nought black 29+1

If you didn’t get that, that’s a really bad, top-secret code for Zero Dark Thirty, Best Picture nominee number 7 (we’re nearly at the end, I swear!). This time we have Kathryn Bigelow directing the true story of the decade long manhunt for Osama Bin Laden and the woman who devoted her life to his capture, played by Jessica Chastain, who has already taken the Lead Actress Golden Globe for the role. I’m raising the alert on this one; we have tons of political content, torture, terrorism, and some other not-so-nice stuff too, so it is by no means for the faint hearted.

rating: ★★★1/2
Before I review, I have to admit my bias: I generally run far, far away from anything that has anything to do with this kind of subject matter, in particular when it’s TRUE STORY. I find these kind of overt, patriotically American themes and negative representations of Islam pretty distasteful, and in truth I was not looking forward to seeing this movie. I didn’t particularly enjoy watching it either, but you’re not really supposed to. It is an extremely raw and uninhibited retelling of the events surrounding Osama Bin Laden’s death, which makes it confronting and frequently uncomfortable to watch. It lacked the security of fiction, which in my opinion contributed to the success of Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker, winner of Best Picture and Best Director among four other Oscars in 2010. I loved that movie, and Bigelow’s direction was far more present in that than in Zero Dark Thirty (possibly why she was snubbed like our poor Benny Afleck at this years Oscars), which is unfortunate as she is very talented.

The movie did have redeeming qualities, and I sure didn’t give it a three-and-a-half for nothing. Al Qaeda aside, the story of Maya (Jessica Chastain) is actually quite inspiring, with plenty of female empowerment and dedication to admire. Jessica Chastain continues to wow us all with her versatility (compare this role to Miss Celia Foote in The Help—I swear it’s not even the same person), not to mention she looks fucking badass in aviators. Great locations, fast-paced script, and Bigelow is proving herself a master of expressing human emotion. And I’ll hand it to her; she damn well knows how to do an ending.