2012.157 minutes. Rated R.
“You can help yourself by being truthful.”
Zero Dark Thirty is a must see, if only for the summation of a desperate but necessary chapter of the complicated American psyche, one fraught with terror. We are drawn into the horrors of the September 11, 2001 attacks and brought through to the death of Osama Bin Laden.
Zero Dark Thirty – Columbia Pictures
The events that fill ten years in between become the stuff of acrimony, confusion and fear, and eventually relief. Members of Congress have recently taken issue with the film for its portrayal and perceived approval of torture. While I understand the concern, it is worth noting that though the movie is based on fact, neither the director nor the actors scripted ten years of fear, stupidity or terror. I understand that Hollywood needs to take its lumps, but the film is a reminder that the American people could have used a conscionable voice of reason in the chapter called “the war on terror.”
After viewing the film, I am not entirely convinced that torture actually worked. If nothing else, we learn that the United States was engaged in a futile psychological war that exacted a toll on every day citizens as much as did on the CIA agents who tried to “break” prisoners in Afghanistan and elsewhere. Even the death of bin Laden was not exactly a slam dunk. The directive for the Navy SEALs to invade the compound in Addottabad came with a great deal of uncertainty over bin Laden’s exact whereabouts. There was a good possibility he was there. We understand that after 10 years of trying to make sense of two wars, smoking guns and embarrassing misses, something bold needed to be done. And so we begin Zero Dark Thirty, the time that marked the May 2, 2011 attack to symbolic bookend the war on terror and provide some closure to a dark chapter in our history.
I was especially struck by the dramatic opening of the movie. The screen is dark while 911 calls ring out from the World Trade Centers. No introduction is needed to remind viewers how this story begins and ends. We are reminded of why we needed to act and why we, as Americans, were filled with so much sadness and fear. Right or wrong, this is a heavy chapter in the annals of American history that will leave us on the proverbial couch for decades to come. The film makes its entry as a self reflective history. That history is anything but triumphant.
We then move to Pakistan, where we begin to put the pieces together as CIA operative Dan (Jason Clarke) tortures a captive. Dan makes his mark as a ruthless interrogator, patiently waiting for prisoners to crack under pressure. There is a part of us that cringes when we see the gruesome torture scenes, especially as it creates a feeling of both disdain and defiance among the audience. The main protagonist, Maya (Jessica Chastain) enters unknowingly into the torture scene by way of Dan’s arrogance, and the viewer silently champions her as the antithesis to the painful punishment that seems to yield confusion rather than clear answers. Maya as the anti-torture hero is not to be. We learn quickly of Maya’s instincts as a killer. We also realize that the post-9/11 world is a tangled web of unanswered questions, lost billions and an angry and fearsome minaret that has been constructed by American missteps of hubris and resolve.
Dan, tired of the psychological pressure, extricates himself from the endless physical morass to take an office job at CIA headquarters. I was troubled by Dan’s lack of moral character over what has transpired in military detention centers around the world. Not only were the actions (the torture and pursuit of prisoners) easily defensible in his mind, but easily put out of his mind in pursuit of quieter activities. Maya is left to continue the work that Dan has sustained, working contacts through a messy network of leads extending around the world. The disconnect in our minds between the CIA and the torture of prisoners is troublesome. To what end is it really pursued and enacted?
Yes, the film is heavy on the philosophical musings of politics, economy, government, religion and the militaristic response to questions of morality and humanity. I, like everyone else in the theater, wanted to see the events that led to the raid on bin Laden, but the path to taking out the Al Qaeda leader is messy and expensive, and led me to believe that there is still no clear closure to a decade of angst, but only a symbolic closure. Is that good enough?
We learn of the important role women played in the intelligence community in hunting for answers, however justified or unconscionable the process. Maya portrays her role as an operative personified on a spectrum from horrified observer to maniacal hunter. She taps into an uneven network of contacts that trace to bin Laden’s courier (his phone calls and location), the lead needed to uncover bin Laden’s location. She is determined to unearth Osama’s location, desperate to connect the dots where for years there were none. There is a long road ahead to convince senior level CIA officials of the degree of certainty of bin Laden’s hideout. After the weapons of mass destruction fiasco, the bin Laden case is a hard sell. Officials are weary. Nonetheless, we are waiting on the edge of our seat, silently screaming to execute the raid! It is Maya’s work, behind the scenes and before top officials, that sets the wheels in motion to execute.
Despite all the fanfare and drama surrounding the death of bin Laden when it actually happens, the film takes a less dramatic approach. Maya meets with the Navy SEAL Team 6 to inform them of bin Laden’s whereabouts and the details of their involvement in the raid. We might have expected to see the SEAL team jump for joy with a malicious eagerness in disposing of such terror. Instead, members of the SEAL team are skeptical. One member asks why they should believe her, citing the loss of some of their comrades in another raid as reason to be weary of embracing another potential dead end. For most people, Maya’s certainty of bin Laden’s location translates to uncertainty, scrutiny and accountability. Maya’s determination is best displayed in a conversation with the SEALs: “Quite frankly, I didn’t even want to use you guys, with your dip and velcro and all your gear bullshit. I wanted to drop a bomb. But people didn’t believe in this lead enough to drop a bomb. So they’re using you guys as canaries. And, in theory, if bin Laden isn’t there, you can sneak away and no one will be the wiser. But bin Laden is there. And you’re going to kill him for me.” We, with Maya, become ruthless, too, in exacting revenge.
The end of the movie is the culmination of years of tension and anxiety. The SEALs take a clandestine flight from Bagram Airfield to Abbottabad, Pakistan in two stealth helicopters so as to enter bin Laden’s compound undetected. Though we know of the outcome, we are doubtful that the operation will succeed. Especially as we witness the crash of one of the helicopters, feeling the fragility and uncertainty of the task. The mission itself is tense but without the overt heroism I expected as a result of a highly anticipated killing. The Navy SEALs were dutiful and methodical, unceremoniously shooting Osama while making plans to locate a body bag, evacuate the compound with computer hardware, and destroying the crashed helicopter.
Zero Dark Thirty is a must see, if only for the realization of a complicated era in the American conscience. I suspect the film will not win any awards, but it will take its place among the important cult classics. 9/11 ushered in an era of unity that transitioned to a period of divisiveness and uncertainty. There are still many unanswered questions about the role torture played in revealing details about the Al Qaeda terrorist cell and the relationship of prisoners to others in the network. As triumphant as the movie may appear, I could only cry. My tears were filled with sadness, regret and, to some extent, joy. This film is important for all of us who learned the need for thought before action, and humanity before incivility. I am preaching, I know. But the choir is still singing for a lost age. We are no longer the innocents we think we are. And now America is moving to a new stage of maturity and accountability. Zero Dark Thirty so brilliantly communicates our movement against the bookend of two dark hours. One happily at zero dark thirty. That’s mo[u]rning for some of us.
