Zero Dark Thirty

       ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ is the highly controversial film about the tracking and killing of Osama Bin Laden.   After viewing this film, i felt many of the partisan fears (or hopes for that matter) were unfounded.  I intensely dislike films with a political agenda (especially ones that claim to be ‘based on a true story’).  This applies to both Right and Left ideologies.  When films become propaganda, it detracts from the artistic value of what we are experiencing.  Unfortunately, we all see the world through our own subjective prisms.  That being said, I approached this film with much skepticism.  While there are definitely some political jabs thrown, they are mild and don’t detract from the overall storyline.  I was also skeptical as I thought director Kathryn Bigelow’s last film; ‘The Hurt Locker’ was overhyped and did not deserve the Oscar that year.  With all that baggage on my shoulders as I walked into the theater, I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the film.

Kathryn Bigelow does a more than admirable job in laying out a complex story of our post-Sept 11 world and the hunt for Bin Laden.  The film opens with a black screen and a sobering audio montage of actual 911 calls from people trapped inside the Twin Towers.  This sets up the film’s resolve and reignites any dormant anger in the audience that may have cooled with time.  The story centers around CIA officer Maya (Jessica Chastain), who is brought onto the team to help find Bin Laden.  Her first experience on the team is being part of an equally sobering scene of torturing a terror suspect for information.  The scenes are difficult to watch, but Maya puts aside her sensibilities as she convinces herself the ends justify the means.  This is where I think Bigelow was particularly effective as she was not one-sided in her portrayals.  She did not vilify anyone as we understood from each character why they do what they do.  Particularly effective was how being a torturer affected the interrogator himself.  It’s easy to condemn or even support ‘coercive interrogation’, but Bigelow doesn’t let anyone off easy no matter which perspective they choose.

The film spans Maya’s single-minded hunt for Osama Bin Laden over the course of 10 years.  It paints a picture of connection among all the attacks since Sept 11, from the London subway bombings to the Marriott bombing in Mumbai.  It had a flow of a ‘Law and Order’ episode, with the often ignored Maya at the center trying to piece it all together.  I found the scope of the search to be interesting as well.  Most of us probably have visions of vast complexes with endless cubicles of technicians scouring the globe tracking down every minute clue.  However, one of the early scenes was Maya sitting around a conference table with about a dozen of her fellow agents and the bureau Chief saying in frustration that they shouldn’t think there is anyone else coming to help because everyone at the table was the entire team the US has looking for Bin Laden.  And they were failing.

No matter how cold the trail grew, Maya kept at the job with a persistence that caused her superiors to question her objectivity.  It is fascinating how eventually finding Bin Laden had as much to do with luck as it did with persistence.  A small trace on a phone of a courier’s mother who was remotely connected to Bin Laden was what it took.  Even with concrete information, it still takes Maya’s total conviction and confidence to persuade her gun shy superiors.  Maya travels to Afghanistan to coordinate the mission of the now famous ‘Seal Team Six’.  If Maya had her way, she would have preferred a bomb strike, but the government wanted absolute proof they killed Bin Laden and that means they needed a body.  

The last portion of the film is a POV view of the raid of the Bin Laden compound.  This part was the most intriguing as it is always amazing how professional and methodical true military operations are.  It is very different than the Rambo style fighting we see in most films.  The tension is excruciating in it’s calmness, even though we all know the outcome.  In some ways, I found it a more thrilling than the typical steroid pumped blow-them-up action scenes that you see in most ‘war’ films.  The camera doesn’t try to sanitize the violence, nor does it try to exaggerate it for the sake of effect.  The tension rises as we have no idea what lies around each corner or where Bin Laden actually is.  

No matter what your political views, I feel this film can be appreciated by all.  It is a patriotic film, but also challenges us to question what type of nation we have become.  Belief systems are important, but do they sometimes blind us to reality?  If we seek to vilify our CIA operatives who aggressively gather information, do you discount the countless lives they have saved as a result of this information?  If we accept coercive interrogation and bribery of terrorists, do we give up a piece of our souls as a nation?  Do we throw away all that we try to stand for?  Is there a middle ground?  The film doesn’t provide answers, it just shows that none of the answers are clear cut or easy.  That’s my type of political argument.

My apologies to Kathryn Bigelow for my previous misconceptions about her abilities.  This film, in my mind, shows that she is an Oscar level Director and this film would be a worthy of an Oscar.  She has an artistic vision that she is able to convey at a superior level.

I give this film *** 1/2 stars

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2281482009/

Amour

  

      ‘Amour’ is the French word for love.  This is probably one of the most powerful and unflinching portraits of love that I’ve seen on film.  This movie has garnered a lot of Oscar buzz with both a Best Picture and Best Actress nomination.  Just a warning for those who are wary of foreign films; it is sub-titled.  I know that ruins films for some people, but I highly encourage you to leave your comfort zone and take a chance on this film.  This is a deeply intimate and almost voyeuristic look into an aspect of love that is rarely examined in film or literature.  This is the story of a couple in their 80’s and the husband trying to cope with the fact that his wife is slowly dying and their is nothing he can do about it other than be there for her.

The entire film takes place in their Parisian apartment and has the same slow pace of visiting elderly relatives.  Most people know the discomfort of visiting people who are nearing the end of their lives and while we visit out of duty and love, there is a sense of relief when we leave.  Their quiet suffering is something we feel deeply and we can only endure it for so long.  This film examines what happens after everyone leaves and the elderly couple is forced to deal with what remains of their life in a day by day downward spiral.  If this sounds heavy and sorrowful, it is.  At the same time, there is a power, if not beauty, to see the love between two people that still exists after a lifetime of being together.  

The two leads  are French screen legends Emmanuelle Riva (best known for 1959’s ‘Hiroshima, Mon Amour’) and Jean-Louis Trintignant (best known for 1966’s ‘A Man and a Woman’).  Each has radically changed from so long ago of course, but I dare say this is some of the best acting of their careers.  They play Georges and Anne, two highly accomplished music teachers, who are quietly living their lives of retirement.  One day at breakfast Anne has a moment where she blanks out for several minutes.  Georges is confused and frightened.  When she recovers, she has no memory of what transpired.  After a visit to the hospital, they find out that Anne has had a stroke.  She begins to lose her mobility and Georges is thrust into the role of caretaker.  After Anne has a second stroke, she begins to deteriorate rapidly.  This is where we see the true depth of George’s love as he desperately tries to cope seeing his life companion disappear in front of him.

Anne has made Georges promise not to put her in a hospital (or hospice at this point).  The doctors agree as there is really nothing they can do other than make her comfortable as she slowly deteriorates.  This is where the film becomes riveting and voyeuristic as we watch these two people’s most private moments as they realize Anne’s life will soon be over.  They both know the end will not be pleasant and dignified as Anne must be continually cared for to the point where a nurse must help her with her most basic bodily functions.  Their daughter (played by another French great, Isabelle Huppert) stops by occasionally and, in her pain, insists there must be something more they can do.  She refuses to accept that her mother’s life is coming to an end.  Georges is not emotionally strong enough to withstand his daughter’s denial.  He feels helpless already, but that feeling is augmented by his daughter’s persistence.  Georges eventually closes his daughter out of their lives and returns to the daily routine of caring for his wife.

If I may be contradictory, there is an amazing dignity that Anne has as she loses her dignity.  All ego is stripped away as she becomes completely dependent on Georges for her care, even though she has no desire to continue living.  Georges displays both dignity and failing in his helplessness, but of his love for Anne there is never a doubt.  The camera focuses on moments we have no right to see and does not flinch no matter what we are witnessing.  Some moments we’d rather not see, but we are riveted nonetheless.  This is love at its’ core.  Past passion and beyond self-concern;  just two people who cannot comprehend what life will be like without the other.  They say that when an elderly spouse dies, the other rarely lives much longer.  Seeing Anne and George’s connection, you have no doubt that Georges will not last much past when Anne is gone.  She is his reason for living, despite the pain and hardship she is causing him.

I went to this movie reluctantly because the storyline seemed so depressing.  And it is, but there is something so emotionally powerful and moving about this love story that one doesn’t leave the theater feeling smothered.  Emotionally drained to be sure, but it would take a very hard hearted cynic not to be moved by how this film portrays love and connection.  It’s not going to win the Oscar (although I completely think it would be merited), but I really believe Emanuelle Riva has a legitimate shot at the Best Actress Oscar.  If the Oscars were based strictly on acting and performance and not politics, then there is no performance that would come even close.  One of the best performances in my recent memory. It’s nice to see these two cinematic legends showing they still have what it takes.

I give this film **** stars.