Why Zero Dark Thirty Is the Most Important Movie of the Year

**Spoiler Warning**

The controversy surrounding Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty (2012) is inextricable, and it is paramount that the naysayers of this movie should not win out.

Go back about 12 years ago to September 11, 2001 and remember that which we solemnly vowed never to forget: remember the day nearly 3,000 people lost their lives in an act of senseless violence, all in the name of jihad, or religious warfare. Osama bin Laden was the man infamously behind al Queda’s jihad. This is the premise of Kathryn Bigelow’s film Zero Dark Thirty. The United States of America deserves to have justice done upon the man who murdered men, women and children, and I believe that it is brilliantly successful in this endeavor. Enter the protagonist: Maya, played by the genius Jessica Chastain.

The movie opens on the sound of phone calls of victims in the 9-11 attacks: people on the planes, people trapped in the World Trade Center; the screams echo disturbingly. Move two years ahead in time to 2003 and it is Maya’s first day on the job at a CIA blacksite – her objective is to extract information from a Pakistani detainee who has connections to Osama bin Laden. Bin Laden is the dominant leader of the al Queda organization, which translates to “The Base.” Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, bin Laden’s number two man, equally shared powerful responsibilities with another leader within the al Queda, Abu Faraj al-Libbi.

On Maya’s first day, the CIA is interrogating Ammar al-Baluchi, a nephew of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (commonly referred to throughout the film as “K.S.M.”). Within the first ten minutes of the movie, the audience sees a graphic depiction of water-boarding, so it is not difficult to understand why such a fuss has been made about this filmic piece. However, this brings up an important topic that the viewer needs to reconcile him/herself to: is this use of torture appropriate because of the evidence shown against those receiving the torture and their ability to help our country capture bin Laden and others like him? Or is any use of torture completely unjustified? A fair portion of Americans believe that non-violence is the only civilized approach; however, many others are out for blood. It is a polarizing topic and I believe that Bigelow’s portrayal is both accurate and appropriately revealing.

When the CIA chief asks Maya how she likes Pakistan, she eloquently replies, “It’s kindof f****d up.” From the person who just waterboarded al-Baluchi, Chastain pulls off the calm and noncommittal response marvelously. As the movie progresses, the audience learns that Abu Faraj (the “number three” man in al Queda) is the new prime target and the current detainee (al-Baluchi) has information that could lead to his capture, and also prevent other terrorist attacks from occurring. Yet other attacks do happen and are depicted in the movie, like the attack on westerners in Saudi Arabia in May of 2004, or London in 2005. Chastain’s character feels the weight of those lost in the attacks heavily. She comes up with a clever scheme to trick her prisoner, and learns the second most important name in the entire movie, after bin Laden. The name is Abu Ahmed (al-Kuwaiti) and he is the key to finding Osama bin Laden.

Over the course of many torturous inquisitions, the audience learns that Abu Ahmed is bin Laden’s most trusted messenger: he is the one who delivers instructions between bin Laden and Abu Faraj. Abu Faraj is captured in May of 2005 so it would appear that bin Laden would soon follow. But those of us reading this now know that it was not until 2011 that Osama bin Laden was killed. So what took so long? Originally, there were two main ideas as to how and where bin Laden was hiding: he was either hiding in some remote region of Afghanistan in a cave (which was the predominant course of thought in popular America throughout 2006-2010) or, a much less well-known way of thinking, he was in a populous city in Pakistan. As it turns out, the second mode of thought was the right one, and the woman who Jessica Chastain portrayed as Maya truly was the architect of his death.

Albeit, the movie does kind of drag on in the middle, it is filled with emotionally poignant moments, such as the death of Maya’s only true friend in Pakistan – a senior CIA operative who we later find out is a mother of three. She is killed by bringing in a witness she, and other senior members believe, is the biggest break in finding bin Laden ever, but of course, the conversations do not come to fruition. So it is ultimately up to Maya to catch Osama and let me be the first of many to say, she kicks ass. Chastain is always very present in her role: her eyes completely throw me off because of their direct and unflinching glare.

The line that I like the most is when the Director of the CIA, played by the great James Gondolfini, asks who Maya is. To which she replies, “I’m the m**********r that found this place, sir” (referring to the compound that housed Abu Ahmed and bin Laden). Located in Abbottabod, Pakistan, the three level mansion that bin Laden was living in greatly exceeded my expectations of his standard of living. I presumed that he was old and sick, rotting away in a cave; this was not a cave. He lived in comfort for at least two years in a mansion with his wives, family, children and followers.

The climax of the movie, the part that most of you are probably wondering about… the part where Osama dies… is the most satisfying of the film for me. Not just because this man was a psychopath and needed to be killed, but because of Maya’s personal involvement, and my desire for her to finally be at peace. The Navy SEAL team that executes this mission are played by a variety of unknowns, and though their performances only last for about 45 minutes, I will remember them as much as I do Chastain. This movie is the sum of approximately 10 years of work: finding Osama bin Laden was the greatest manhunt in history, and yet, America persevered. Our nation did what we set out to do, and thanks to the CIA operatives like Maya and our brave men and women in the military, September 11 did not go unanswered for. The United States of America fought against evil and terror, and though our means were at times questionable, the overall result of killing bin Laden and crippling the terrorist organization al Queda was, in the end, what our people needed and thirsted for the most.