Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
I did not watch Zero Dark Thirty upon its initial release, due to the politics surrounding it. I wanted to be able to view it free from bipartisan debate. Eight years on I believe this now achievable and although debate still exists it is now more measured and less strident. Zero Dark Thirty is certainly a compelling movie. It plays as a docudrama, providing an in-depth study of the US intelligence services hunt for Osama Bin Laden. It cannot be faulted on a technical level and the performances are very strong. It does not adopt a celebratory or triumphalist tone in its approach to the story. Director Kathryn Bigelow endeavours to keep the proceedings focused upon the intricacies of an intelligence driven manhunt. There is little or no tubthumping, jingoism. The decision to find Bin Laden is shown as a political and military exercise of foreign policy. The film solely focuses on the story from a US perspective but that is perfectly acceptable as it is not intended to be an exploration of geo-politics.
Do not expect to see all the traditional elements of narrative cinema in Zero Dark Thirty. CIA operative Maya (Jessica Chastain) is a driven woman but this is not really explored to any degree, because it is not the focus of the plot. Because she is a senior employee of the CIA, we simply have to assume that she is a patriot and hence culturally traumatised by the events of September 11th. All characters are presented in a similar fashion. We follow their actions and processes, as opposed to scrutinising their personalities and motivations. This is very much a movie about "how" and not "why". A lot is left to the viewer to consider and decide for themselves, should they see fit to do so. Such as is the use of torture effective? Was the US government right to invest so much resources into hunting one man? Was the death of Osama Bin Laden of any real military relevance or simply an act of national closure and political opportunism?
The final act of the movie reconstructs the Navy SEAL raid on the compound at Abbottabad. Those expecting a traditional action sequence will be disappointed. Technically accurate, it is bereft of all the faux melodrama usually associated with Hollywood's depiction of such events. It is depressingly plausible and in some ways anti-climatic. That is not to say that the part of the film is without suspense. It just has an overwhelming air of inevitability. A sentiment that seems to be felt by all involved as the decade long operation reaches its conclusion. The cast as well as the audience are left to ponder, was this a real victory or had its meaning ultimately been lost? Zero Dark Thirty ends it's two and a half hour journey on a note of emotional ambiguity. It makes for strangely fascinating viewing but does no more than present the viewer with the "facts", although there are hints at where the filmmaker's feelings lie.
