Reviews

Zero Dark Thirty: A tarnished masterpiece

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Kyle Chandler, Jennifer Ehle, Mark Strong

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Genre: Drama, Thriller

Run Time: 157 mins

On May 2, 2011 Osama Bin Laden was killed by a US special forces group (if this is a spoiler, you've been seriously out of the loop). Kathryn Bigelow had been about to begin filming on her new project depicting the 2001 Battle of Tora Bora and the unsuccessful hunt for the world's most wanted man that followed. The significant news torpedoed any such plans. In less than 12 months, Bigelow and her writer (since The Hurt Locker) Mark Boal reshaped the film, basing it on a real female CIA officer who was recruited out of college and worked on finding Bin Laden for her whole career. Watching the final product, this is an extraordinary turnaround.

Maya, played by the exceptional Jessica Chastain, is the recruit brought into the operation with an endorsement: "Washington says she's a killer". She works with (or against in some cases) grizzled interrogator Jason Clarke, station chief Kyle Chandler and fellow analyst Jennifer Ehle to attain information and follow leads. This is a procedural on the grandest scale, with the highest stakes. The tension of the film is utterly gripping and Clarke is notably effective as he becomes disillusioned with the dark rooms and their prisoners. This is Maya's story though, and Chastain is utterly fierce – a tenacious force of perseverance that can only be admired. 

Accusations of the film condoning torture marred the picture's release and made it too controversial for Oscar voters. The film doesn't justify or glorify torture, especially when (SPOILERS) the piece of information that finally unlocks UBL's whereabouts was in the CIA files for years. The movie depicts torture of prisoners, which produces certain leads, but these are never directly used to prevent an attack or find Bin Laden. Not showing the torture would betray the film's razor-sharp recounting of events and the claims are totally absurd. Bigelow and Boal, as well as the characters, never take a stance on torture. The row ultimately opened the door for the comparatively lightweight Argo to win 'Best Picture' and, without the erroneous claims, I believe Zero Dark Thirty would have garnered the awards it deserved.

Mark Boal’s script brilliantly shows how messy the post-9/11 attempts to combat terrorism and the search for Bin Laden were. Graphic torture, bribery, dodgy tips and outright guesswork are all on show as America frantically tried to regain its balance. The use of ‘agency jargon’ has been criticised, but it's just another level of realism that rewards rewatching. In this way, Zero Dark Thirty doesn't hold the viewer's hand, instead challenging them to make their own deductions and judgements. That stance, as well as the story's veracity will, in my mind, make it an important social artefact when future generations look back at the "war on terror".

Maya [to Navy SEALs] - "Quite frankly, I didn't even want to use you guys, with your dip and velcro and all your gear bullshit. I wanted to drop a bomb. But people didn't believe in this lead enough to drop a bomb. So they're using you guys as canaries."

The film is a quiet tribute the people who give their lives to work in the shadows. At the time of release, none of the main players were A-list stars (Chastain, since her Oscar nomination, has become extremely sought after), giving these faceless intelligence workers further verisimilitude, in contrast to its showy Oscar counterpart Argo. In this context, the familiar faces of James Gandolfini and Mark Strong correspond to big names in the CIA and government, appearing at brief meetings to steer the operation.

There are never any missteps, no false notes. This is filmmaking of extraordinary precision. Every audience member knows the fate of OBL as they watch the movie, and yet Bigelow mounts such tension into the raid’s execution. It's a breathless twenty-minute sequence; the cloaked darkness only interrupted by ballistic flashes and controlled explosions. The overriding feeling of the operation and its Navy SEALs though, is of a clinical nature. There is zero emotion here, in stark contrast to the potential reaction of its audience – a juxtaposition that leaves a sharp sense of vacancy, shared by Maya, as relief is overshadowed by a loss of purpose and ten years of her life. The climax brings us no celebration, just a question: Was it all worth it?

Top Tens

My Top Ten of 2013

2013 was a wonderfully eclectic year in film, chock-full of tense thrillers, expansive epics and charming indie fares. The list reflects this variety and I hope it serves as some kind of pathway into unknown cinematic quarters for some. As with my earlier lists, the films considered are only ones that were released in the UK in 2013. A few films that I didn't catch up with are The Counsellor, Palme d'Or winning Blue is the Warmest Colour, All is Lost and Alexander Payne's Nebraska. I watched 63 films this year though, so plenty to choose from!

10 - Side Effects

Hollywood has lost one of its brightest directors this year. Steven Soderbergh announced that he was set to retire due to a disillusionment at the state of cinema, with this psychological thriller to be his last released movie (excluding the excellent Behind the Candelabra, which was deemed "too gay" for American audiences). Side Effects unfolds like a standard thriller, before taking a huge twist at the halfway mark, which would have seemed totally absurd in less capable hands.  A perfectly calibrated performance by Rooney Mara brings humanity to a role that is a tricky balancing act. As you'd expect from Soderbergh, it's meticulously shot and edited, but the film's wicked edge what makes it so fresh. 

9 - Drinking Buddies

Mumblecore and SXSW darling Joe Swanberg's first foray into the mainstream is a rich blend of rambling dialogue, star names and many, many pints. Jake Johnson and Olivia Wilde, micro-brewers and best friends, struggle to keep their distance as their respective love lives hit the rocks. Swanberg's editing blossoms here, stripping the extraneous awkwardness that mumblecore has been criticised for, helping the characters and actors flourish - Johnson hits it out of the park again as Olivia Wilde revels in a role that doesn't ask her just to look pretty. A wonderful final scene shows that this pair are flawed and genuine, embracing the anti-Romanticism with all its heart. 

8 - Gravity

Alfonso Cuaron has always been a gambler. With this huge project that involved inventing new filming technology and relying almost completely on a CGI set, the Mexican-born director bet big and has reaped the rewards. The narrative is totally stripped down, as the spectacle takes centre stage - and what a ride it is. The set-pieces are positively jaw-dropping as Sandra Bullock is tossed and turned around the Thermosphere (yes, I looked that up.) The film fully deserved all of the technical Oscars wins and this year, as a visceral cinema experience, Gravity was hard to beat.

7 - Philomena

The Philomena Lee story is extraordinary. Steve Coogan, who co-wrote and starred as journalist Martin Sixsmith, keeps the adaptation and his performance uncharacteristically grounded. This allows Judi Dench to shine through, giving the story of the elderly Irish woman's search for her son real heart. Unlike a hypothetical Hollywood equivalent, director Frears and Coogan shun theatricality for warm laughs and an interesting exploration of religious ethics. The ultra-sinical Sixsmith is the perfect foil for Dench's fervently devout Philomena and the final scene where this comes to a head is executed to perfection. 

6 - Prisoners

The best thriller of 2013 (and this was a good year for the genre). Hugh Jackman plays the father of an abducted child, an everyman who descends into moral darkness to rescue his daughter. The script is patchy at times and the plot may subside under further scrutiny, but, as an affective slice of cinema, Prisoners is a powerhouse of brewing tension and emotional battery. French-Canadian director Denis Villeneuve exhibits a consummate control of tone and, aided by 11-time Oscar nominated cinematographer Roger Deakins, produces some stunning scenes of pure suspense and horror. It is rare to find an ambitious commercial film with such challenging themes. Villeneuve is certainly one to watch. 

5 - The Act of Killing

A thoroughly disturbing and eye-opening documentary, Joshua Oppenheimer's picture centres around the Indonesian gangsters who were endorsed by the government to mass-murder suspected Communists in the 1960s. These atrocities are celebrated, especially by the perpetrators; their enthusiasm in re-enacting the murders is extremely shocking. As with many great documentaries, you have to keep reminding yourself that this is the same world that we inhabit - the recreations become more surreal and eccentric. A story this troubling, as well as the collective cultural reaction, is hard for the viewer to shake off. 

4 - Much Ado About Nothing

At this point, Joss Whedon is pretty much untouchable. After the runaway success of The Avengers (with the sequel, Age of Ultron, filming), the writer-director decided to spend some downtime in his new house - adapting Shakespeare. The celebrated play is put to screen with vivacious wit and a great sense of fun, as Whedon alumni join forces for a frolic around his grounds. Alexis Denisof is wonderful as the mercurial Benedick, assisted by Amy Acker, Clark Gregg and the wonderful Nathan Fillion. With the original dialogue undiminished, Whedon elevates the action in a modern and cinematic rendition. It's an endlessly re-watchable, merry little caper.

3 - The Spectacular Now

From the writers of the beloved (500) Days of Summer, you would expect this high school romance not to follow the trends of that fated genre. They bring a large dose of reality to the age-group, as Miles Teller's boozy idol falls for his unremarkable classmate, Shailene Woodley. It seems like a familiar tale, but this film finds the momentous in its small moments of intimacy. Teller, especially, is phenomenal in a role that could easily fall into convention. The late Roger Ebert said it best: "What an affecting film this is. It respects its characters and doesn't use them for its own shabby purposes. How deeply we care about them." It's a huge shame that it hasn't yet received a proper UK release.

2 - Before Midnight

At this point, three films and 27 years in, the 'Before series' is one of the best romance stories ever made. Each time, director Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke build on and supersede the last. Dispelling the 'will they, won't they' undercurrent of the first two, Jesse and Celine have to face realities of relationships when the Romanticism has been and passed. 'Midnight' comprises simply of four or five long dialogue-orientated scenes - but every moment is intelligent, real, earned and beautiful (in one way or another). These characters are so dear to me and this is a near-perfect film that they populate. 

1 - Zero Dark Thirty
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