ZERO DARK THIRTY

Onwards and upwards with the Oscar® nominees this year! Of course, it was only a matter of time before matters like the death of Osama bin Laden made it to the big screen. Following up to some degree (I suspect) on her success with The Hurt Locker, Katheryn Bigelow looks into this historic event, how it came about and the men and women – and one woman in particular – who played a vital part in this happening. I have to say, I was a tad disappointed. However, it is not a film you can easily avoid these days, plus I am not exactly saying “it was awful” so there you go. My take on it. Let’s take a look at the storyline first.

Our heroine and main character is Maya. She is a novice CIA operative and very dedicated to her job. She hits the ground running in Pakistan in 2001 with the interrogation of persons of interest suspected of involvement with the September 11 attacks. From then onwards, her single-minded obsession will become uncovering the whereabouts of Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda. It will be a decade long slog of ups and downs, with good friends found and lost on the way. But it will end with the death of the terrorist leader at the hands of a navy SEAL team. The rest, as they say, is history.

Now, before I start, please don’t get me wrong. The capture and death of Osama Bin Laden was one of the most important historical events. Of course we should make films about it – heck, it’s inevitable, what historical event HASN’T made it to the big screen? And I have nothing but the utmost respect for everyone everywhere who enabled this capture at great personal, psychological cost. That goes without saying.

However, I sincerely feel that it was a tad unfortunate that Kathryn Bigelow was the one to make the movie. I think the subject matter would sincerely benefit from the point of view of a different director. I’m going to be blunt about this; this is pretty much The Hurt Locker 2. Maya and William James

I’m sincerely disappointed because it’s not like Bigelow lacks the skill or artistic imagination to make original films. Heck, check out her early work, there is some seriously cutting edge stuff in there for its time. I am sad to report that it seems she has headed down the franchise route. It worked the first time round (and how. She is the first female director to win the Oscar® for Best Director, which is no mean feat) so, you know what, she went and did it again. The fact that subject matter is similar helped tremendously. But admit it, would it not have been great to have a completely different cinematic way of tackling the topic? Especially coming from the same director? It would be such a showcase of talent and versatility. Missed opportunity me says.

Zero Dark Thirty is not a bad film though. However, you will think of it whatever you thought of the Hurt Locker. If you liked The Hurt Locker, go see it. If you disliked it, pass. Sad but true.