"The Whole World Is Going to Want In On This"

Rating: 8/10 (13 January 2013)

The greatest manhunt in history is chronicled in Kathryn Bigelow's latest film, Zero Dark Thirty. The Academy Award winning director of 2010's The Hurt Locker, returns with another gritty, intense military thriller. Established through firsthand accounts from eye-witnesses, Zero Dark Thirty presents a fictional portrayal of the CIA's efforts to capture the most infamous terrorist of all time: Osama Bin Laden.
The film opens with audio recordings of phone calls made during the morning of September 11, 2001. Voices—some fearful and panicked, others calm and committed—play against a black screen, hollowing out the years between the present and that horrible event. We are instantly reminded of the powerful emotions evoked during that day, and how deeply that attack affected us, and continues to do so. Bigelow took a big risk in replaying those phone calls: Her decision could have easily been interpreted as a shoddy appeal to the audience's emotions, but instead acts as a harrowing reminder of the heartrending situation the nation had thrust upon it. The few minutes of audio have an intense sting, putting us in a reflective mindset for the remainder of the film.
The film then leaps forward a year, beginning its journey of documenting the plot to capture Bin Laden. The lump developing in your throat is quickly jammed into the pit of your stomach as a torture scene ensues. It is not the only scene of aggressive interrogation in the film, but it is certainly the most severe. Much has been written about the length at which Bigelow chose to depict these episodes of torture, and has provided the film much controversy. If you have read the tremendous essay by the late Christopher Hitchens regarding waterboarding ('Believe Me, It's Torture'), it is sure to come to mind as you watch this gruesome scene. I will not attempt to infer Bigelow's intention in depicting this action, but the viewer should ponder whether they are more disturbed that this practice is featured in a factual retelling, or that such actions actually take place.
The film's lead actor is the prevalent Jessica Chastain. As Maya, a young CIA operative passionately intent on locating the Al Qaeda leader, Chastain creates a character unlike any other in her repertoire. Her restrained emotions shadow an insatiable obsession that begins to consume her as months evolve into years, and failure begins to loom over each new lead. Maya begins as an avatar for the audience, but through the evolution of the film, slips beyond our grasp, becoming a creature of her own passion. Chastain possess the remarkable ability to adapt into any role thrust upon her.
Zero Dark Thirty is brimming with familiar faces. Kyle Chandler, Édgar Ramírez, Harold Perrineau, Jennifer Ehle, Mark Duplass, James Gandolfini, Joel Edgerton, and Chris Pratt all lend their talents to this production. Mark Strong is featured as a CIA section chief who serves to epitomize the frustration felt by the nation after numerous years of fruitless investigations. Although Chastain deserves the lion's share of credit for shouldering the heaviest role of the film, Jason Clarke—who gave an excellent performance in last year's Lawless—appears as a chief interrogator for the CIA. His acting in the film's opening scene is a dichotomy of human persona. He immediately shifts between raw brutality and jovial exclamations. Clarke is being sorely overlooked by many, but manages to stun with his callous demeanor and severe magnetism. Look for him to start making significant waves in the future.
Zero Dark Thirty is a rare film that exemplifies the emotions of an entire nation, yet manages to focus upon the mentality of the individual. Teamed, once more, with Mark Boal (The Hurt Locker), Kathryn Bigelow accomplishes a remarkable feat in pragmatism. Shunning conventional thematic embellishments, Bigelow and Boal produce a film that is tense, graphic, and harsh: the very nature of reality. The film describes an event that is all too real, and it achieves greatness through that realism.
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