Page 18 THE VILLADOM TIMES
III & IV • January 16, 2013
‘Zero Dark Thirty’ dramatizes decade-long manhunt
by Dennis Seuling “Zero Dark Thirty” is a movie about the many individuals and agencies dedicated to locating the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks. Director Kathryn Bigelow (“The Hurt Locker”) focuses on one CIA analyst, Maya (Jessica Chastain), who is based on an actual person. The film begins with the interrogation of a terrorist and the use of various forms of torture -- principally water boarding -- by fellow agent Dan (Jason Clarke) as Maya watches emotionlessly. The techniques are geared to extract information to help narrow the search for bin Laden. Bigelow makes no editorial statement about the morality of such means; she treats them as a standard interrogation techniques. From this graphic opening, viewers are introduced to the teams of men and women who work diligently to put together bits of Internet chatter, surveillance tapes, anonymous tips, and phone conversations to postulate where bin Laden is hiding. Maya’s sole assignment is the search for bin Laden and she is consumed by the task. She has no serious relationship, no friends, and not much of a life outside her job. She believes the key to locating bin Laden is to find and follow his trusted courier. However, this will not be easy, since the courier is extremely careful in covering his own tracks. “Zero Dark Thirty” rises above other political thrillers because it is not burdened with or slowed down by unnecessary romantic entanglements, comic relief, or clichés. In straightforward fashion, Bigelow takes viewers through the behind-the-scenes operations of the CIA as it juggles information, spends billions, and is under enormous pressure to get results. Viewers see or hear of terrorist attacks that occur after 9/11 in other parts of the world, including recreations of several terrorist bombings and an attack on a CIA compound. These scenes show the deadly result of the terrorists’ perseverance, but there are many equally dramatic scenes set in offices with analysts using their computers and technical data to assemble a picture of a network that might lead to bin Laden. There is a constant sense of urgency and determination. These folks do not engage in idle office small talk. They recognize the importance of their work and coordinate with field agents to close in on their prey. Chastain, who has been in one hit movie after another this past year, plays Maya as an intelligent, sometimes inappropriately outspoken team member with an amazing ability to recognize clues, piece them together, and convince her superiors to bankroll field operations that will net her the next piece of valuable information, building her quest -- one piece at a time -- for the world’s foremost terrorist. Maya is heroic in a low-key manner atypical of Hollywood. She stands by in an office or watches operations on surveillance cameras while soldiers and CIA agents do the dangerous legwork. If this were a Sylvester Stallone or Jason Statham movie, the stars would singlehandedly find and kill bin Laden. Making the central character a person who thinks through and facilitates a plan rather than shoots her way through it may not sound exciting, but it is. Bigelow rivets the audience from the beginning, taking viewers through an elaborate procedure in which the outcome is known. It is how it gets to the outcome that makes this movie
Maya (Jessica Chastain) is a CIA analyst assigned to pore through intelligence and find Osama bin Laden in ‘Zero Dark Thirty.’
special. Mark Boal’s script chronicles the Navy SEALS operation that resulted in the death of bin Laden, but this is only one part of the picture. Its most interesting aspect is depicting how incredibly difficult anti-terrorism is and how many sharp minds are incorporated to fight it. Rated R, “Zero Dark Thirty” is movie making at its finest.