Zodiac (2007)

Was I the Zodiac?

The SF Chronicle reported that DNA from saliva under a postage stamp has cleared Arthur Leigh Allen, the favorite suspect in San Francisco's most celebrated serial murder mystery. Artie Allen may or may not be gratified - he died, after all, twelve years ago - but I find the news disquieting. Though there's no reason for the cops to have my DNA on file, I've long been expecting suspicion to shine my way. The profile fits. I moved to the Bay Area in 1968, in time for the first killing at the pumping station in Vallejo. I'm intimate with the other slaughter scenes as well: Lovers' Point on Lake Berryessa, Cherry Street on Pacific Heights, the Yosemite Cut-off near Modesto. I weigh the requisite 210 lbs, I stand the proper 5' 11", I sometimes wear those boxy glasses shown in the police artist's sketch, and my gloves, like OJ's, are XXL. I can make my penmanship look any age, gender, or educational level, a knack I learned from faking sick-out excuses in junior high. Most incriminating, I have the habit of putting too much postage on letters, especially submissions to magazines.
On the other hand, I've never owned an Impala or worn a pair of Wing Walkers, certainly not size 10½. I don't smoke, and I'd have to stretch to spell like the guy who wrote The boy was origionaly sitting in the frunt seat when I began fireing or What I did was tape a smal pencel flash light to the barel of my gun. Admittedly, misspellings might be subterfuge or typos from writing in cipher, but it would take a post-modernist genius to counterfeit a line like the Idiout who phraises with inthusiastic tone of centuries bout this and every country but his own.

The weak link in the chain of circumstances binding me to the Zodiac is that I don't recall stabbing or shooting anyone. Nor do I recollect mailing a single cryptogram. Of course, you have only my word for my unmemories, but asking if I remember something is like asking a Cretan if he's a liar. Since all Cretans are postulated liars, any answer is tautological. What I do recall is the sensation of wondering, each time the Zodiac hit front page, whether I might not be the killer, shrouding my guilt from myself in schizophrenic amnesia. As Nero's favorite playwright said, humani nil a me alienum. Nothing human is foreign to me.

This memory of doubting my own memory haunts me. There are gaps in my memoirs--weeks, months--easily wide enough to accommodate a few random killings. I first realized I'd forgotten large parts of my life when I applied for a job, right out of college, requiring security clearance. Who bought the marijuana, the squinty G-man asked, which you and Rick Fields smoked together in his dorm room on the night of May 3rd, 1964? Smelling entrapment, I gruffly objected to the absurdity of expecting anyone to remember such trivia, but I didn't get the job. What's worse, I can't recall now if I ever really smoked dope in college, let alone inhaled.

I suppose I could scrape my tongue and send it to the lab - anonymously, you understand, since it's self-awareness I seek, not closure. Admittedly, the burden of proof in America rests on the prosecution, but we've often been too quick, we Yanks, to exonerate ourselves. Right now I have to wonder why none of the corpses I buried under the artichokes behind my cottage have been exhumed. It's an awkward feeling, being evicted from a house where you've buried bodies. The new people are bound to dig the veggies up to plant dahlias, or to repaper the bedroom and find the walled-up crypt.

Are there biochemical tracers for dreams? Do the neurons worry about sources, or do they blindly update bits and bytes of memory seriatim, in which case what I call my life is no more than a bundle of algorithms, a cryptogram waiting vainly to be defragmented? I've already downloaded portions of the 1507 websites meticulously devoted to what was, after all, a minor murder spree. The BTK in Wichita, for instance, strangled nine, wrote twice as many taunting letters as the Zodiac (with better spelling) and spattered prodigious volumes of semen all over his crime scenes. The Green River Killer dumped so many corpses in the environs of Seattle - forty-two and still counting - that Boy Scouts started getting merit badges in forensics. In Ciudad Juarez, dusty gullies routinely cough up young women - mauled, dismembered, minced - the slaughter count now over 340, the leading suspects all local policemen. Browsing the Web, I feel like Dante creeping into Hell: io non averei creduto che morte tanta n'avesse disfatta. I had not thought that death had undone so many.

In these and other spectacular acts of mayhem, bogus letters claiming guilt outnumber the real thing, and experts say serial killers tend to inject themselves into investigations, often posing as cops. Now there's a stunt I can imagine myself pulling. Whenever I shattered one of Mother's kitschy knick-knacks, I earnestly volunteered to help track down the intruder. Likewise my first wife (or is it my third?) testifies that whenever I groped one of her girlfriends, I gave myself away by making disparaging cracks about the victim. It's a short step from disparagement to murder, I confess, though too short to win me an election in California. On the other hand, Detective Dave Toschi may have forged the Zodiac's final 1978 letter, evincing a rare flair for literary imposture - unless, as his fans argue, he was the actual killer himself. He hardly fit the profile, however, having neither large hands nor small feet.

By the way, an almost universal trait in psychological profiles of serial killers, according to FBI sources, is an "obsessive reading of stories and essays about unsolved crimes." If that extends, as I fear it must, to the writing thereof, once this is published it's only a matter of time until I find myself arraigned on somebody's web page. Well then, come and get me, all of you! I've lived with my secrets long enough!

[And by the way, the film would have made a better book.]
July 10, 2008

Good, but a little long

Zodiac is long. Maybe it just felt longer because I happened to be tired when I saw it. I am not going to sit through it again just to find out. Luckily it also happens to be very good with an excellent cast. There are no crazy car chases, shootouts, or fancy explosions and you don't even get the satisfaction of the capture of the Zodiac, yet it is still a solid film. What you get is a story that follows the methodical progress of police work and the investigation of a cartoonist turned journalist.

July 7, 2008

Bird-Dog

When I saw this version of "Zodiac" in the budget bin, it was an impulse purchase. I'd seen the film in the theatre. The strange thing for me is that I remembered this as being an older film, like 2000 or so. Made last year, David Fincher directed this and was nominated for Best Director from Film Critics in Chicago and Toronto. Fincher's other films include "Panic Room," "Fight Club" & "Seven." One might expect a bloody thriller, but instead "Zodiac" is an intense drama centered on Robert Graysmith's compulsion to find the killer.

Jake Gyllenhall who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for Brokeback Mountain (Widescreen Edition) and actually won @ the British Academy Awards plays the role with subtle but growing indications of Graysmith's strength of conviction. Since Graysmith is a cartoonist at the San Francisco paper, his mission about this case seems to come from left field.

Mark Ruffalo won a Best Actor Award from the Montreal World Film Festival for "You Can Count On Me" and shined in one of my favorite films, Just Like Heaven (Widescreen Edition). As Inspector David Toschi, he does a good job of bird-dogging the case, but then even he reaches a point where he wants to throw in the towel.

Robert Downey Jr. plays San Francisco reporter Paul Avery whose arrogance leads him into pursuit. Downey was nominated for an Oscar in 1992 for "Chaplin" and won a Golden Globe for "Ally McBeal" in 2000. He shows the deterioration of the character into an alcoholic haze.

Brian Cox does an excellent job as Melvin Belli. Anthony Edwards from TV's "ER" plays Inspector William Armstrong who comes to prefer a desk job. The film is a good psychological study of the main characters tracking the killer. The final scene where Graysmith goes into the hardware store and stares at the guy he knows did it, but is unable to prove is intense. The film got Best Picture nominations from Film critics in the Southeast, Las Vegas & Oklahoma. Enjoy!

July 2, 2008

Good Byeeeee.....................

Zodiac does an exceptional job of bringing the lunatic to the big screen.
The dude was nuts, no doubt!
I especially liked the first phone call at the end he says good byeeeeeeeeeee.............CREEPY!!!!!!!
Too bad they never caught the loser, if he's since passed away it's a pretty safe bet he's not in a very good place.
The pacing of the movie is spot on, and the film just reeks of atmosphere, something that's missing from most movies nowadays.
Just plain creepy.
The part in the basement, the phone calls, EVERYTHING, creepy, freaky!!!
I still can't believe this happened in real life!!!
Tragic and a shame that so many lives were ruined by this guy.
Zodiac is one of the best "horror" movies out there, not only is it a true story, but it doesn't fall into the usual Hollywood horror trappings.
Not so much a "horror" movie as a crime thriller.
Haunting, brilliant, superbly acted.
I can't believe how far Jake has come in his career since being the teen goof in "The Day After Tomorrow".
Brilliant and amazing from start to finish and one of the best movies to come out that year.
Highly recommended!!!
June 30, 2008

Obsession...

I went in to this movie thinking I was going to see another serial-killer-as-evil-genius story. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Fincher had put together a fascinating tale of determination / obsessive dedication in the face of mounting terror. ZODIAC starts off w/ a bang, showing us the maniac in action. The murders themselves are dealt with in quick succession, leaving the majority of the film to decyphering Zodiac's codes, gathering evidence, and interviewing suspects. I love police procedurals (Forensic Files is one of my favorite TV shows), so this movie held my interest throughout. However, ZODIAC is also about the effects of such a baffling, frustratingly drawn-out case on those who relentlessly pursue it. We watch as the characters' lives are nearly consumed by Zodiac to the point of their own ruin. Jake Gyllenhaal's cartoonist character goes from being interested in the case to being taken over by it. He will not rest or stop until Zodiac's identity is revealed. I could feel his obsession grow! Mark Ruffalo is the cop who runs down leads and ultimately gives up hope (almost) entirely. Watching these two is an amazing study in doggedness and dedication. These are the guys I want working on these types of cases! At the same time, we also get a look at the tremendous toll taken. The simple things in life that are missed. The price that is paid in mental / physical burn-out, lost opportunities, and personal relationships altered or destroyed. ZODIAC reminds us that life is precious, and that obsession, even well-placed obsession, will drain our souls. I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves horror / thriller / mystery / real-life drama, as well as to those who love a great human story... P.S.- Robert Downey, jr. and Anthony Edwards are also excellent in their smaller roles... June 29, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...