I saw 'Zero Dark 30' yesterday.
Skip this section if you don't care about my assessment of the debate surrounding this film.
***
There has been much debate among critics as to whether or not this film does or does not endorse torture as a legitimate means of extracting information. That debate frankly is bogus. Zero Dark 30 does not take a political stance as far as the legitmacy of the tactics involved are concerned. It merely presents these methods to the audience; Methods that were employed to extract information, useful or otherwise.
Where the film does take a stance I feel is in the usefulness of such information. Without going into spoilers, in the film a crucial piece of information is extracted through torture and misinformation. What the film does go on to show, however, is that this piece of 'intelligence' had already been given to the intelligence services. Zero Dark 30 does not indict torture on moral grounds (as I say, it remains largely apolitical), but rather indicts torture on the grounds that such intelligence is rarely trustworthy and often merely stands to corroborate what is already known.
The question that the film does leave you with in it's very final scene, but does not answer, is whether or not such information is worth the cost, both to those whose human rights are fettered by such military practices but also the cost to those who dole out such punishment.
***
I love the perspective this film takes on the 'War on Terror'. It's from the vantage point of those who actually cultivate leads, gather intelligence and package them up into a presentable case, which is then floated up the chain to those who take the decisions. It was all very interesting.
The first half of the movie, therefore, feels very much like a thriller. There's an intense feeling of dread and danger throughout this first section of the film, so when it does eventually switch gears to the military raid on the complex itself it almost feels cathartic. The raid is executed in what seems like real-time and the effect is that it truely feels like a calculated and deliberate assault. It portrays a restained forcefullness that I've not seen in many other military sequences.
In terms of performances, they're universally great. Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Mark Duplass, and James Gandolfini being particularly noteworthy.
This film is highly recommended. Be wary though, it will leave you feeling drained.