From David Fincher, director of "Seven" and "Fight Club" comes this new thriller about four investigators obsessed with finding a serial killer who is terrifying the San Francisco Bay Area.
A 150 minute, 70s set police procedural focused on the Zodiac serial killer may sound a little too much like work to warrant a look. But don't let the epic length, measured pace and grim subject matter put you off, for David 'Fight Club' Fincher's latest is an engaging, well written and technically proficient picture that harks back to another era in filmmaking; an age when characters were the focus, and a film's worth wasn't judged solely upon Monday's net profits after opening weekend. 'Zodiac' isn't a serial killer movie per say, in fact, it doesn't have much in common with Fincher's genre masterpiece; 'Seven' at all, whilst the tagline: 'There's more than one way to lose your life to a killer' pretty much sums it up. 'Zodiac' takes an unusual creative position in depicting an unsolved case, presenting in great detail the devastating physical & psychological impact of pursuing something to the ends of the Earth. We watch in sympathetic frustration as a creeping languor descends upon our heroes, their fall from eager pioneers of truth & justice to bleary eyed burnouts & enquêteurs manqué all too real and sobering an outcome. Based on a true story, screenwriter James Vanderbilt's adaptation of Robert Graysmith's book begins as San Francisco falls into the grip of a ruthless, seemingly random, assassin. The Zodiac killer's rule lasted over a decade; tirelessly investigated by 'SF Chronicle' crime reporter Paul Avery (some fine method mumbling from Robert Downey jr.) and soft spoken cartoonist Robert Graysmith (an excellent, understated performance by Jake Gyllenhaal) before Inspector David Toschi (the brilliant Mark Ruffalo) led an extensive, but inconclusive, manhunt. Zodiac, in spite of taunting police with clues & complex ciphers, was never caught and thus became the focus of many a Hollywood movie, the most memorable being 'Dirty Harry'; where the Scorpio sniper (based on Zodiac), was blown away by Inspector Callahan, but reality offers no easy solutions. And here; Fincher takes the masterly step of having different actors play Zodiac in each of the murder reconstructions, cinematic shorthand that highlights the sometimes unreliable nature of witness testimony, police procedure & recall. Spike Lee aficionados may notice structural similarities between 'Zodiac' and 'Summer of Sam' (1999), another film where the killer's shooting spree served as a backdrop to highlight the insecurities and obsessions of a victimised community. 'SOS' is, in some ways, a better film in terms of how it synchs the 1977 heatwave with a New York, exploited by tabloid misinformation, about to reach boiling point, ensuing blackouts used to illuminate each character's modus operandi & second reality. The principal difference being that whilst the lovable layabouts in 'Summer Of Sam' had absolutely no idea how to handle David Berkowitz's reign of terror, 'Zodiac's' protagonists are, at the very least, professionals who have a clear, albeit highly elusive, objective infront of them.
In a world where the police procedural is all about the next snazzy jump cut, its quite refreshing to see a bunch of old-school, talented but distinctly amateur gumshoes having a go. Harris Sevides, Fincher's cinematographer from 'The Game', arrives having lent his grimy, lived-in aesthetic to films like 'The Yards' & Gus Van Sant's 'Last Days'. Fincher has worked with some excellent cinematogrpahers (e.g. Darius Khondji on 'Seven' and Jeff Cronenweth for 'Fight Club') but I think bringing back Sevides was the right choice here, for he enlivens the environs to great effect: the SF skyline, the fantastically disorganised press office and Graysmith's home, all shot in a soft sepia filter which successfully evokes the period, complementing this dark and lurid tale of obsession. More 'Colombo' than 'CSI', 'Zodiac', despite a few scenes of levity, is a sombre, realistic and heavy going adaptation of historical events. Keep the coffee nearby and prepare to give yourself over to a rich, excellently realised world of danger, suspense and intrigue. Not for everyone, but a must for Fincher fans or those with an interest in character development and genre dynamics.
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David Fincher (Seven, Fight Club) directs this thriller based on actual case files surrounding the notorious San Francisco Bay area murders of the 1970's. As the serial killer known as 'Zodiac' taunts the police with letters and cryptic clues, reporters and investigators become increasingly obsessed with finding the murderer's identity, as the cat and mouse game impacts on their professional and personal lives.
Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play. David Fincher's electrifying thriller about the real-life notorious Zodiac, a serial killer who terrorized San Francisco with a string of seemingly random murders during the 1960s and 1970s. Based on the book by Robert Graysmith. Actors Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Edwards, Jules Bruff, Clea DuVall, Brian Cox, Adam Goldberg, John Getz, Elias Koteas, Barry Livingston, Donal Logue, Dermot Mulroney, Chloë Sevigny & Ione Skye Director David Fincher Certificate 12 years and over Year 2007 Screen Widescreen 2.40:1 Languages English - Dolby Digital (5.1) Additional Languages Italian Subtitles Arabic ; Danish ; English ; English for the hearing impaired ; Finnish ; Italian ; Italian for the hearing impaired ; Norwegian ; Swedish Duration 2 Hours and 31 Minutes (approx) Region Region 2 - Will only play on European Region 2 or multi-region DVD players.
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