I’m late to the party – I just saw the film for the first time – and I think it was the best film from 2007.
Larry has a terrific review of the DVD’s special features. Larry is one of the reasons I finally rented Zodiac. I had just flat out missed it when it was in the theatre, and Larry’s multiple posts on it really sparked my curiosity. And this post, by Kim Morgan, tipped me over the edge. Also, I have that thing where I am obsessed with serial killers, and forensic detective work. It’s just one of my things. I love blood stains and fingerprints and clues and hard work to put it all together. I love crusty old cops, and hardened dedicated detectives with nicotine-stained fingers. The film is spectacularly successful in all that it sets out to do.
Larry writes:
The added scene I like the most is one showing the difficulty of obtaining a search warrant for Arthur Leigh Allen’s trailer. It dovetails with the movie’s great theme of the drudgery of police work. Not the way it is portrayed on most TV shows and in cop movies: the exploding building, the car chase, the pithy one-liners, the too-easy apprehension of the perp. Here, Fincher focuses on the blind alleys, the long waits, the endless frustrations, the failures to communicate. And as Dargis and others have said: The thinking, the talking. It’s what makes “Zodiac” stand out: It’s all about the hunt, not the capture.
Go read Larry’s post. And see Zodiac, if you haven’t already.
The poster image above, by the way, is the original version – before they added the floating heads of Ruffalo, Gyllenhall and Robert Downey Jr. I think it’s FAR more effective (and scary) without the floating heads – and is certainly one of the most evocative movie posters I’ve ever seen.
Sheila, thanks. Of course, I might argue with you that the poster, while artistically effective, is not a particularly strong selling point. It doesn’t tell you a thing. It sort of reminds me of that awful poster Warren Beatty did for “Reds,” in the sense that it tried to be too highbrow and not sell the elements that made the movie so captivating. Both movies were much better than their posters, but the makers seemed to forget that the poster is one of the first lines of inquiry for a moviegoer deciding whether to see the film or not.
I think my response to it has much to do with the fact that I already knew a lot about Zodiac – I had read Graysmith’s book, etc. – so to me, it captured the horror I felt when I read that book – the sort of looming presence of that killer over the peeps of San Fran and environs.
But I do see your point (and yes, I totally remember that Reds poster!!). Someone who knew nothing about the Zodiac killer could be like: what? Is this a film about a wacky astrologist – or … is it from the perspective of a Sagittarian trying to be a Pisces? Like, what the hell is going on??
I do not have the DVD that you mention – with all the special features, and I am very very excited to purchase it now.
I kinda like the moody darkness of the poster. I thought Robert Downey Jr. was great — and I love Philip Baker Hall in pretty much anything.
I’m curious. Does the book give any further information about Arthur Leigh Allen? I know at the end the movie said he died without ever being charged. The evidence against him was pretty mixed, right? Is there anybody else to suspect at this point?
Tracey – Graysmith wrote a follow-up book, called Zodiac Unmasked – I think the book was published in 2001, and was a main source for the film-makers … and yes, the evidence against Allen was quite mixed and inconclusive.
I might have to give it another shot. I turned it off during the second murder, it was just too much.