Arts Council presents ‘Zero Dark Thirty’

Director Kathryn Bigelow’s third movie in the Churchill Arts Council’s Spring Film Series is the 2012 military movie “Zero Dark Thirty” that will be shown Friday at 7:30 p.m.

This is the third Bigelow-directed movie during the Spring Film Series at the Oats Park Arts Center. The box office, Art Bar and galleries open at 6 p.m. with the movie beginning at 7 p.m. Tickets are $7, members; $10 nonmembers. Tickets are available at the box office on the night of screening or call CAC at 775-423-1440.

This political-thriller dramatizes what was billed as “the greatest manhunt in history,” the nearly decade-long international manhunt for al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11 attacks. This search eventually leads to the discovery of his compound in Pakistan and the military raid that resulted in bin Laden’s death in 2011.

Directed by Bigelow, who also gave us last week’s “The Hurt Locket,” and written by Mark Boal, and starring Jessica Chastain, Mark Strong, Joel Edgerton, Jason Clarke, James Gandolfini and Kyle Chandler, the film received widespread critical acclaim and appeared on 95 critics’ top ten lists of 2012.

It was nominated in five categories at the 85th Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress for Chastain, Best Original Screenplay, Best Film Editing, and Best Sound Editing. The film also earned Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director and Best Screenplay with Chastain winning the award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.

Bigelow and Boal had initially worked on and finished a screenplay centered on the December 2001 Battle of Tora Bora, and the long, unsuccessful efforts to find Osama bin Laden in the region. The two were about to begin filming when they received news that bin Laden had been killed. They immediately shelved the film they had been working on and redirected their focus, essentially starting from scratch.

Along with painstakingly recreating the historic night-vision raid on the Abbottabad compound, the script and the film stress the little-reported role of the tenacious young female CIA officer who tracked down Osama bin Laden.

Richard Corliss’ review in Time magazine called it “a fine” movie and “a police procedural on the grand scale,” saying it “blows Argo out of the water.” Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter said, “It could well be the most impressive film Bigelow has made, as well as possibly her most personal.” Peter Debruge of Variety said, “The ultra-professional result may be easier to respect than enjoy, but there’s no denying its power.”