What you need to understand about this film is that yes it is a first hand account of actual events, but like any film based on true events it has been dramatised and adapted as an outline to a fictional character basis. Therefore the film should not be taken at face value; it is ambiguous and open for personal interpretation.
An example of a fictional approach to this true story is the feminist CIA character Maya (Jessica Chastain) who carries the film on her shoulders from torture scenes to Government meetings; she is a strong female character who is presented as a woman against the world. The struggles of a female director are clearly outlined within this character raising questions of female bias. A study conducted by PHD’s, Stacy L.Smith and Katherine Pieper along with Marc Choueiti reveals the true struggles of a female director: over the past 10 years approximately 29% of all directors are female which is the equivalent of 1 female director for every 15 male directors, resulting in male dominance in the film industry, and why? Because men still don’t take women seriously, they don’t take their ideas or visions seriously therefore do not trust them with the money.
Why am I telling you this? Because Maya’s character illustrates this clearly, Bigelow reveals Maya’s character as a clichéd image of a woman against the world in a male dominated society. Bias? I should think so as it doesn’t explore the male contributions in the investigation and search for the Al-Qaeda leader, Osama Bin Laden. But that doesn’t mean that this film isn’t good, Zero Dark Thirty is visually superb, obviously it isn’t as artistic as Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom (2012), or Terrence Malick’s The Tree of life (2011) but it isn’t meant to be. It has a correctly used ‘reported account’ structure which creates realism and precision. The use of music constructs tension when needed and then when action isn’t taking place on screen, the music isn’t used thus creating a juxtaposed fast and slow pace which creates ambience.
The film is split into four parts each illustrating a different stage in the investigation and finding of Bin Laden. The explicit torture scenes specifically have caused chaotic controversy in America as the Hollywood press feel that it sheds a negative light upon American Government and military services. Without revealing too much, the use of Obama’s America doesn’t torture footage from 2008 in the middle of the film (which is based on true events, including what torturous interrogations they actually used) is contentious without a hesitation.
However if the film did not include the unambiguous torture scenes then it would be an inaccurate account, making it just a fiction film surrounding a true event but including no real relevance or association with the actual event, other than the process of capturing Bin Laden.
Without revealing the plot (even though it is considered as slightly predictable anyway), the film doesn’t necessarily illustrate victory against the Al-Qaeda (ultimately Bin Laden) which is what many people, including me believed. It questions Americans use of military, CIA and Government strategies, but also shows emotions of characters, the change in Government over the 10 years since the 9/11 attack and ultimately it shows us the true story of how Osama Bin Laden was captured, which in my opinion puts many people who suffered during 9/11 and who still suffer now, at some sort of ease.
Near the beginning of the film we are told that “in the end everybody breaks”, in my opinion this is true, but you need to watch the film to make your own judgement as to who “breaks” the most as the ending is very ambiguous and open for interpretation.
I personally believe Zero Dark Thirty is a successful Bigelow film, it is a prevailing portrayal of Osama Bin Laden’s capture. It makes you bite your nails and cling to the edge of your seat as the roller coaster of tension changes pace throughout the film creating various emotions. It is definitely one of the most powerful films I have seen for a long time and I would recommend it to anyone. What I think is magnificent is how Bigelow has effectively created this film in less than 20 months after Osama’s death, which once again is what makes this film so powerful. Next time you go to the cinema, see this film as it truly is un-missable.
15 Certificate
Review by LiveWire Young Film Critic, Megan Al-Ghailani (January ’13)
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Who is Maya? It is hard to tell; what we know about her concretely at the beginning is not all that different from what we know at the end. She is a CIA agent, fiercely intelligent, coldly detached. She shrinks at the beginning of the film from the torture she has to witness, but does not deny what she thinks to be its effectiveness. We see signs of emotion, a human being beneath the cold façade. But of her life external to her hunt, becoming ever the more determined as the film goes on, we know….nothing.
Jessica Chastain, that remarkable actress who burst onto the scene only a few years ago all guns blazing, plays Maya, with flawless conviction and gusto. She will win the Oscar for Best Actress come February, if the Oscars play safe and dismiss the remarkable work Emmanuelle Riva produced in Amour. There is sound support, primarily from Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler (who recently starred in Ben Affleck’s brilliant thriller Argo) and Jennifer Ehle.
The plot revolves around the decade long search for Bin-Laden. A funny thing writing a review about this film; what spoilers could possibly be given away if the audience sits down knowing exactly how the film is going to end? And, more importantly than that, just how could Bigelow, perhaps one of the finest female directors working today, make a thriller that maintains any degree of suspense, if the ending is already known?
Have no fear, Bigelow’s talent shines through. As a creator of suspense set pieces, this remarkable lady rivals Hitchcock; we follow the hunt almost exclusively alongside Maya, and we feel the net closing alongside her. This must be realized first and foremost: Zero Dark Thirty is not primarily a contemplation of the events that occurred in Pakistan, it is a thriller, frightening in its intensity, and masterfully executed.
The film has, quite understandably, been greeted with controversy. The scenes of torture in the film, and how they are presented, is the cause of most of the polemics, with various critics stating that the film endorses torture, or at least shows it to be a necessary evil. This is unfair; the film does not take an obvious stance and, in my opinion, this is the correct thing to do. It shows torture as a simple fact – it was used, and some of it produced results, as I’m sure it did, despite my disgust at the principle. As many have stated, quite rightly, it will also have led to nothing in many cases, and in others, grievous errors. But Bigelow feels no need to pander to the morals of her audience and why should she? In this film, many of the torture sequences are barely watchable. The point Bigelow is making, that even when torture does get results, it is brutal and de-humanising, is surely a braver and more complex approach to this matter than a banal, if morally righteous, sledgehammer statement that ‘torture is wrong and useless’; there is a dangerous simplification in that.
Bigelow is under no illusions; these people are cold and determined. Maya is no exception. We take the good with the bad, and are forced to live with it. That these scenes of torture are so difficult to watch does justice to the subject matter. I think the backlash against the film for these is somewhat misguided (if, sadly, inevitable).
The second point is less easy to defend. However expertly Bigelow’s film is crafted, it offers little more than a stereotypical viewpoint of Pakistani life. Many Pakistani reviewers of the film have criticised it for the erroneous stereotypes within it of the country’s populace. Many of these come from the ignorant CIA agents in dialogue and so these can be seen as satirical. Others aren’t, and are genuinely based on ignorance.
The fact that Bigelow’s film is structured exclusively from the American point of view comes with disadvantages. It arguably strengthens the film as a thriller, the feeling of claustrophobia and disorientation is palpable, but perhaps also leads to a narrow-minded approach in some instances. However, as already said, Zero Dark Thirty makes few pretensions to be anything more than an expertly crafted addition to its genre, and thus, in so doing, actually transcends it in many respects.
Technically and structurally, this film is a marvel, with great set pieces – not least of all its jaw-dropping climax, the night-time raid of Bin-Laden’s hide-out: an icily detached, masterfully controlled piece of suspense. Together with The Hurt Locker, I believe this to be one of the high-points of Bigelow’s career, blending a pervasive tension (punctuated by sudden detonations) with feeling and even humour. And its ambiguous, disquieting final scene leaves much room for reflection.
15 Certificate
Review by LiveWire Young Film Critic, James Martin (January ’13)