[Movies]: Zero Dark Thirty

[Shinzai]

I'd been in two minds as to whether this film would actually catch my attention or not of late. I'd seen the trailer/preview quite a few months ago and it looked interesting, but I couldn't help but think it wouldn't be that interesting. Over the course of 3 hours, the film basically charts the decade long attempt of a team of intelligence and military operatives who had one task: To hunt down and eliminate Osama Bin Laden.



The film is directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal, the duo that put together The Hurt Locker, a film that I absolutely adored. Even though I enjoyed The Hurt Locker a lot, I couldn't help but think that another war film from the pairing could only be weaker or a lesser film than the first. However, it doesn't appear to be that way so far.

Despite my apprehension (haven't we had enough war films about Iraq/related conflicts?), this film appears to be reviewing ridiculously well so far, with 21/21 positive reviews listed on Rottentomatoes.com and an 8.9/10 average score.

I'm now avidly awaiting the film's opening near me and wasn't expecting to be this excited about it, yet it's now on my 'must see' short list for next year, due for release on the 25th of January.

[Eorayn]

I can’t wait to finally se it, since I have been awaiting it all year. But I probably won’t be able to see it till after next year’s Academy Awards (films open around 4 months later in Denmark, if they open at all).
National Board of Review wins, New York Critics Circle wins, and a current 100% tomatometer status. And a fantastic cast.

Will be exciting to see how it will do in the awards season

[Reyzzz]

Couldn't care less about another US propaganda film promoting their superiority to other people on this planet.

[Jon]

I barely even knew about this film until Bret Easton Ellis made a fool of himself and spouted some sexist crap about Bigelow.

[Shinzai]

Couldn't care less about another US propaganda film promoting their superiority to other people on this planet.

That's the interesting thing about this film: Even though it's got a CIA based point of view (a majority of the reports, analysis, testimonies used to write the film came from their notes and other US sources), it is purportedly presented in a neutral manner.

Here's an excerpt from a review by Devin Faraci (badassdigest.com):

...This, I think, is where Zero Dark Thirty transcends into the all-timer category. The film presents these things, these uglinesses of this nebulous war, in a completely non-judgmental way. This is how it happened, the film says, and you get to decide for yourself if it was worth it. Some may argue that the film comes down on the side of the CIA - after all, it’s being told from their point of view, not Osama bin Laden’s - but I think that the movie’s actually much more viewpoint neutral. It’s Maya’s POV, not a nationalistic one, and by the end of the movie Maya has a very personal stake in the proceedings.

There’s that same understated ugliness in the raid on bin Laden’s compound (which, despite being recorded history whose outcome I knew well, plays with almost unbearable tension). Seal Team Six shooters casually put bullets through the hearts of downed enemies - men and women alike. The film doesn’t explain why, but it’s obvious - you can’t have this injured guy getting up and shooting you in the back. Bigelow and Boal treat the viewer like adults, never having a character say this, but they do play it like humans, and have characters - however briefly - express across their faces the impact of shooting a downed opponent. There are no histrionics, no moments of hesitation, no swelling strings. But it’s there. Subtly it’s there.

That casual ugliness is in service of something bigger. There’s an unspoken argument (so much in this film, by the way, is unspoken. It’s almost like Bigelow intended this as a movie for thinkers, not for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare thumb twitchers) that you have to bend your ethics for the bigger picture. It’s something that could fuel hours of post-film debate; I can see people walking out Zero Dark Thirty disgusted by the CIA’s actions, while others walk out energized, wanting to join the Agency. I found myself somewhere in the middle.

[zerocarbs]

Big-budget propaganda piece promoting secret assassinations. No doubt the US government worked very closely with the producers of this film.

[Markluzz]

Big-budget propaganda piece promoting secret assassinations. No doubt the US government worked very closely with the producers of this film.

The current reviews state otherwise that the movie is very neutral about its standing point and actually brings up questions to both sides.

[MrFluffypants]

doubt they received all the information from the CIA, to be truly neutral.

[Shinzai]

doubt they received all the information from the CIA, to be truly neutral.

The Associated Press: Hunting Bin Laden And The History Of Zero Dark Thirty

The filmmakers hope the movie is seen as being straightforward and sans agenda — an analytical history that asks the audience "to lean into their own conclusions," says Bigelow. The intended perspective, she says with relish, is: "On the ground, in the center of that hunt."

"What better place to be?" says Bigelow. "It's where I wanted to be. I wanted to put the audience right in the middle of it and keep it as subjective and immediate and visceral and primal as I possibly could."

[Rukentuts]

Sorry to bump such an old thread, but has anyone seen this yet? Does it live up to the rather high expectations I have been reading?