Showing @ Cameo Cinema, Edinburgh Fri 25 – Thu 31 Jan

Kathryn Bigelow / USA / 2012 / 157 min

Despite the continuing efforts of Western and Middle Eastern forces, in light of the recent encounters in Algeria and Mali it’s clear the contention of violence by Islamic extremists is far from eradicated. Kathryn Bigelow’s brutal retelling of the hunt for Osama bin Laden wallows as much in al-Qaeda strikes as it rejoices in the United States’ successess. Following 9/11, CIA analyst Maya (Jessica Chastain) is assigned to locating the infamous perpetrator. After “interviewing” many of his associates in various ‘Blackout’ locations Maya pieces together enough information to bring about his demise.

Collaborating again with The Hurt Locker writer and one-time investigative journalist Mark Boal, Bigelow’s production purports to be factually accurate. Whether specific shady details will ever be confirmed, the film’s unrelenting ruthlessness feels like like it could have been lifted from declassified documents. Torture scenes of remorseless barbarity uncomfortably pockmark the narrative, with Chastain’s chilling mercilessness judiciously portraying the callous and officious Maya. By including real events (London 2005, Islamabad Marriott Hotel 2008) the plot begins to resemble a disturbing tour-de-force of al-Qaeda activity but despite hastily cramming over a decade into the film’s first half, the overwhelming impression is one of drawn out monotony. Bigelow intersects her more shocking scenes with the exasperating routine of seemingly futile investigations and inquiry, acting to partially humanise the formidable agents.

However for all it reveals about the method behind bin Laden’s capture, the narrative’s unashamedly linear design becomes repetitive. Freqents shots of desperate, embittered operatives’ begin to ware and with no real sub-plots to diffuse the unrelenting search, the film (like Maya) becomes too fixated on the singular subject. While cinematically frustrating, this does give a very powerful sense of how consuming and isolated Maya’s line of employment must be. Despite being a cinematic flaunting of American prowess, Bigelow’s markedly unglamorous approach, (especially the rather pleasing, flatly delivered ending) isn’t particularly flattering of the U.S. Instead it paints the hugely strenuous effort as the erosive, wearisome and unpleasant procedure it most likely was.

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