Film Review: Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty. Rated M (mature themes, violence and coarse language). 157 minutes. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Written by Mark Boal.

Verdict: A riveting film of raw and uncompromising drama.

Bigelow (the first woman to win an Academy Award® for Best Director for her film The Hurt Locker) and Boal (who won the Best Screenplay Oscar® for the same film), return to the killing fields for this riveting film about the hunt for the founder of al-Qaeda, Osama Bin Laden.

In doing so, they cement their places as the cinematic chroniclers of an era as defined by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks against the United States of America. We all know how the hunt for Bin Laden ended but, quite miraculously, Bigelow’s telling of Boal’s forensic screenplay is never less than entirely absorbing – due, in no small way, to a brilliant performance from Jessica Chastain as Maya, a CIA operative whose obsession with finding and killing Bin Laden becomes dangerously all-encompassing.

Film review: The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker. 131 minutes. Rated MA15+. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow; Written by Mark Boal.

When Kathryn Bigelow (K-19: The Widowmaker, Point Break) became the first woman in the 82 year history of the Academy Awards to win Best Director, film-goers the world over began to turn their attention to her little-known 'Iraq war' film The Hurt Locker. When the film then snatched the coveted Best Picture prize from the James Cameron behemoth Avatar, its fate as the film to see was secure. That Bigelow triumphed with this incredibly male-dominated film about, it would appear, exclusively male pursuits is a delicious irony. That The Hurt Locker is an incredible cinematic journey is undeniable.

Staff Sergeant Willam James (Jeremy Renner, pictured), Sergeant J T Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) are American soldiers on a tour of duty in Iraq. Their responsibility is to disarm improvised explosive devices (IEDs) planted randomly by insurgents with one intention; to kill – with brutal force – as many members of the allied forces as possible.

From it's nerve-shattering, almost unwatchable opening sequence to its profound and considered conclusion, The Hurt Locker plugs itself into every one of our senses and, with little respite, plays mercilessly with our ability to comprehend risk. Ms Bigelow is magnificently supported by every member of the creative team – particularly cinematographer Barry Ackroyd's (United 93, The Green Zone) perfect rendering of the harsh (Jordan doubles for Iraq) and unforgiving locations. Chris Innis and Bob Murawski's (the Spiderman trilogy) editing brings a critical synergy to the shaky, hand-held camera techniques that ensure this impatient film never settles in one place for too long, while Buck Sanders and Marco Beltrami's (I, Robot)impressive original score contributes enormously to the immersive and inescapable tension.

But at the centre of this film is Mark Boal's rock-solid Oscar-winning screenplay and the brilliant performances Bigelow extracts from her trio of relatively unknown stars. As a journalist in 2004, Boal was embedded with troops and bomb squads serving in Iraq, and without this first-hand experience, a script such as this would not have been possible. It is infused with a unquestionable authenticity and it is obviously this wealth of immediate and truthful contact with the soldiers whose story this really is, that fuels the actors' fearlessly imposing performances.

While The Hurt Locker is certainly not the greatest war movie ever made, it's many strengths combine to become a painfully intimate experience of the war that, right up there with the Vietnam conflict, defines the perilous misadventures of our time.

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspapers Group and was published in the print edition of the Geraldton Guardian.