By: debbie lynn elias
We know where it began and we know how it ended, but what happens in between that leads to the end of the greatest manhunt in world history, is what Academy Award winners Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal deliver with ZERO DARK THIRTY. With breathtaking precision, Bigelow, directing a masterful script by Boal, takes us in a factual and procedural fashion through the red tape of hunting down Osama bin Laden in one of the tensest and most riveting films of the year, earning my vote as BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR.
Virtually void of politics and emotion, ZERO DARK THIRTY opens with static and black screen as we hear an audio montage of voices on phones crying for help in the Twin Towers in NYC. Effectively chilling, your heart goes cold when the voices stop. And then the journey begins.
Fast forward two years with early water boarding interrogation of a captured nephew of Osama bin Laden (which, quite honestly, is rather tame and falls well within what many consider “acceptable” in S&M porn movies) with novice field agent Maya in attendance as a spectator. From there, we hopscotch through the years, the world and various agencies and departments within Homeland Security, FBI and CIA with pinpoint precision as Maya doggedly determines to capture and kill bin Laden. Although Bigelow provides title cards for time and location jumps, it is the depiction of seminal terrorist attacks that do more to trigger time and place recognition. So powerful is the imagery that one is immediately taken back in time recalling where they were when first hearing of the 2004 attack in Saudi Arabia, the 2005 bus bombing in London, the 2008 attack on the Karachi Marriott and, ultimately, the 2009 bombing at a CIA base in Afghanistan. But it is through Maya’s eyes that we see the world and the manhunt unfold as her dialogue, her narrative, takes us through the minefield of the manhunt, connecting the dots of not only the players, but the scope and magnitude of the undertaking and its cost – cost in terms of lives lost, manpower expended, money expended.
Bigelow and Boal embed the audience in the journey thanks to the film’s immersion in the Muslim world. This story isn’t being told from the safety of Langley in the United States. This is balls to the wall, boots on the ground in Afghanistan and al-Qaeda territory, heightening the sense of danger and foreboding. Key is that Maya (a real individual with the CIA who Boal has carefully altered sufficiently to protect her identity without altering the investigative facts) realizes the way to reach bin Laden is through his couriers which serves as a perfect springboard for intense field tracking.
When Seal Team Six ultimately raids the bin Laden compound, even knowing how the story ends, so invested and involved are we as an audience that we hold our collective breaths with Maya waiting to see and hear the raid play out. This one sequence is one of the single most impressive and impactful in movie history.
Jessica Chastain delivers one the best performances of the year – by anyone – male or female. Staying effectively emotionless, Chastain lures us into her own steel trap, firmly investing us in Maya’s convictions while evoking sympathy and tacit encouragement, as if the audience is willing her along. Overall, the entire cast reads like a “Who’s Who of Hollywood” – Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke, Mark Strong, Mark Duplass, Kyle Chandler, Scott Adkins, Harold Perrineau, Chris Pratt, Frank Grillo, Jennifer Ehle and even, James Gandolfini as Director of the CIA.
Written by Oscar winning screenwriter Mark Boal, as he did with the The Hurt Locker, Boal digs deep with his research, placing truth, authenticity and accuracy first while creating tension through the interplay of the manhunt itself with the challenges of such a grand scale, full frontal investigative assault to execute same from a logistic and evidentiary standpoint. I applaud his conviction to “tell the story”, get it right AND protect the true identity of some of the intelligence players, most notably, “Maya.” Dialogue is sparse, allowing for the actors to develop their characters and convey story through body language and facial expression. Extended pauses speak volumes and often weigh heavy with the gravity of the situations at hand. But when there are vocal exchanges, especially with Chastain, look out. This is where powerful words take on a life of their own and command the screen in a powerful fashion.
As comes as no surprise, Bigelow technically dazzles. Joining forces with cinematographer Greig Fraser and co-editors William Goldenberg and Dylan Tichenor, the visuals are as compelling as Boal’s script itself, and never moreso than with the climactic 40 minutes when Seal Team Six moves out at ZERO DARK THIRTY hours. Effectively moving between night vision and “real life” cover of darkness, Fraser’s visuals transport us into an emotional eeriness that hangs heavy and bodes fear. With rapier precision, Goldenberg and Tichenor give us eyes to every aspect of the bin Laden compound, cutting between each team as they move with cautious and controlled methodical deliberateness, daring anyone watching to even breathe. And then turning on a dime, rapid-fire dialogue, mid to close camera angles and quick, sharp edits, kick up the adrenalin as its time to move the body, grab the computers and get out of the house and onto the stealth choppers. To say this is dramatic is an understatement.
And again, as she did with The Hurt Locker, Bigelow ratchets up the authenticity and overall experience by shooting in Jordan, India and other Middle Eastern locations which are more than sufficient substitutes for Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan.
Bigelow and Boal have done it again. A film destined to become as much a part of the fabric of America as the hunt for Osama bin Laden itself, ZERO DARK THIRTY is relentless and unshakable. And now, having finally seen all there is to see this year, I can say with all certainty it is unequivocally BEST PICTURE OF THE YEAR helmed by BEST DIRECTOR OF THE YEAR.
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow
Written by Mark Boal
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke, Mark Strong, Mark Duplass, Kyle Chandler, Scott Adkins, Harold Perrineau, Chris Pratt, Frank Grillo, Jennifer Ehle, James Gandolfini
