Joseph Bradley (Kyle Chandler) Jonathan Banks. The narrative centers on the elusive al-Qaeda head, Osama bin Laden, in the aftermath of the September 2001 terrorist attacks. As stated in the movie, this was a new top-secret stealth version of the Black Hawk helicopter that had never been used in combat before. (Details about Maya were changed or eroded to protect her identity, which may account for the discrepancy between No Easy Day and Zero Dark Thirty on this score.) While there, Danes met in the hallway the man who was the head of the Pakistani division and had just returned to the U.S. (after the killing of Osama bin Laden)., Danes doesnt draw any line between that mission and her characters (loose) inspiration, and it is possible, of course, that the man just happened to walk by. (This turn of events is depicted in Zero Dark Thirty.) In Zero Dark Thirty they mention that Maya was recruited by the CIA in High School . The movie is exciting to watchthe director, Kathryn Bigelow, and the screenwriter, Mark Boal, organize the action to maximize suspense, subjecting Maya to a range of dangers and, at the point when she thinks that she has circumstantially located bin Laden, starting the equivalent of a ticking clock that stokes the thrills even more. On the other, it puts their actions in the foreground and withholds analysis, comment, and context, except by sly association that throws the burden of interpretation on the viewer, not least in the vague ruefulness of the ending, with Maya alone. Edit, SSE is sensitive site exploitation. The movie has been a source of controversy since it was revealed that the filmmakers including director Kathryn Bigelow and writer Mark Boal were given extensive access to officials at the White House, the Pentagon and the CIA. Actor Stephen Dillane by The heated topic of the ethics of torture has spilled over into the upcoming confirmation hearings for current White House anti-terrorism chief John Brennan, who has been nominated by President Obama to be the next CIA director. 3:20 PM. User Ratings A chronicle of the decade-long hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist leader Osama bin Laden after the September 2001 attacks, and his death at the hands of the Navy S.E.A.L.s Team 6 in May 2011. Jennifer Matthews, who was one of the employees killed, was his protg, and an unnamed source has cited Rogers hiring of her as an example of the problems with the functioning of the counterterrorism system. Written by Mark Boal, the film follows the decade-long international search for Osama bin Laden following the 9/11 attacks. Still, the similarities between Carrie and Maya go beyond gender. With the exception of Bissonnette and Nicholas Cheque, who was killed in December 2012 during a rescue mission in Afghanistan, the squads members remain anonymous. The character of Joseph Bradley is similarly based on Jonathan Banks, the then CIA station chief in Pakistan. He said, 'In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor had respect for people. For two decades Scheuer was a central figure in some of the major controversies of Americas war on Islamist extremist groups, including secret detention centers and brutal interrogations. Over 10 years of leads from one end of the world to the other and then back to Pakistan. Alfreda Frances Bikowsky (born 1965) is a Central Intelligence Agency officer who has headed the Bin Laden Issue Station and the Global Jihad unit. Zero Dark Thirty starts with a sonic montage of calls from victims of the 9/11 attacks, and that montage is followed swiftly by the first scenes of torture at a secret site of extraordinary rendition. The suggestion is that many American viewers reliably visceral response to the horrific sounds of 9/11 victims facing imminent death parallels the visceral response of many in government, and that the overheatedly emotional reaction led ineluctably to widespread arrests, secret renditions, and interrogation under tortureto a government that approved and engaged in these practices and to public opinion that accepted them. Its like middle-schoolers with clearances.. What is a creepy fact about the human body? This is perhaps one of the best examples of how accurate Zero Dark Thirty is to history. Condition: Others are public figures or agents whose true identities have already been revealed, but the film still declines to refer to these characters by their full real names. Sold by: I know the CIA has like a "internship" program for high-school kids but you seek them out. (about 1:50:15). The character is played by Jessica Chastain. While the credits list Gandolfini only as CIA Director, and he is never named in the film, Gandolfini himself has acknowledged that he plays a barely veiled version of the current Secretary of Defense. Kyle Chandlers Joseph Bradley, who oversees Mayas investigative work in Islamabad, is closely modeled on a man named Jonathan Banks, who was the CIA station chief in Pakistan. That's probably poetic license on the part of the screenwriter. As we learn, she was recruited out of high school to join the C.I.A. Is she suggesting that the attempt to kill bin Laden is a crucial element in the effort to prevent such attacks? Zero Dark Thirty is as much about feminist role modeling as it is about the CIA. There is such a thing as radical realism, as in the films of Robert Bresson, Carl Theodor Dreyer, Michelangelo Antonioni, and Abbas Kiarostami, which stick all the more obsessively to the physical in order to reveal the spiritual, the metaphysical, the abstract, the symbolic, in order to create a cinema of truly radical affirmations. Zero Dark Thirty, which opens nationwide January 11th, is a white-knuckle look at the decade-long hunt for bin Laden, which virtually ignores party politics. Cairo, a Belgian Malinois, was with the SEALS during the compound raid, clad in special dog armor that can withstand clouds of hot shrapnel, and ready to sniff around for explosives or a secret hiding place for Bin Laden. A controversial pick, Brennan has been criticized for defending some enhanced interrogation tactics under the Bush administration, including some tactics that appear in the film. That CIA Counterterrorism chief we see practicing a Muslim prayer in his officeThe Wolf, as he is named in the movieis likely based on a man known by his cover name Roger. Roger, as described in a Washington Post profile, is a collection of contradictionsamong them his conversion to Islam despite overseeing the death of Islamist militants. Bissonnette also describes Jens reaction when they brought back bin Ladens body: Peter Bergen, a journalist who has written about counterterrorism and the Middle East for years, has said that the guy who was on the account from 2003 to May 1, 2011, when Bin Laden was killed, and the guy who was always saying that Bin Laden is living in the mysterious compound in Abbottabadthat guy is a guy, hes not a female. But this conflicts with statements from Bigelow, who has confirmed that the character of Maya was inspired by a woman. Zero Dark Thirty tells a . As the movie proceeds and Maya pieces together bits of data that suggest bin Ladens presence at the Abbottabad compound, she and her colleagues are charged with evaluating the evidence for its reliability, so that the President can make a reasonable judgment as to whether to unleash the assault. Did Maya not have sex for ten years? To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories, To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. The movies pseudo-objectivity is a willful ambiguity of a very distinct sort; its willful rejection of the inner life is a posturing stance of cool, an attitude of no attitude. 1 at the box office.While critics and political . new One of the more obvious correlations between character and real-life inspiration is the key suspect in Mayas hunt, Bin Ladens courier, Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti. Is there really a Muslim guy who works for the CIA? In fact, so accurate is the depiction of the events in the film that its makers had to be extra cautious during the casting process. Jessica Chastain had a remarkable year in 2011 bursting onto the scene with an Oscar-nominated role in The Help and didn't slow down in 2012.She tops off a busy year with a Oscar-nominated turn in Zero Dark Thirty, in wide release Jan. 11.She plays Maya, a CIA operative based on a real person, dedicated to following the lead that would eventually guide agents to Osama bin Laden. Much of the events in the film, including its conclusion, are based on actual historical events, and though some of the characters have been fictionalized, Boal stated that all of them depict real people. All contents 2023 The Slate Group LLC. Yes, Zero Dark Thirty is based on a true story. CIA operatives normally operate in a dark, shadowy world, but Scheuers experiences found the spotlight. This matches what we see in the moviealthough, according to those reports, he was let into the base without a search because of that trust, while in Zero Dark Thirty, Jessica instructs guards not to search him so as not to scare him off. Zero Dark Thirty is, however, a little bit different. In the 2012 Hollywood hit Zero Dark Thirty, a red-haired Central Intelligence Agency analyst played by Jessica Chastain travels to a secret CIA prison and watches a colleague waterboard a screaming al-Qaida suspect, then lock him in a box a little bigger than a mini-fridge, to make him talk. Edit, She's a composite character-Maya is based on several female CIA officers who worked on the bin Laden case in the years before and after 9/11. Is there a tune copied from the Telugu film Leader? Theres nothing radical about the movies aesthetic; exactly the opposite: its conventionally vigorous, action-centered realism wouldnt be out of place in a movie by Sidney Lumetor Ben Affleck. I got bloodied, she said, alluding to criticism of her agency in government and media reports, and kept coming back to try again and again to do something. Described as one of the CIAs top experts on al-Qaeda, the Agency made her name public in 2010, when it honored the 12 agents killed in the Camp Chapman attack. In the final scene, she leans her head back against the wall and starts to cry. Officials said the woman was given a cash bonus for her work on the bin Laden mission and has since moved on to a new counterterrorism assignment. decluttr_store. Why cant the emperor see from the perspective of his Why won't Disney make a plus-size princess when the Why Wont the SEC Approve a Bitcoin ETF? The hidden premise of gun control is the states monopoly on force, the willing renunciation of the most potent form of self-defense in favor of collective defensenot the nave wishing-away of violent crime but the assumption of effective law enforcement that would both thwart and obviate the proliferation of firearms. My theory is that the ROTC scholarship programs are fronts for CIA recruitment right out of high school Technically the CIA can attach military personnel to it for national security purposes, presumably even without their knowledge. Where do you want to go?' dude you got lucky. Stills from Zero Dark Thirty by Jonathan Olley / 2012 Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. All rights reserved. With Perianne Why can't we just scatter these hovermines everywhere to Everything Everywhere All At Once Takes Best Picture At New Image of Bill Skarsgrd and Jessica Roth in Official Poster for 'INSIDE' Starring Willem Dafoe. Does the CIA actually recruit kids high school ? Unloved by most of his colleagues, some deem Roger responsible for the December 2009 Khost incident depicted in the film, which left seven CIA employees dead at the hands of an improperly vetted suicide bomber. Why did she accept? The purpose of Zero Dark Thirty is to portray the trials and efforts behind finding Osama Bin Laden. Anticipating that Panetta would not be impressed with the how he was going to look on screen, Gandolfini has said, I sent a note to Leon saying, Im very sorry about everything. Better than a sleeping pill. For five years, she becomes obsessed to find Osama and in 2011, the terrorist leader of Al-Qaeda is killed by the U.S. Navy SEAL Team following the lead of Maya. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. Zero Dark Thirty. Edit, How many days since they discovered that house and had yet to do anything about it. Its revealed, near the end of the movie, that she was recruited for the C.I.A. The entire Abbottabad compound in which Bin Laden was found was recreated to almost exact dimensions in Jordan to film the raid scenes. Some details about Jen are available in the former Navy SEAL Matt Bissonnettes (alias Mark Owen), book No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden. According to the book, she was recruited by the CIA out of college and spent years piecing together Bin Ladens whereabouts. Zero Dark Thirty question. His account was corroborated by two members of SEAL Team 6. 1. Could Maya really have been recruited straight out of high school? The former CIA agent also spoke about the incidence of torture in the form of waterboarding to extract information. Why were there four men in the house while CIA confirmation spoke of three male targets living in the house? Credited in the movie by its formal abbreviation, the compound raid crew of DEVGRU (a shortening of the long-winded United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group) is represented by several actors including Chris Pratt (who plays Justin) and Joel Edgerton (who plays a squadron team leader named Patrick). Jessica Chastain's character Maya, based on a real CIA operative involved in taking down Osama bin Laden, tells a fellow agent that she was recruited out of high . Meanwhile, Toby Young at The Telegraph states that Ammar is a composite of three Al Qaeda suspects, though how he arrived at this conclusion is unclear. Zero Dark Thirty is a journalistic account of the ten year tracking of "UBL" (Osama bin Laden).Beginning with a black screen, the film opens with mere audible cries from the phone recordings . If you fall under the movies sway, you become complicit in its chain of suggestions and associations. Free shipping for many products! Maya, the film's main character, spends a The much-discussed opening scene of Zero Dark Thirty features the main character Maya, played by Jessica Chastain, observing a detainee at a Though Zero Dark Thirty refers to Maya being recruited to the CIA out of high The more cinematically educated the filmmaker, the more aware of his or her unoriginalityand the more sanctimonious rectitude attaches to the stance of realism, of the repudiation of imaginative fancy, of fictions inventive and imaginative freedom. Slates Emily Bazelon noted that he might most closely resemble Hassan Ghul, who told interrogators valuable information about Kuwaiti, and may have been subjected to some rough treatmentthough the C.I.A. In fact, I raised my hand loud and proud and you know, I dont regret it at all.. Edit, Awards The lawsuit blew his cover, leading to protests in Islamabad. "Washington says she's a killer". A 2 hour 46 minute YAWN!!! By: Andrew James, Landon Green, Ryan Randell. Maya is apparently horrified by the practice, but soon gets sufficiently accustomed to torture that when a prisoner begs for mercy, she flings back at him the line that hes in charge of his own fate (i.e., if he gives the desired information, hell be spared). The helicopter crash is filmed in total darkness, from inside the chopper, with the crash simulated by jerking the camera violentlyWOW FOOLED ME!!! (His marriage to a Muslim woman was the catalyst for this conversion.) Metacritic Reviews. U.S. officials acknowledged that Boal met with Mayas real-life counterpart and other CIA officers, typically in the presence of someone from the agencys public affairs office. Zero Conscience in "Zero Dark Thirty". Its important to note that high-ranking female CIA officers are no longer an anomaly. Michael Scheuer declined an interview request. Just like Maya, "Jen" considers the probability of bin Laden being in the house at 100% whilst others are more cautious, she observes the mission from the control room, is there to meet the SEALs when they return with bin Laden's corpse and bursts out crying afterwards.In 2014, the Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on American torture practices during the war on terror which referenced the influence of another CIA agent who was used as part of the composite character Maya. Former CIA officials said agency enthusiasm for the film has been tempered as details about it have surfaced, including the fact that the movie opens with a harrowing waterboarding scene in a secret CIA prison. with red marker on the office window? The New Yorker once dubbed Scheuer, again citing her position but omitting her name, as the Queen of Torture, writing that she gleefully participated in torture sessions. 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