What an ambitious and risky task director Kathryn Bigelow
and screenwriter Mark Boal have at hand here with their new film “Zero Dark
Thirty.” Among other things, probably the greatest problem it faces is the fact
that we know how the story ends. We know that Osama Bin Laden was eventually
found and killed by the Navy Seal Team Six. A different director might have
just focused the movie on that Navy Seal raid, which no doubt would have been the
easiest approach, but also would have been the narrowest and the most monotone.
The challenge is trying to make the stuff that comes before
interesting and worthwhile, taking the grueling ten-year C.I.A. manhunt and
molding it into a compelling thriller. But Bigelow and Boyal are up for the
challenge as “Zero Dark Thirty” is an expertly paced, expertly balanced,
intimate and all around exciting picture, dealing with a controversial but
relevant subject. And as in Bigelow’s last picture, the Iraq war drama “The
Hurt Locker,” “Zero Dark Thirty” doesn’t take an active political stance on the
subject. It depicts the events of the manhunt in an honest and straightforward
manner and focuses on the people involved with it.
The story begins with 9/11 terrorist attacks, however
Bigelow wisely doesn’t bring too much attention to it (it’s not the focus of
the movie), only giving us the audio. We then are brought into a cramped, dimly
lit room known as a C.I.A. Black Site where a group of agents, led by one named
Dan (Jason Clarke), are in the middle of interrogating an Arab. They think he
has information on the whereabouts of Bin Laden or someone else that may know.
This is the first of series of interrogations (well, more
like torturings). In fact we spend a majority of the first third or so of the movie
within one of these Black Sites. The torture scenes can be difficult to watch,
even being someone who’s no stranger to scenes like this in movies I cringed a
few times. But they’re nonetheless effective. Bigelow stages them with
brutality and honesty.
It’s also during this beginning interrogation that we meet Maya
(Jessica Chastain), another C.I.A. agent who ends up leading the entire
manhunt. She also becomes the driving
force of the whole movie. Chastain plays the character with extreme confidence
and power. It’s an intelligent performance of both highs and lows. At the
beginning, during the first interrogation, while Dan is out in front being loud
and intimidating to the suspect, she stands in the background not saying a word;
it even looks like she’s repulsed by the whole thing. But soon enough she moves
to the front and becomes the loud and intimidating one.
She’s completely dedicated and determined in finding Bin
Laden, almost obsessed. At times it feels like a personal vendetta. It’s all
business for Maya; we don’t see any of her personal life, which is as it should
be. Bigelow and Boal are smart enough not to cram in a needless cliché side
plot involving a neglected spouse or boyfriend.
Bigelow is known for making male centered action/drama
movies (in films like “The Hurt Locker,” “Point Break,” and “K-19: The Widowmaker”
women are scarcely seen) and while “Zero Dark” may have a female protagonist,
Bigelow still places her in a very male dominated environment. Just about all
of her superiors and subordinates are male as well as her enemies. But Maya
being the strong, determined person she is has no problem standing her ground
and making her presence known. It’s enthralling watching her butt heads with
fellow C.I.A. members like Dan or Station Chief Joseph Bradley (Kyle Chandler).
Maya is of course a fictional person, in fact all of the roles in the movie are
fictionalized but there’s also a level of realism in all of the characters and situations.
Maya may not be real but she’s completely believable.
After the movie gets going it settles into a nice rhythm.
There are, as I said, more scenes of torture, followed by the standard walk and
talk scenes between characters within the walls of various government
facilities (taking place in hallways, conference rooms and control rooms). Mix
that with very intense and intimate sequences involving C.I.A. operatives doing
surveillance in the bustling streets of Pakistan, as well as abrupt bursts of
violence to shake up the C.I.A. and their efforts (the bombing of a hotel, for
example). Boal’s script is perfectly balanced, and Bigelow moves the film along
at the right speed, seamlessly streaming through ten years of activity. It
doesn’t move too fast but at the same time you’re not checking your watch.
Honestly, I didn’t expect much from “Zero Dark Thirty.” I
just couldn’t picture how this story could be made in an appealing way, besides
in documentary form. But Bigelow and Boal succeed in boiling it down to the key
essentials and grounding it in interesting and engaging characters. In the end,
“Zero Dark” is a dramatization (it’s based on true events but there’s obviously
exaggeration, especially considering it was a C.I.A. mission) but it’s done
within realistic bounds. Everything feels authentic.
4/4
