Hard to believe I'm on number 15 already. For those of you who have stuck with me up to this point, thank you. It has been fun so far.
First of all, let me preface this by saying I don't really care about all the controversy that has surrounded this film, specifically the torture scenes. Yes, they are over the top, but are we also to believe only one person (recruited right out of high school, even!) had the gumption and sticktoittiveness to be able to track down Osama bin Laden? They are both what are called PLOT DEVICES for those of you that are prone to thinking this movie is a documentary. Specific techniques in storytelling to synthesize a complex story down into its most basic elements so an audience does not become confused. PLEASE do not think this movie is meant to illustrate reality in every detail. It is, first and foremost, a movie, which means it must be entertaining, and not necessarily factual in every aspect. We all tracking? Good! Then on with the review!
I saw this movie with a good friend of mine, and as we discussed it afterward, he made some salient points,which I think bear repeating, so when it's not mine, I'll give him credit. When you come done to it, this is a genuinely entertaining, slick, fantastic movie. This is the sixth movie I've seen from Kathryn Bigelow (the others being The Hurt Locker, K-19: The Widowmaker, Strange Days, Point Break, and Near Dark), all very different from each other, but all superior to what most of her counterparts have done. She is one of those rare directors who can pick pretty obscure material and make it gold. I have been consistently entertained, mystified, challenged and irritated by her films, but they are never boring. Zero Dark Thirty is no exception. It is also probably the most mainstream thing I think she has done.
I break down Zero Dark Thirty, like most well-written movies, into three acts. In this case, Act 1 is the torture stuff, Act 2 is the manhunt, and Act 3 is the minute-by-minute recreation of the raid where Navy Seals SPOILER ALERT!!! kill bin Laden. The movie started getting me into a great, angry mood. It starts in black and all you hear are 911 messages of people who were in the World Trade Center when it was hit on 9/11. We then jump straight into act 1, a perfect setup. We're good and angry, and now we see various scumbags being tortured. A masterful bit of manipulation on Bigelow's part. We are also introduced to Maya, Jessica Chastaine's role and our surrogate narrator for the rest of the film. It is through her eyes and actions which propel this movie through at a breakneck pace. Once the torture brings about the name of al-Kuwaiti, bin-Laden's trusted courier, we move into act 2. Act 1 is the only thing I can really find wrong in the film. My friend pointed out that the rest of the movie is coherent and logical, but act 1 is somewhat disjointed, throwing random facts at you. He surmises, I think correctly, that we, the general public, know the least about how we came by this information, so the torture scenes fill in that missing information conveniently. It is what most people want to believe, whether correct or not. Once we are in act 2, where we know more facts about the hunt, the movie is spot on. Dates, timelines and details are perfect, though necessarily truncated for dramatic purposes. The manhunt speeds into act 3, the actual raid, which is thrilling and gives the movie, in my opinion, a happy ending when bin-Laden is finally shot. In any case, my friend pointed out that the movie had the right setup, enough detective work to build tension, and just the right amount of action to bring the movie to a satisfying end.
Now, those of you who think the movie is a propaganda piece for the current administration, I say please get over yourselves. The film hardly mentions Presidents Bush or Obama. It makes no attempt at moral judgement on which President was right or wrong, it merely presents the case as plainly as possible. Whether you think the movie makes moral judgements largely is based on what frame of mind you are coming from. The film leans heavily towards torture is a bad thing, but it also says it got results. Do the ends justify the means? I leave that for you to decide on your own. But I will say go see this movie. Whatever your feelings in the end, you will think, you will be thrilled, and you will not be bored.
No comments:
Post a Comment