Zodiac

I've just finished watching Zodiac on DVD; it was released last year and I wanted to see it at the cinema, but didn't manage it. It was, absorbing, beautifully photographed and, although it was two-and-a-half hours long, it didn't drag for a moment, and I was engrossed throughout. I've had it from Amazon for quite a while, and attempted to watch it a week or two ago, but it was a Saturday night, and, for various reasons, I'm always knackered on Saturdays, and kept falling asleep. It's not easy to follow all the dialogue, as is often the case in US movies, so for my second attempt at seeing it I switched the subtitles on, a good move.
The film is based on a true story; the unsolved 'Zodiac' murders in and around San Francisco during the 60s and 70s. It's directed by David Fincher, who first came to fame with the celebrated 7even, and went on to make the even more celebrated Fight Club; both original and remarkable films. 7even was a serial-killing classic, but Zodiac is very different. The film tails off, and, although we're left thinking we probably know who the killer is, we're never entirely sure, and as the chief suspect is dead of a heart attack near the end, we'll never know the truth.
It has a messy, unresolved ending, and is none the worse for that. Its characters, based on real people, are flawed, inconsistent human beings. One especial pleasure was Robert Downey Jnr, one of my favourite actors. He's flawed and messy himself, and I know that he attracts criticism for self-indulgence, but I've never seen a dud performance from him. He plays the clever, but louche reporter Paul Avery, who disintegrates over the course of the film into a drink-sozzled shell. Jake Gyllenhall plays the lead, Robert Graysmith, who becomes obsessed by the Zodiac case - he's a geeky character with few friends, whose marriage disintegrates under the weight of his obsession. Mark Ruffalo plays one of the detectives who investigates the case - he resigns after faking a letter purportedly from Zodiac, another example of the mess the case created. All the actors are excellent and Fincher gets the best out of them.
Another pleasure was the setting - San Francisco. It's the only US city I've ever visited, so the topography has a familiarity about it. The cinematography was wonderful - filmed, as I've since discovered, using a new digital technique which I can't pretend to understand for a moment, but was stunning. I love shots of darkened city streets with lights - I don't know why I feel comforted by cityscapes, but I guess, once a city girl, always a city girl. Anyway, Zodiac had plenty. Open countryside always seems a bit menacing to me, rather than reassuring - why that is, only a psychiatrist could tell me, I expect.

So, a great film, five stars.