Kathryn Bigelow is a record-breaking director who has been behind some stirring dramatic films. She was the first ever woman to win an Oscar for Best Director, taking home the award for The Hurt Locker. While her career started long before this, the Jeremy Renner-led film saw Bigelow’s career make a foray into a gripping drama that puts its audience into a real-life situation. The film is not directly based on true events, but it is inspired by the real experiences of journalist Mark Boal, who was a screenwriter on the film.
The Hurt Locker tackled the Iraq War while the United States was still very much in the heart of it, making it one of the first major films to take on this topic head-on. Now, war films are on the rise again, including next year’s A24 real-time drama Warfare. This year has also seen a number of films about war or terrorist events, such as September 5. These films tend to get award recognition due to their gripping nature. Another one of Bigelow’s films impressed critics at the time, and still shines in one expert’s eyes.
Zero Dark Thirty Gets A Good Accuracy Rating
Though It Has One Major Flaw
Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty is given a review by a former CIA agent. This epic political thriller tells the story of the decade-long search for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden in wake of the September 11 attacks, which led to his killing by Navy S.E.A.L.s in 2011. Like The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty is inspired by this real-life event, though it does not adhere directly to the bounds of reality, making up characters to represent certain figures. Zero Dark Thirty was well-received by critics and received five Oscar nominations.
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Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty examines the thrilling operation to hunt and kill Osama bin Laden. Here’s what happens in the movie.
In an interview with Insider, former CIA operative John Kiriakou evaluates the accuracy of Zero Dark Thirty. According to Kiriakou, Zero Dark Thirty got many aspects of the bin Laden raid correct, including that it was in the middle of the night, and the fact that the military came there with the intent to kill bin Laden. The one major element that the expert thinks the movie got wrong is the fact that the United States was “able to deduce bin Laden’s location thanks to the torture program,” something he believes perpetuates a harmful narrative. Check out Kiriakou’s full quote:
The attack at Camp Chapman was a catastrophe for the CIA. I actually worked with several of those people. There was a source that had been offered up to us by a third country intelligence service. He got right into the center of the base. It was a failure at every step of the way. There were almost immediate improvements after this happened. So, suicide attacks happen. They’re not supposed to happen at that grand scale. But it’s always a danger.
This is depicting the Osama bin Laden raid. And the clip is as close as we’re going to get to real life in a film. There are a couple of things that are consistent with all counter-terrorism raids. Especially counter-terrorism raids related to al-Qaeda. First of all, they’re all at night. Usually in the middle of the night. In Pakistan we only did our raids after 2am. At or after 2am. Because you want people to be asleep. You want them to be caught unawares. That’s what they did in this case. Now they came in to the Bin Laden compound with two stealth helicopters. So this was far far more complicated than anything I ever did.
From all accounts, that’s how it played out. There was never any intent to take Bin Laden alive. There are similarities in the real-life raid that the movie got wrong. And they got it wrong on purpose. In the movie, they were able to deduce bin Laden’s location thanks to the torture program. That is not true. I can’t be any more clear about it. It’s just simply not true. What led to bin Laden’s location was really great analysis. A targeting analyst is going to pour through sometimes millions of pieces of data. Put this thing together where you can say ‘we’ve narrowed it down to this neighborhood in Abidabad, Pakistan.’ The one thing that bothers me the most is when Hollywood perpetuates the myth that torture prevented acts of terrorism, or disrupted acts of terrorism. And to me, that myth is dangerous in that it affects public opinion.
This was a film that the CIA made a policy decision on that it was going to cooperate fully. To the point where senior CIA officers gave them inappropriately classified briefings over a classified mockup of the bin Laden compound. Okay, that’s chargeable under the espionage act. The CIA just turned it over. Why? Because it made the CIA look good. This clip as a clip, the clip that we just watched, I would give it a 9 because it is pretty much the way things played out. But no, it wasn’t the torture that gave up Osama bin Laden.
Our Take On Zero Dark Thirty’s Accuracy
Outside Influences Can Affect Film Accuracy
Kiriakou’s analysis of Zero Dark Thirty is a good reminder of how the discerning audience member has to take anything Hollywood puts out with a grain of salt. While the former CIA officer was generous in his overall accuracy rating, his explanation of how the CIA was involved in approving Zero Dark Thirty is troubling when considering the integrity of film accuracy in the movie. Even supposedly based-on-a-true story films can easily be marred by outside influences, sometimes as large as the United States government.
Source: Insider / YouTube
Zero Dark Thirty chronicles the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden following the September 2001 attacks, culminating in his death by Navy SEAL Team 6 in May 2011.
- Release Date
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December 19, 2012
- Runtime
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157 Minutes
- Cast
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Jessica Chastain
, Jason Clarke
, Kyle Chandler
, Jennifer Ehle
, Mark Strong
, Joel Edgerton
, Chris Pratt
, Edgar Ramirez
, Mark Duplass
, Scott Adkins
, Harold Perrineau
, Jeremy Strong
, Reda Kateb
, Ricky Sekhon
, J.J. Kandel
, James Gandolfini
, Stephen Dillane
, John Schwab
, Martin Delaney - Character(s)
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Maya
, Dan
, Joseph Bradley
, Jessica
, George
, Patrick – Squadron Team Leader
, Justin – DEVGRU
, Larry from Ground Branch
, Steve
, John
, Jack
, Thomas
, Ammar
, Osama bin Laden
, J.J.
, C.I.A. Director
, National Security Advisor
, Deputy National Security Advisor
, Assistant to National Security Advisor - Director
-
Kathryn Bigelow
- Writers
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Mark Boal
- Budget
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$40–52.5 million