Movie – Zero Dark Thirty

Shane | 7 June 2013 | Reply

Directed by Kathryn Bigelew, Starring Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton
By Shane Pinnegar
9/10

In a world gone mad, where motivations make no sense and murder and freedom fighting are one and the same, how can we know who’re the good guys and who are the bad guys?

ZERO DARK THIRTY is a gripping, harrowing movie which documents the decade-long hunt for Osama Bin Laden after the 9/11 attacks on the heart of America, and much more than just a manhunt flick it calls into question the morality of everyone involved.

ZD30 also delves deeply into the personal and emotional toll of working in such a terrifying, sometimes amoral industry, seen primarily through the eyes of CIA analyst Maya (an intense twirl by Jessica Chastain). Director Kathryn Bigelow follows Maya for ten long years as she becomes hardened to torture techniques and questions her path, ultimately becoming colder and fragmenting on the inside while she becomes more driven on the outside.

A colleague’s death brings her perilously close to the edge but ultimately focuses her and Chastain’s performance of this incredibly strong but human character is fully deserving of the Golden Globe she won and the Academy Award she was nominated for the role.

If you doubt for a moment that the 160 minutes of this movie could be so gripping then think again: ZD30 eschews Hollywood glitz and glamour for a realistically gritty feel to showcase film making at it’s very best.

The pace never flags for a moment and performances are uniformly spot on under Bigelow’s masterful direction, helped along by the fact that the story is based on eye witness accounts every step of the way.