Zodiac

ZODIAC
WB
RELEASED 18 May 2007 2007
I’ve always been a big ‘Dirty Harry’ fan. It has a cracking script (‘Do you feel lucky, punk?’) that contains a lot more besides that oft-quoted classic, and the gritty cinematography captures San Francisco in it’s 1971 Sunday best. And I haven’t even mentioned the star-making role that Clint Eastwood will forever be known for. He was Sergeant Harry Callaghan, a man who earned the nickname ‘Dirty’ because he took all the dirty jobs. But no vigilante hero can earn his stripes without a villian of equal measure, and Andy Robinson’s ‘Scorpio’ serial killer was a superb snivelling creation who you couldn’t wait to see Harry smack the leering grin right off his face.
Although I did have some idea the origin of ‘Dirty Harry’ came from a real-life case, I didn’t quite realise the extent to which they based their ‘Scorpio’ killer on the ‘Zodiac’ case, which was still open and causing fear amongst the public. Director David Fincher’s adaptation of the Robert Graysmith book masterfully transports viewers to the San Francisco Bay Area in the late ‘60s and early ’70s (using some very subtle special effects) by drawing on actual case files from the unsolved Zodiac killer case. A murderer is killing at random and sending terrifying threats and cryptic codes to police and publishers all around San Francisco. When he threatens to kill a busload of schoolkids, fear grips the city. ‘Zodiac’ follows four main players on the trail of the Zodiac: You have the police, represented by Inspectors Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and Bill Armstrong (Anthony Edwards), that were in charge of the case as well as receiving police assistance from other cities in the surrounding area; the Press, led by SF Chronicle loose cannon Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr), who would love the kudos of solving the mystery; and the general public, represented by Chronicle cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), who has no official involvement but becomes so obsessed by the case that it consumes him for years to come.
From the opening film studio logos of Warner Bros. and Paramount in their 70’s style, it’s obvious this movie is going to look so authentic you’ll be able to smell the sweet aromas of Haight Ashbury. Costumes are all beige, brown and grey nylons, and if it wasn’t for the preponderance of mustard throughout the film (taxi, newsroom columns, envelopes, schoolbus – something mustard-coloured is in virtually every shot), this could have been filmed in black and white, so drab is the style and fashion. Robert Downey Jr.’s character smokes incessantly in the office, phones never stop ringing (thank god for email), and the journalists drink too much – no change there. I loved the way different city police forces discover new information from each other, often by chance. These were the days of paper file boxes. There was no central computer system containing all the case information. Would the case have been solved if everybody had access to all the evidence at the same time? Who knows, the film certainly suggests it didn’t help matters. Performances are great all-round (with a small treat from Brian Cox), Mark Ruffalo being the gruff standout. The score is a 70’s flower-power package of forgotten oldies.
‘Zodiac’ is a sombre, almost documentary-like movie about the police process and how hard it can be to pin down your man, especially in the days before DNA testing and PCs. There are virtually no flashy scenes or set-pieces. Coming from such a visually experimental director (Fincher’s last, ‘Panic Room’, seemed like a test reel for ‘most impossible camera shot ever’), this is simple but effective film-making where the story is so compelling, it doesn’t need any fancy editing or trick shots. At two and a half hours long, you never wonder how long is left, and by the inconclusive end, you actually crave more. ‘Zodiac’ is the older brother to Fincher’s 1995 masterpiece ‘Se7en’, and it marks a possible new career path for the talented director. The signs are good.
FIVE OUT OF FIVE