chinese zodiac: zodiac

Zodiac

Director David Fincher's achievement in bad 70s hair is nearly as

masterful as his movie

David Fincher is a filmmaker who was quick to achieve cult hit status

with enthralling visual and suspense masterpieces like Fight Club,

Seven, and The Game, but with Zodiac, he makes a slight departure from

his norm, embarking on something almost resembling a period piece. But

true to his form it's a gruesome period: the terrifying reign

California's Zodiac Killer from 1968 until the mid-late 70s that

claimed an estimated 37 lives.

Zodiac, based on the book of the same name by Robert Graysmith (played

in the film by Jake Gyllenhaal) attempts to illuminate that the serial

killer didn't only end the lives of his victims with knives and

bullets, but through hollowing out the existences of the investigators

and journalists who were obsessed with catching the murderer who

taunted them with clever codes and belligerent letters.

Graysmith is a cartoonist for the San Francisco Chronicle, a former

Eagle Scout, and an all-around good, smart kid who takes a keen

interest in the Zodiac from the onset, but for the most part is

unnoticed in an office filled with journalistic old-timers and

hotshots. The most popular reporter is Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.

in yet another spectacular performance), who manages to have a talent

valuable enough to the paper to allow him to get away with drinking

his breakfast every morning at a local tavern. The two make an

unlikely pair, but they manage to form a bond whenever the Zodiac's

letters start rolling in. The narrative eventually jumps to the law

enforcement side of the story, introducing us to Inspector David

Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and his partner William Strong (Anthony Edwards)

who are faced with the hard task of trying to coordinate their efforts

with the four other precincts in which the Zodiac has claimed lives.

The process is chaotic and at times sloppy, leading one to wonder what

would have been accomplished had the murders occurred in a more modern

era. The two sides (law enforcement and journalism) manage to at times

help and hinder one another during the course of the investigation,

and we can almost see the Zodiac himself pulling their strings from

above.

Let's start with the obvious merits of this film, the most important

of which is Fincher's claim to fame: his visual style. From the muted,

almost yellowish overtones to the film itself, to the impeccable art

direction featuring everything (lots and lots of polyester) that made

that decade aesthetically unappetizing, Zodiac gives the impression

from the onset that this isn't just a story about the 1970s, but that

it was plucked directly from there. There are also the scenes

involving the Zodiac's murders which are nothing short of

bone-chilling. This killer was not afraid to strike in broad daylight,

and it was the most frightening scene in the film. Fincher's staging

of these murders was perhaps most indicative of his abilities as a

visual storyteller; he manages to shock the audience without the

overly-gratuitous use of blood and violence, something lost on most

modern directors.

The weak points come with character development and actual story

structure. It might seem hard to believe that a movie that runs over 2

and a half hours in length would be lacking in either of those things,

but it's true. The characters with whom we are supposed to be

sympathizing often feel cold and detached from the viewer, and we get

a sense that there was supposed to be a lot more to the story that was

trimmed out. As a result, certain characters feel completely out of

place -- namely that of Graysmith's wife played by Chloe Sevigny.

Also, there were plot threads that only seemed to serve the purpose of

inserting artificial thrills, and those could have been sacrificed in

order to better flesh out the main players. I anticipate the DVD

release in the hopes that an uncut, full-length version would solve

these problems. Despite those flaws, however, the film remains utterly

fascinating.

What becomes apparent, as we witness the lives of these men

(Graysmith, Toschi, Strong, and Avery) become consumed with the

tracking down of this cold-blooded killer, is that the Zodiac is

always at least one step ahead of them. Because of the allure of this

psychopath, otherwise good people succumb to failed marriages, lost

jobs, and drug addictions all in an effort to solve this mystery.

Ultimately, we are left feeling as frustrated by the lack of hard

answers as they must have been. If that was Fincher's mission, it was

most skillfully accomplished in spite of the film's narrative issues.

Gouda's Final Grade -- A-

Reviewed by Allie D. at 9:20 AM

Tags: Suspense

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Sunday, 10 February 2008

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