Zero Dark Thirty Themes

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Famous Hollywood Director Kathryn Bigelow was furiously working on a project called “Tora Bora,” a film about the failed attempt of capturing Bin Laden. On May 2nd, 2011, the world came to a full stop when President Obama announced that Osama Bin Laden had been killed. Immediately, Bigelow shelved “Tora Bora” even though it was only a few weeks away from being filmed. and began working on what would later become to be known as, “Zero Dark Thirty”. The film was released to major praise on December 19th, 2012, racking up 5 Oscar nominations including Best picture and winning one in Sound design. This film analysis will delve into the themes of “Zero Dark Thirty”, and will also discuss film aspects such as script, lighting, characters, and camera …show more content…

The dialogue was tough and showed that not one character was weak. These characters were all strong and determined to complete their goal. Maya, in particular, was the driving point of the script, she was direct, and always engaging the conversation in the movie. Films like Zero Dark thirty there is a massive amount of facts tend to get boring. However, Kathryn Bigelow was smart in making every moment of dialogue have an important value in the story to keep the audience’s attention. The characters were very well written. Maya is not your stereotypical femme fatale, and really drives the story with her determination. Jessica Chastain wore no makeup a majority of the movie and kept her hair unkempt in order to show how little sleep and how dedicated her character Maya was to her job. The growth of her character was very subtle, however it was difficult to tell what separated Maya from her colleagues. It may have been that she was a woman in the man’s world that covert intelligence …show more content…

Maya is determined, and has a high energy level and goes out of her way to show it and it rubs her colleagues the wrong way. Dan is determined, but in a very laidback style. This can be shown in the opening interrogation scene, where his cool sly demeanor and sarcastic tone is very out of place for the moment. He would call the suspect buddy, or dude, and would have a sharp retort for anything the suspect would say. He is very good with people while Maya is okay with people, mainly only seeing what she can get out of people in order to fulfill her goal. The best example for this is where Dan fly’s out to convince an informant to give him information on the courier that could lead them to Bin laden, by bribing him with a Lamborghini. Dan is also very respectful of his peers, whereas Maya looks to fight against authority if it interferes with her work. These characters were essential in driving the story and make it relatable to the audience because these character all had a trait that could be recognized among the audience and that people see themselves having as well. The film “Zero Dark Thirty” is an important film as it highlights one of our nation’s longest periods of darkness and fear, and America found a way to persevere. Its success in the awards circuit will make it stand as an iconic film that Kathryn Bigelow took a chance on by shelving a passion project and morphing it into Zero Dark Thirty. Its themes of man vs man,

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