Been watching lotsa movies in this roasting summer.
Including reviewing strong candidate of my lifetime favorites: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
But it surprises even myself that I actually wanted to write about this movie first.
So it happens to be the movie I was watching this afternoon.
- Spoiler warning - (Oh, no one cares? All right)
Zodiac, as stated in the beginning of the movie, is based on real events.
The story starts from showing a murdering on July 4th, 1969.
The killer, named himself Zodiac, mailed San Francisco Chronicle and took credit for the killing,
as well as several other killings as the movie progresses.
The entire movie focus on the pursuit of Zodiac, first by Detective Toschi,
and after years of rewardless investigation, by Robert Graysmith.
Graysmith was a cartoonist who worked in San Francisco Chronicle.
Obsessed by the case, Graysmith dived into the investigation which was abandoned for long.
Pretty much a third of the movie is about how Graysmith looked into the case.
The ending, like reality, remained unsolved. Zodiac was never caught.
- Spoiler ends -
I like this movie. Intriguing, catches your breath till the end, although it lasts 2 hours 40 minutes.
When you got tired of those bloody as hell slasher movies and want some real thriller, this is it.
Some hates the ending for the killer remains untold. Silly. This is the great part! It follows the reality.
In fact the whole film is close to what happened actually, like a documentary style.
I love it a lot. Like reality, somethings just won't finish up nicely, will it?
Back to the killer, is Leigh Zodiac? The movie suggests he is the closest suspect ever caught.
But the fingerprints, handwriting, even the DNA test conducted recent year ruled Leigh out.
The movie was trying to explain how Leigh passed the tests.
Like dramatic psychological change can alter one's handwriting,
and, if I didn't misinterpret, the possibility of Zodiac being two killers.
I could see that Bob Vaughn was portrayed as Zodiac, right from the scene he showed up.
The handwritings on the movie poster, which Graysmith thought to be Zodiac's was actually Vaughn's,
Vaughn lived in a house with basement, and Graysmith rushed out and all...
I don't get why Graysmith didn't follows the clue. Maybe Vaughn doesn't exist at all.
The whole point is just to bring up the second Zodiac.
Anyway, it still freak me out that a killer could remain uncaught for so many years passed.
Another point I'd like to mention is what critics referred to as
an "allegory of this information age" included in this movie.
I was born on the run-up before this "information age" took off.
Nowadays various information is blooming everywhere.
Everyone can have access to tremendous amount of information from, say the internet.
But does that really make people more curious about knowledge? No.
Instead, we are tired, drowned by the flood of informations, and our curiosity wore off.
Look back into the movie, look back into the time of the 70's,
Is the thirst for the answer of the case ("puzzle", used a lot in the movie) that bizarre?
My favorite scene:
Almost at the end of the movie, Graysmith went to the place where Leigh worked at.
Graysmith looked at Leigh, while Leigh asked, "May I help you, Sir?"
Graysmith didn't answer. He looked deeply into Leigh's eyes, referencing what he said earlier in the movie.
This scene reminds me of, and is almost as stunning as, the second to last scene in The Lives of Others.
Where Dreyman, after knowing how Wiesler saved him in the Stasi Office, had a look of Wiesler from far.
"You are a total stranger, but you changed my life."
Jake Gyllenhaal, who acts Graysmith, petrified staring at Leigh.
And Leigh's role is even harder, as he had to look back into Graysmith.
As Leigh, he doesn't know Graysmith. As Zodiac, he does.
But the tricky part is, no one can confirm that Leigh is Zodiac.
The actor, John Carroll Lynch, did a great job.
He acts someone who acts innocence, but he may or may not be acting! (lol~)
With the question "Is Leigh Zodiac?" in every audience's mind, Lynch was able to conceal everything.
