Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Jessica Chastain as Maya

Katharine Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty is mainly a story about one woman's relentless pursuit of Osama Bin Laden. Jessica Chastain plays CIA agent known only as Maya. Maya is singular of task, and unwavering. She is diligent, and supremely confident in her abilities. She displays little life outside her job. Without her, we're lead to believe, the world's most-wanted man might still be at large.

As the movie opens, the screen is dark, with audio-only phone calls from 9/11 providing context. Immediately after, Maya is led into a large, barren, dark building, on a military base, clearly not in America, someplace remote. As her (and our) eyes adjust to the darkness, she sees a man, tied at his wrists, at the mercy of his captors. He's asked questions, which he refuses to answer. Though he tries to resist, he's beaten, and informed by another CIA operative that resistance is futile; simple biology dictates that ultimately and inevitably, he'll break. Suffering further assaults, and worse, it's not long before the prisoner's demeanor converts from firm resolve, to one of utter desperation. Pain and hopelessness have that effect.

An indeterminate amount of time later, after suffering who knows how much at the hands of his captors, the prisoner is seen talking with the lead interrogators under a tent, outside the building. They offer him a cigarette, and begin talking with him in softer tones. He reciprocates, offering the name of someone possibly tied to al Qaida. It is the crucial clue that begins Maya's quest. 

Maya is sent to Afghanistan, to join a small group of CIA members relentlessly tracking Bin Laden. At first, she's seen skeptically by existing members. They dismiss her assertions as naive, and see her as inexperienced. Undaunted, she earns respect by displaying fierce resolve, speaking up forcefully, refusing to back down to their bullying. Impressed, they begin to accept her as one of their own. Using sophisticated electronic surveillance, sources on the ground, keen insight, and sheer determination, the group is dogged in their pursuit of a courier they believe may have ties to Bin Laden. 

As mentioned, the bulk of the film involves Maya's singular pursuit of even the smallest details. There are promising leads, and dead ends. Possible break-throughs, and frustrating failures. Through it all, Maya does not flinch.

After a dizzying connection of clues, Maya's becomes certain she knows the specific location where the terrorist leader is hiding, in Pakistan. Frustrated at the agency's lack of urgency, she brazenly challenges not only her boss, but the head of the entire organization, saying she's 100-...no 95-percent sure Bin Laden's where she says he is (certainty being beyond the comprehension of higher-ups). Unsure she's right, cabinet-level leaders show doubt and ambivalence. Maya can't believe that, after all the effort she and her team have exerted, after all they've been through, the government won't act. Her passion shifts from finding a needle in a haystack, to convincing her superiors that she has, miraculously, located said needle.

I won't spoil anything by disclosing that the final segment of the film involves Seal Team 6's assault on the infamous compound in Abbottabad. These re-creations were shot from a first-person perspective, and are realistic, gripping, and believable. Though I knew the result, it was still tense. Both the look and feel of the attack—from the stealth helicopters, to the storming of the pitch-black building by the soldiers in night-vision goggles—exceeded expectations. For most who see the movie, these will be the images they remember. 

While successful, the film has flaws. In parts, given all the similar-sounding Arabic names being dropped by captors and captives, the film can be confusing and hard to follow. Were it not for the fact that I knew the basic gist going in, I might've spent time wondering who said what, to whom, and how they relate to one another. As it was, I resigned myself to not knowing Ammar from Hassan, from Abu Ahmed to Zied, and trusted that it would all play out in the end. Which it did.  

Again, to its credit (like Cameron's "Titanic" before it) Zero Dark Thirty is able to conjure genuine suspense, despite the fact that we all know the outcome. No easy task, that. As such, Bigelow and  writer Mark Boal, as well as the entire cast and crew (especially photographer Greig Fraser) are to be commended.

Finally, it's impossible to review this movie without acknowledging that it has been criticized roundly for showing graphic scenes of torture, as well as mainly claiming torture led to gathering evidence crucial to finding Bin Laden. 

These scenes are harrowing, without question. I felt uncomfortable watching them. That one person could treat another as such is unimaginable and, even in the name of protecting one's country, I believe inhumane. We can't at once claim moral high ground (spouting the cliched "they'll murder innocent American because they hate us for our freedom"), while at the same time lowering ourselves to such unspeakable acts. I've felt similarly when seeing images from Abu Graib prison, heard former interrogators interviewed on 60 Minutes, or seen comparable stories recalled in documentaries such as Taxi to the Dark Side. When Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld infamously asserted the US had to work in the "dark side" to reach its goals, insinuating that that the US government might resort to less-than-legal methods, their words conjured similar notions. The scenes in Zero Dark Thirty reflect this unconscionable sensibility. In light of all this, the scenes didn't feel artificial, or trumped up for dramatic purposes. Perhaps I'm cynical, but the scenes felt in-line with what US leaders of the time were all but admitting was likely occurring. Back before Abu Graib, Black Sites, rendition, and Wiki Leaks were all common knowledge. 

That the film's protagonist goes from an initial feeling of reluctance at witnessing torture, to managing similar interrogations herself is, I believe, as much a realistic statement about that very human desire for revenge, and Maya's single-minded approach to achieving that goal, as it is one about the film makers' reveling in blood-thirsty sadism, their lack of empathy, exploiting torture for entertainment, or  advocating of torture as a means-to-an-end. 

Having said that, hearing such disparate sources as John McCain, Diane Feinstein, and Carl Levin claim scenes of torture did not, in fact, lead to critical information in finding Bin Laden, I'm inclined to believe them, more than Hollywood. They regularly attend classified-level briefings, and are in a better position to know. I suppose I went in with the notion that "the torture scenes will be bullshit." If the filmmakers invented this entire sequence simply to forward the plot, while at the same time claiming their work is an accurate portrayal of what actually happened, this is not only dishonest, but also unnecessary. Omission of the torture scenes would not greatly affect the overall message, or entertainment value, of the film.  Does the film glorify torture, using suffering as entertainment? Perhaps. However, as Martin Sheen recently stated (I'm paraphrasing), showing such brutality makes it impossible to defend similar treatment of prisoners in the future. The cat's now wholly out of the bag. Thus, while maybe at once using torture as entertainment, the film might simultaneously be seen as laying bare the indefensible indiscretions of so-called "enhanced interrogation." As such, Bigelow has her torture, and eats it, too.

Ultimately, Katharine Bigelow's "Zero Dark Thirty" achieves what it set out to do: deliver a powerful, dramatic version of the hunt for, and ultimate killing of, Osama Bin Laden. Do any of us have any idea how accurate it is? Or whether it selectively included (or left out) parts of that story? That is a question of personal belief. It is doubtless more narrative than documentary. What I am sure of is that, upon leaving the theatre, I felt Zero Dark Thirty was credible. And for the entire 2+ hours, I was never bored. I'm not sure I learned anything (intricate details aside) about the over-arching story of the hunt for Bin Laden, that I didn't already know going in. Except for the fact that one woman was almost entirely responsible for leading the charge.