http://www.smithjournal.com.au/blogs/arts/zero-dark-thirty-ticket-giveaway

Zero Dark Thirty (ticket giveaway)




We know the story from the end: Bin Laden captured and very dead after "one of the greatest manhunts in history". This film is about what happened before all that.

Zero Dark Thirty starts with another story we know: September 11, 2001. The cumbling towers, the hectic phone calls and the national insult set the scene for the career of young C.I.A officer Maya (Jessica Chastain), who we follow as she studies, tortures and tracks al-Qaeda operatives on the hunt for Bin Laden.

Most of the time the film moves at a paperwork pace, with the faster moments coming from Maya's energetic encounters with operatives and colleagues. Her search is mainly full of lost leads, double-crossers and dead men.

Maya's break comes late in the piece, which is when director Kathryn Bigelow rolls out the action. The members of U.S. Navy SEAL team 6 (who go into Bin Laden's Abbottabad compound and bring him down) feature some familiar faces, which jars the experience somewhat. But we guess the experience was never going to be comfortable when the real-life "capture or kill" mission comes across as a "kill him for me" affair on screen.

You've probably heard the controversy about the torture scenes, but now it's time to make up your own mind when the film opens in Australia on January 31. We have five double passes to give away. Send your name and address here to enter.

Email to: giveaways@smithjournal.com.au