Zero Dark Thirty

Zero Dark Thirty
Directed byKathryn Bigelow
Written byMark Boal
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyGreig Fraser
Edited by
  • Dylan Tichenor
  • William Goldenberg
Music byAlexandre Desplat
Production
companies
  • Annapurna Pictures
  • First Light
Distributed byColumbia Pictures (through Sony Pictures Releasing)
Release dates
  • December 10, 2012 (2012-12-10) (Los Angeles)
  • January 11, 2013 (2013-01-11) (United States)
Running time
157 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$40–52.5 million
Box office$132.8 million

Zero Dark Thirty is a 2012 American political action thriller movie directed by Kathryn Bigelow and written by Mark Boal. Produced by Boal, Bigelow, and Megan Ellison, and independently financed by Ellison's Annapurna Pictures, the film dramatizes the nearly decade-long international manhunt for Osama bin Laden, leader of the terrorist network al-Qaeda, after the September 11 attacks, which culminates in the discovery of his compound in Pakistan and the U.S. military raid where bin Laden was killed on May 2, 2011. It stars Jessica Chastain as Maya, a fictional CIA intelligence analyst, with Jason Clarke and Joel Edgerton appearing in supporting roles.

Widely released on January 11, 2013, by Columbia Pictures through Sony Pictures Releasing, following its premiere in Los Angeles on December 10, 2012, Zero Dark Thirty received critical acclaim for its acting, direction, screenplay, sound design, and editing, and was a box office success, grossing $132 million worldwide. It appeared on 95 critics' top ten lists of 2012 and received 5 nominations at the 85th Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Actress for Chastain, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Editing, which it won in a tie with Skyfall (which Sony also distributed); it also earned four Golden Globe Award nominations, including Best Actress in a Motion Picture (Drama) for Chastain, who won. Conversely, the film was accused of being pro-torture by U.S. senators John McCain, Dianne Feinstein, and Carl Levin. There was controversy on how the film showed torture.

Plot

Maya Harris works at the CIA to find Osama bin Laden. A suspected terrorist, Ammar says the courier of Osama bin Laden may be Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti. Later another suspect denies knowing Abu Ahmed. A Jordanian doctor tricks CIA agents into trusting them. He blows himself up and kills the agents. Another suspect tells Maya he buried Abu Ahmed. Maya believes that the death of Abu was the death of his brother Habeeb. May tells Dan from the CIA headquarters about this. The two track the phone of Ibrahim Sayeed. He went under the name Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti. The car of Sayeed arrives at a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Shooters attack Maya. The CIA calls her job off because they think she is exposed. In the US, Officials discuss whether to attack the compound. 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment attack the compound and kill Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011.

Cast

Reception

The film got very positive reviews. It has a 91% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics said the movie was gripping and suspenseful.They also praised that the film showed how life is. The film was considered authentic. Zero Dark Thirty made many Critics' top tens list. The film was also controversial. Some criticized the movie for seeming to support torture. Some said it was a pro-Obama movie. Others said the movie wrongly got classified material.

References

  1. 1 2 "AFI|Catalog - Zero Dark Thirty". American Film Institute. Retrieved 17 June 2024.
  2. ↑ "ZERO DARK THIRTY (15)". British Board of Film Classification. November 28, 2012. Archived from the original on February 28, 2018. Retrieved November 28, 2012. Approved Running time 156m 49s
  3. 1 2 "Zero Dark Thirty (2012)". Box Office Mojo. IMDb. Archived from the original on June 12, 2019. Retrieved February 5, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Zero Dark Thirty (2012) - Financial Information". The Numbers.
  5. ↑ Child, Ben (January 6, 2012). "Kathryn Bigelow's Bin Laden film to star Joel Edgerton". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on February 2, 2017. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  6. ↑ "UPI takes territories on Kathryn Bigelow's 'Zero Dark Thirty'" Archived November 10, 2013, at the Wayback Machine; Screen Daily; May 15, 2012.
  7. ↑ Derschowitz, Jessica (December 11, 2012). ""Zero Dark Thirty" premieres in Los Angeles". Archived from the original on October 18, 2020. Retrieved October 18, 2020.
  8. ↑ "2012 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2018-05-11. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  9. ↑ Greenwald, Glenn (December 14, 2012). "Zero Dark Thirty: CIA hagiography, pernicious propaganda". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on December 15, 2013.
  10. ↑ Zero Dark Thirty, retrieved 2022-07-27
  11. ↑ Denby, David (December 24, 2012). "Dead Reckoning". The New Yorker. Archived from the original on December 19, 2012.
  12. ↑ "2012 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Archived from the original on June 29, 2018. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  13. ↑ "Zero Dark Thirty: CIA hagiography, pernicious propaganda | Glenn Greenwald". the Guardian. 2012-12-14. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  14. ↑ Greenwald, Glenn (2012-05-23). "WH leaks for propaganda film". Salon. Retrieved 2022-07-27.
  15. ↑ "Government communicated with "Zero Dark Thirty" makers - Chicago Trib…". archive.ph. 2013-01-19. Retrieved 2022-07-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)