Year : 2007 Duration : 2 hours 37 minutes Genre: Crime, Mystery
Rated: R (for some strong killings, language, drug material and brief sexual images)
Zodiac – A chilling story of a puzzling killer
“The look and the feel and the bulk of David Fincher's new movie are so seductive. He has made a massively confident and watchable thriller about the unsolved "Zodiac" murders in 1960s San Francisco: the work of a serial killer who sent teasing codes and letters to the local papers, and who is today either dead or still at large, preparing to resume his career.”
The Guardian
Meticulously detailed and superbly enacted, Zodiac is the story of a real-life serial killer, who terrified the San Francisco Bay area, during the 60s and 70s.
Adapted by James Vanderbilt (Basic), the story is taken from 'Zodiac' and 'Zodiac Unmasked', two factual accounts by writer Robert Graysmith.
Presenting the story of the varied perspectives—killer, the police and the press—this crime thriller provides accurate information about the unsolved puzzle.
Broad daylight or dusky evening, a man appears and starts killing the isolated people in the San Francisco Bay Area. As the killing continues, calling himself as ‘Zodiac,’ the killer sends information about the murder to the San Francisco Chronicle, a popular newspaper. Challenging police and the press, Zodiac frequently sends cryptic messages to the Chronicle that possibly contain his true identity. It is certainly a puzzling experience for the Inspector David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo), who is assigned to the case. Meanwhile, Chronicle’s reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.) tries to collect the details about Zodiac vigorously. At the same time, a curious cartoonist from Chronicle, Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) pursues his relentless mission of unmasking the killer.
Lack of strong evidences and the undecipherable nature of Zodiac’s messages confuse everybody and it finally forces the police to abandon the case.
When the elusive killer Zodiac resurfaces after some years, no one shows interest. But the curious Robert Graysmith determined to identify the culprit…
The performances by the artistes—composed Jake Gyllenhall and eccentric Robert Downey Jr.—make the movie highly engrossing.
It is not merely cop vs. killer drama. The movie expertly brings out the flaws in the system, which easily allows the culprits to escape.
Chosen by "Les Cahiers du cinéma" (France) as one of the 10 best pictures of 2007 (#05, tied with "La France")
One of the mystifying occurrences that rocked America, like “Jack the Ripper,” the Zodiac's identity remains, to this day ... unknown!
“Conveying an astonishing array of information across a long narrative arc while still maintaining dramatic rhythm and tension, this is by far director David Fincher's most mature and accomplished work.”
Todd McCarthy
Variety Magazine
Avoiding the customary clichés—cheap thrill and excitement—of this genre, it holds our attention till the end with its probing insight.
By
Srini