Zero Dark Thirty ★★★★½

THERE are many different ways film-makers have chosen to depict the horrific events surrounding the 2011 terrorist attack on New York.

You might have thought the most controversial path would have been taken by Oliver Stone, as he has done with other treatments of historic events.

But, in this case, it was Kathryn Bigelow who took the plunge with the 2012 thriller Zero Dark Thirty.

In choosing to focus her story on the CIA hunt for the perpetrator, Al Queda leader Osama bin Laden, Bigelow and her writer Marke Boal had to address the methods used to extract information and bring him and his organisation to a form of justice.

Bigelow does not shirk the responsibility to depict the controversial kidnapping, detention and torture techniques used.

For most viewers that is all she needed to do; but others who wanted either a clear condemnation of the tactics or unequivocal support for them were not happy.

I think Bigelow does a brilliant job of walking that fine line and leaving it to the viewer to reach their own conclusions.

Controversial aspects aside – and there were several others – the film is a taut and intelligent thriller that focuses on the decade-long international manhunt for bin Laden through the eyes of one main character.

The great Jessica Chastain’s character Maya Lambert is a composite of several CIA intelligence analysts whose efforts were crucial in the discovery of the Pakistani compound raided by a US Navy Seal team in May 2011.

We are introduced to Maya when she is stationed at the U.S. embassy in Pakistan in 2003. In an opening sequence that sets the tone and theme of the film, she watches a fellow CIA officer manage the interrogation of a suspected bin Laden operative at a black site in the desert.

The captive reveals the name of bin Laden’s personal courier and so begins the complex, long-running and all-consuming investigation for all involved. The film depicts the major terrorist attacks on military and civilian targets, as well as the political machinations and personal toll on Maya and those she works closely with.

While the headline events are exceptionally documented, where the film comes most alive is during the intense discussions that drive the investigation and methods being used.

“Just bring me people to kill,” barks one political strategist in absolute desperation to assembled CIA and military officers, while a CIA interrogator, after deciding he has had enough of the intense mental pressure and moral questioning involved, warns Maya: “You don’t want to be the last one holding the dog collar when the oversight committee arrives.”

The dialogue is made greater by a brilliant cast including Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton, Mark Strong, James Gandolfini, Kyle Chandler, Stephen Dillane, Chris Pratt and Édgar Ramírez.

The tension builds to the final, expertly staged raid on bin Laden’s Pakistani compound where the military executes its plan and Maya is left to ponder the nature of her existence.

Zero Dark Thirty is bold, uncompromising and frankly brilliant film-making.