ZERO DARK THIRTY
by Silvercreen Snob
Director
- Kathryn Bigelow
Starring
- Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke
So,
I realise I'm late to the party in regards to this film but better
late than never, right?
On
the surface of it, you can be forgiven for automatically
comparing Zero
Dark Thirty to
Bigelow's other 'war' film, The
Hurt Locker; you
could be forgiven but you would be entirely wrong! The two films are
completely different yet both are equally compelling, just for
contrasting reasons.
The
movie starts with audio only; calls between victims and the emergency
services during the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. It's
heartbreaking and horrifying without actually showing you anything.
From here we jump two years and we are introduced to Jessica
Chastain's character, Maya. Bigelow and writer, Mark Boal, give the
audience a strong female character; a single minded woman who stops
at nothing until she gets what she wants. Chastain's portrayal is a
marvel; from her first 'interrogation' to the final moments, Maya's
growth as a character, in strength and resolve, is utterly
convincing. The only downside is that the audience never gets beneath
the surface. Bigelow sacrifices who Maya is for what she does.
However Jessica Chastain is so powerful in her role that the viewer
will follow her story anyway without question.
The
death of Bin Laden is almost always told as the story of the brave
men who stormed his compound, yet we don't get to meet this group
until two hours into the film. This film isn't about these people,
it's about what went on behind the scenes to allow such a mission to
take place; the many layers of bureaucracy and years of research Maya
and company endure just to get a meeting with the Director of the
C.I.A (played by James Gandolfini).
Some
of the torture scenes make for uncomfortable viewing no matter what
your opinion of it's usage. Bigelow pulls no punches in her direction
and creates a visually beautiful film amid harsh environments.
The
final half hour of the film, the storming of Bin Laden's refuge which
is shot almost in real time, is fascinating as the director switches
between night vision goggles and the drab natural light of the
compound, drawing the audience in and creating a tense final scene
(despite the fact that we all know the ending of this story).
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1790885/?ref_=nv_sr_1