all, the pair have scored all of Fincher’s films since 2010’s “The Social Network.” But it surprised audiences at the movie’s world premiere in Venice last weekend when Reznor & Ross’ work didn’t feature prominently in “The Killer” at all. Instead, the film’s soundtrack has lots of songs by the classic ’80s UK band The Smiths, in a creative move Fincher describes as “amusing.”
NME (via IndieWire) reports that Fincher decided late in post that he wanted to add in The Smiths to “The Killer.” “Trent and Atticus are our first call, and if they choose to return the call, I deem myself lucky,” director Fincher said at a press conference for his new film at Venice last weekend. “The Smiths were a post-production addition because I knew I wanted to use “How Soon is Now?” and I love the idea of that song specifically as a tool for assuaging [Fassbender’s] anxiety. I liked it as a meditation tape, I thought it was amusing and funny.”
“The Killer” stars Fassbender as an elite contract killer who begins to crack under the pressure of his career and its lifestyle. In the film, Fassbender’s assassin uses songs by The Smiths as a placating way to soothe anxiety while on a job, to mordant effect. “I don’t think that there’s a library of music by recording artists that have as much sardonic nature and wit simultaneously [as The Smiths], and we don’t get an awful lot of access to who this guy is,” Fincher continued. “I thought through this mixtape it would be amusing, that that would be our window into him.”
And Fincher also liked how the usage of The Smiths added to the gradual collapse Fassbender’s character undergoes in the film. “The schism between his mantra, the words that he lives by, and his behavior that is forced to adjust, was ultimately where the movie exists, where the character exists,” the director added. “As his voiceover is assured, and as his voiceover is telling us exactly what it is he thinks he’s going to do, the moment that disappears, the style of the cinematography changes, the style of the music changes. We tried to use the frantic nature, maybe handheld, the way that we staged the action, to really show unraveling.”
“The Killer” marks the first time onscreen for Fassbender since 2019’s “X-Men: Dark Phoenix.” Does Fincher consider his latest film a big comeback for the actor? Not really, considering Fassbender has his other career racing cars in the European Le Mans Series, as well as a young child with actress Alicia Vikander. “As far as I’m concerned he hasn’t been around much because he has a whole other career,” Fincher said about casting Fassbender. “We had to slot this movie into his driving. We felt lucky to get him, we wanted him, and had we not been able to fit into his window between racing seasons, we probably wouldn’t have made the movie.”
Fassbender also stars in Taika Waititi‘s “Next Goal Wins,” which has its world premiere at TIFF this weekend and hits theaters on November 17. But Fassbender shot that film back in late 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. So don’t consider two films with the actor on the Fall release schedule a return to full-time acting for Fassbender.
As for Reznor & Ross, are they miffed their music isn’t a larger part of “The Killer”? Highly unlikely, considering their long-standing working relationship with Fincher and their success on other films. “The Killer” hits select theaters on October 27 before it streams exclusively on Netflix on November 10.
