Zodiac (2007)

2007, it is often said, is one of the best years for cinema of the past decades. In the Coen's No Country For Old Men and Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood, it is quite simple, we have two bona-fide masterpieces that will be remembered for years to come. Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park ain't bad too. Perhaps including the Academy-overlooked Zodiac in the bracket of masterpiece, or pretty close to it, wouldn't be too far from the truth.

The film tells the true to life story of the mysterious Zodiac killer who was never caught. The paranoia begins with a letter that arrives in the mail at the headquarters of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. The letters are encrypted with codes and make little sense. An employee there, political cartoonist Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) shows the most interest in the letters but due to his status within the company, he is not taken seriously by his peers. However, Graysmith is able to crack one of the codes, thus enabling him to become a part of the attempts to solve the case.

Zodiac isn't a film that tells the story of a serial killer from their point of view as they meticulously hunt down their victims. For sure, the film does show three of the Zodiac's murder that are shot with a genuine sense of realism with Fincher refusing to glorify the killings for the sake of visual enhancement. But most of the film is dedicated to showing how the police try and fail to solve the case of exactly who is guilty for commit the several murders. They continue to try, get a little further and then fail again until the majority of them give up. All except one man.

When it comes to noteworthy performances I was really, really impressed by Jake Gyllenhaal. I've only seen him in Donnie Darko, Jarhead and The Day After Tomorrow, and in all three, although adequately acted, I was never struck by anything overly special. However, his performance in Zodiac perfectly illustrates the obsession that his character Robert has with the Zodiac case. Just look how many years pass throughout the course of the film, and still, even as time passes into the 1980's Gyllenhaal still manages to portray the fixation controlling Robert's life perfectly.

I'm first to admit that I didn't absorb every detail contained within the picture. First of all, at 156 minutes, it's longer than most films but the task of understanding every little intricacy is made ever harder by the plethora of characters, the fast yet perfectly pitched pace and the intensity of the well-written dialogue. However, this does not detract from the overall pleasure gained on a first viewing. It is still a mesmerizing watch and a film that I'm sure will benefit from multiple rewatches, thus allowing for all of the minor details to tie together nicely.

Many viewers will be wrongfully frustrated by how the film turns out. Zodiac isn't a film that can have a nicely rounded ending, with all burning questions answered. But this cannot be avoided, after all the film is based on a true story and the Zodiac killer was never caught, so Fincher cannot provide us with a satisfying conclusion. But what he does do, through his flawless direction, is create a fascinating yet strangely unsettling film that hinges on the absolute persistence of one man to solve. Despite being shot digitally, the cinematography is at times gorgeous, probably the most visually impressive digital film I've seen aside from David Lynch's Inland Empire.

Further, Zodiac is noticeably void of many 'action' sequences. There are no car chases, no shootouts, no rise and fall of climatic events. It's not a film that requires them and for me, this was a breath of fresh air.

David Fincher is one of the most talented, stylish and intense directors working today. His filmography includes Fight Club, a film that seems to have universal love and Se7en, another film about serial killers. These two are labelled by many as modern day masterpieces, but in Zodiac, Fincher has created his best film to date that for me simply aside the two aforementioned films. It's an intense, seemingly very accurate depiction of the ways in which police work genuinely does function and the frustration that can occur when they don't always strike gold.


Rating: 9/10