Movies: Zero Dark Thirty

There is a perpetual struggle between evil and good. Sometimes one side gains, sometimes the other. In the ongoing fight against terrorism the US had a big victory: The capturing and killing of Osama bin Laden. But they needed 10 years for this.

The movie "Zero Dark Thirty" narrates how they got him against all odds (imdb). Director Kathryn Bigelow delivered a masterpiece of storytelling and visualization. The film is even more impressive than her celebrated "Hurt Locker". The American director reminds me of Leni Riefenstahl. Both are (were) stunning beauties and could (could have) made careers as models and movie stars. Both are imaginative film makers with a lot of talent and ambition.

Bigelow and her script writer Marl Boal condensed the decade-long hunt for bin Laden into a dense thriller (159 minutes). The film shows how intellectual brilliance combined with determination on the border of willfullness plus a lot of moral courage solved an almost insolvable task.

There is a lot of discussion about the movie`s torture scenes which are really challenging to watch. Even that I despise torment I believe that these procedures were absolutely necessary to gain informations which saved the life of many innocents. I think that the critics are hypocrites who follow the device "wash my back but don`t make me wet" or - worse - are ready to sacrifice innocent lives for their "Weltanschauung".

If you can stand the torture scenes you will get highly rewarded. Cinematography (Greig Fraser) and editing (William Goldneberg, Dylan Tichenor) are quite awesome. They create pictures that draw the audience deep into the struggle to solve an almost mission impossible.

Watching the cast doing their job is very delightful. "Zero" benefits a lot from Jessica Chastain. She plays the leading character, a CIA agent who is obsessed with the idea of catching bin Laden and sacrifices a whole decade for this job. The actress, born in Sonoma, California, where the finest Chardonnay grows, deserves her gains of the Golden Globe and the legions of nominations (including for the "Oscar") for other prestigious awards. She looks like an angel, but she plays a kind of death angel for Bin Laden and his tribe. Her combination of fragility and strength reminds me of Jodie Foster in "The Silence of the Lambs".

Even than the other actors are in her shadow they manage to impress too, especially Jason Clarke in his role as Chastain´s CIA colleague. I had especially fun with James Galdofini`s short appearance as the director of the CIA (in the shape of a sumo wrestler).

 I believe that "Zero Dark Thirty" will be sometimes included into the canon of cinematic classics. Anyway: The movie is highly entertaining. Thank you so much Kathryn.