Zodiac - A deadly obsession

This week, the media spotlight focused even further on Zodiac, with more features and interviews appearing in the UK's nationals. The Daily Mail's feature yesterday was a straightforward synopsis but I'm very pleased to see that my sense of anticipation is also found in the The Times, which has featured something on Zodiac every week for a while. This includes interviews with Jake Gyllenhaal and David Fincher; this week, it's the turn of Robert Graysmith, arguably the whole reason why Zodiac came into being.


Graysmith is at pains to point out that the Zodiac killer is just one of several notorious American murderers that he has written about - and successfully too -'But it was the mass murderer Zodiac who was to change his own life for ever.' He became hooked even though he could see everyone else involved in the case "all burning out in front of me".

David Fincher's Zodiac has helped Robert to understand the nature of his obsession. "People used to ask me why when I started with this investigation in the first place and I didn't really know what to say. But it was obvious when I saw Jake's performance. It's an obsession. It is. It's the way I am."


Dave Toschi (played by Mark Ruffalo) and Robert survived and today remain friends, but Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr) wasn't so fortunate. "Zodiac might just as well have shot Avery because it had pretty much the same effect."

Robert frequently visited the set and certain scenes made him extremely emotional, especially the lake attack. The interviewer remarks that Robert is delighted with the way Fincher treated his book and points out 'Having a handsome young star such as Jake Gyllenhaal portray you on the big screen is pretty good, too.' No argument there, from Robert Graysmith and certainly not from me.


Pictures from IHJ.