
David Fincher's Zodiac
Cinema of Investigation and (Mis)Interpretation
Fairleigh Dickinson University Press
Published on 22. August 2023
Book
Paperback/Softback
274 pages
978-1-68393-328-1 (ISBN)
Description
David Fincher's Zodiac (2007), written by producer James Vanderbilt and adapted from the true crime works of Robert Graysmith, remains one of the most respected films of the early twenty-first century. As the second film featuring a serial killer (and the first based on fact) by Fincher, Zodiac remains a standout in a varied but stylistically unified career. While connected to this genre, the film also hybridizes the policier genre and the investigative reporter film. And yet, scholarship has largely ignored the film.
This collection is the first book-length work of criticism dedicated to the film. Section One focuses on early influences, while the second section analyzes the film's unique treatment of narrative. The book closes with a section focusing on game theory, data and hegemony, the Zodiac's treatment in music, and the use of sound in cinema. By offering new avenues and continuing a few established ones, this book will interest scholars of cinema and true crime along with fans and enthusiasts in these areas.
This collection is the first book-length work of criticism dedicated to the film. Section One focuses on early influences, while the second section analyzes the film's unique treatment of narrative. The book closes with a section focusing on game theory, data and hegemony, the Zodiac's treatment in music, and the use of sound in cinema. By offering new avenues and continuing a few established ones, this book will interest scholars of cinema and true crime along with fans and enthusiasts in these areas.
Reviews / Votes
This is an important study in regards to David Fincher, Zodiac, and the true crime story upon which it is based. The collection exposes and examines the topics, and our fascination with them, in surprising ways. -- Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, author of <i>1000 Women in Horror</i> and <i>The Giallo Canvas</i> Though arguably the most interesting serial-killer film since Hitchcock's Psycho, David Fincher's Zodiac has not yet received as much high-level critical analysis as it deserves. This exciting new anthology goes a long way toward remedying the deficiency. Written from a variety of perspectives and with a wide range of concerns, this volume is especially strong in helping us to understand the film in its various cultural and historical contexts and with regard to its complex narrative strategies. -- Carl Freedman, Willam A. Read Professor of English Literature at Louisiana State University and author of <i>Versions of Crime Cinema</i> and <i>American Presidents and Oliver Stone</i>More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
Cranbury
United States
Publishing group
Associated University Presses
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Illustrations
12 b/w photos;
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
402 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-68393-328-1 (9781683933281)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
02/2022
1st Edition
Bloomsbury eBooks US
€33.99
Available for download
Persons
Matthew Sorrento teaches film studies at Rutgers University-Camden.
David Ryan is academic director and faculty chair of the Master of Arts of Professional Communication program at the University of San Francisco.
David Ryan is academic director and faculty chair of the Master of Arts of Professional Communication program at the University of San Francisco.
Editor
Contributions
Foreword
Content
Foreword: Zodiac, the American Murderer, and the End of Reason
By Christopher Sharrett
Introduction: The Future of the "Last Serial Killer Movie"
By Matthew Sorrento
SECTION ONE: BEFORE FINCHER
1: Framing the "Mass" Killer: Horror and Spatiality in Peter Bogdanovich's Targets (1968)
By Matthew Sorrento
2: Fear and Exploiting in the Age of Aquarius: Early Representations of the Zodiac Killer in 1970s Film and Television
By Christopher Weedman
3: Hacked to Pisces: An Interview with Tom Hanson on The Zodiac Killer (1971)
By Rod Lott
SECTION TWO: ZODIAC AND NARRATIVE
4: Zodiac and the Melding Criminal Minds of David Fincher
By Jeremy Carr
5: Subverting the Investigator as Hero: Masculinity and Failure in David Fincher's Zodiac
By Theresa Rodewald
6: Performing the Zodiac: Piffle, Paradox, and Self-Promotion
By Daniel R. Fredrick
7: Allegories of Obsession: David Fincher's Zodiac and Edgar G. Ulmer's The Black Cat (1934)
By George Toles
SECTION THREE: ZODIAC AND MEDIA
8: The Dantesque Desires
By Christopher Sharrett
Introduction: The Future of the "Last Serial Killer Movie"
By Matthew Sorrento
SECTION ONE: BEFORE FINCHER
1: Framing the "Mass" Killer: Horror and Spatiality in Peter Bogdanovich's Targets (1968)
By Matthew Sorrento
2: Fear and Exploiting in the Age of Aquarius: Early Representations of the Zodiac Killer in 1970s Film and Television
By Christopher Weedman
3: Hacked to Pisces: An Interview with Tom Hanson on The Zodiac Killer (1971)
By Rod Lott
SECTION TWO: ZODIAC AND NARRATIVE
4: Zodiac and the Melding Criminal Minds of David Fincher
By Jeremy Carr
5: Subverting the Investigator as Hero: Masculinity and Failure in David Fincher's Zodiac
By Theresa Rodewald
6: Performing the Zodiac: Piffle, Paradox, and Self-Promotion
By Daniel R. Fredrick
7: Allegories of Obsession: David Fincher's Zodiac and Edgar G. Ulmer's The Black Cat (1934)
By George Toles
SECTION THREE: ZODIAC AND MEDIA
8: The Dantesque Desires