Zodiac is a 2007 American crime thriller directed by David Fincher and written by James Vanderbilt, adapting Robert Graysmith’s nonfiction books Zodiac (1986) and Zodiac Unmasked (2002). The film dramatizes the investigation into the Zodiac Killer and the manhunt that consumed several people connected to the case. It was released in North America by Paramount Pictures and internationally by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Cast and characters
Jake Gyllenhaal plays cartoonist Robert Graysmith; Mark Ruffalo plays inspector Dave Toschi; Robert Downey Jr. plays reporter Paul Avery; and John Carroll Lynch plays suspect Arthur Leigh Allen. Supporting roles include Anthony Edwards as inspector Bill Armstrong, Brian Cox as Melvin Belli, Philip Baker Hall as Sherwood Morrill, Elias Koteas as Sergeant Jack Mulanax, Donal Logue as Captain Ken Narlow, James LeGros as George Bawart, Chloë Sevigny as Melanie Graysmith, and Ione Skye (uncredited) as Kathleen Johns.
Production and accuracy
Fincher, Vanderbilt, and producer Bradley J. Fischer reportedly spent about 18 months conducting their own research into the murders. Most of the film was shot on the digital Thomson Viper FilmStream camera, with high-speed film cameras used for the slow-motion attack scenes. The film was praised for its historical accuracy in reconstructing the Vallejo, Lake Berryessa, and San Francisco crimes and the investigation.
Reception
The film grossed over 65 million budget and received largely positive reviews. It screened in competition at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, was nominated for awards including the Saturn Award for Best Action, Adventure or Thriller Film, and in a 2016 BBC critics’ poll was voted the 12th greatest film of the 21st century. It has since developed a strong cult following.
Depiction of the case
The plot follows the Blue Rock Springs attack on Darlene Elizabeth Ferrin and Michael Renault Mageau, the encrypted letters sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, the Lake Berryessa attack on Bryan Calvin Hartnell and Cecelia Ann Shepard, and the murder of cab driver Paul Lee Stine. It dramatizes the questioning of Arthur Leigh Allen and notes — per its closing title cards — that Allen died before further questioning, that a DNA test did not match him, and that police declined to rule him out, with him remaining the prime suspect in some jurisdictions. These framings are dramatizations drawn from Graysmith’s books and should be treated as such.