For a couple of months I resisted seeing Zero Dark Thirty because of its content. I knew it dealt with the hunt for Osama bin Laden and his ultimate death in May 2011. I knew it dealt with torture and bombings. Only because I wanted to see all the films nominated for Oscars this year, did I find myself going to see the film.
To start off, Jessica Chastain carries the film. She gives one of the most powerful performances I've seen. Her line readings were always believable and the range of emotions fascinating.
The film's director, Kathryn Bigelow, has created a treatise on why the war on terror is as it is. If one needs to understand why torture continues to exist, the film's arguments show us car bombs which kill randomly and specifically and attacks on civilians at hotels. Those images brutalize the viewer and argue graphically for the need for such a character as Chastain's Maya.
I don't believe I want to see this film a second time, but the impact of the first viewing is one I carry with me. (In that since I would equate it to Schlinder's List.) I did find the film very similar in feel to Affleck's Argo.
Zero Dark Thirty (2012) ****
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