Zero Dark Thirty

The story of the hunt for Osama bin Laden covers most of the decade before his assassination. As a story, the film was engaging and cohesive. My concern with most historical fiction is that I accept it as historical and forget the fiction. What I think that I can take away from this film is the brutality of war, both on a grand scale, and on an individual scale. The torture methodology and results that are shown have been the source of much controversy. I think that what is not controversial is that the torture is torture (brutal and inhumane). What I saw was how the brutality affected both victim and assailant, such that both were victims. The difference being that the assailant generally tries to mask the fact that the brutality has any effect on them. And that mask is seen clearly here. I also was struck by how much of a "video-game" mentality was demonstrated by the soldiers. Perhaps a coping mechanism, but very disturbing as war capability moves more toward remote/robotic destruction. The personal atrocity of face-to-face death seems to be a natural limiting factor toward boundless war. Without it, war and death is simply a mathematical exponential curve, not a personal reality. Too easy to detach.
4 stars (out of 5)