"I just thought it was amusing"- David Fincher opens up on using The Smiths in Netflix's The Killer

David Fincher's The Killer is all set to premiere on November 10, 2023, on Netflix, bringing back the iconic director in his most comfortable element: crime. In the upcoming thriller, which has already garnered praise around the festival circuit, Michael Fassbender takes the lead as a methodical killer who tries to execute every job with perfection.

Among other things, David Fincher's array of signature filming techniques, songs, and soundtracks have always played a crucial part. Beginning with his older hits like Se7en and Fight Club, the latter of which the director hasn't watched in 20 years, per the recent interview, songs have always been very crucial in David Fincher films.

The Killer is no exception, where The Smiths form the major backdrop of the methodically murderous plot. When asked about using The Smiths for The Killer's meditation tape by GQ Magazine in the latest interview, Fincher said:

"I always knew that I wanted to use “How Soon is Now?” because I love the guitar. And I love the idea of somebody going, “what Johnny Marr is doing here is my meditation.” I just thought it was amusing. But originally, we had an entire soundtrack that was Joy Division, Siouxsie and the Banshees, full-on pre-goth. It was really cool, and really interesting, but you kept asking yourself, “Is he a music critic?”"

He went on to elaborate on how The Smiths became the soul of The Killer when the entire soundtrack fell into place.

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"Every time a song would drop out, we would replace it with The Smiths"- David Fincher on how the soundtrack of The Killer was established

For filmmakers, music is always one of the key parts. Many filmmakers have solely relied on music to relay important messages. It has been especially true for Fincher, whose usage of music in films like Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is among the finest.

For The Killer, David Fincher yet again had a meticulously picked soundscape consisting of music from different bands and musicians. However, ultimately, it narrowed down to mostly The Smiths, as explained by the veteran director in the latest interview.

Explaining further, Fincher said:

"As we went along, you would find out that a song's publishing was split amongst two or three different parties who are no longer speaking, and blah, blah, blah. And every time a song would drop out, we would replace it with The Smiths," he said.

“This Charming Man,” and so on. Every single time it was The Smiths, it was both sardonic, and raw. Trent [Reznor] was a big part of this: we kept thinking, what do we want to say about this guy?" he added.

However, this went on to have a positive effect as well.

"I love the idea of a guy who has a mixtape to go and kill people. But if we have all of these disparate musical influences, are we missing an opportunity to see into this guy is? So The Smiths became a kind of stained glass window into who this guy was," Fincher added.

The Killer will premiere on Netflix on November 10, 2023. The film will be the first one from the director after the Citizen Kane biopic Mank.