Zero Dark Thirty is not a true story as you think

Released 11 years after the September 11 attacks and less than a year after the assassination of Osama bin Laden, this political thriller doesn’t accurately reflect the events it was meant to cover. Nevertheless, the film was a critical success, earning a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, landing in the top 10 list of 95 critics of the year, and winning one of the five Oscars it was nominated for.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow, Zero dark thirty is a dramatic retelling of the nearly decade-long manhunt for the terrorist leader of Al-Qaeda. Recently released on Hulu, Zero dark thirty is an entertaining viewing experience, but simply does not tell the true story in the sense that audiences believe.

Since its release, criticism has remained constant regarding the film’s portrayal of true events. As with many other historical dramas, there is a high degree of truth in the events, but there is also understandably a certain amount of sensationalism used to increase entertainment value. This criticism usually comes in the form of inaccurate depictions of torture, facts about real people depicted in the film, as well as the portrayal of certain countries. Naturally, this has led to the film attracting some negative attention.

What happens in Zero Dark Thirty?

To understand the extent of the events in Zero dark thirty To deviate from the truth, it is helpful to understand the plot of the film. Beginning in 2003, the audience is introduced to the CIA agent, Maya, played by Jessica Chastain, who is stationed at the US embassy in Pakistan and is tasked with tracking down Bin LadenIn these early sequences, viewers are introduced to dramatized versions of real people with ties to al-Qaeda, such as Abu Faraj al-Libbi.

Fast forward to 2009 and the attack on Camp Chapman, one of the worst attacks on CIA personnel in history, is revealed. From here, the film follows a lead to bin Laden’s suspected courier Abu Ahmen al-Kuwaiti and finds that he did not die in 2001 as the CIA was led to believe, as this was the name Ibrahim Sayeed was travelling under. Since this was known, information was exchanged, allowing the CIA to find and trace a phone number. When Maya follows the trail to a camp, she is attacked and eventually recalled to the United States.

The compound where Maya was attacked was under surveillance by the CIA, but there was no conclusive evidence that bin Laden was there. Nevertheless, the CIA director calls a meeting with senior officials who estimate the probability of him being there at 60-80%, and Maya estimates the probability at 100%. For this reason, The complex was stormed on May 2, 2011, killing several people, including Bin Laden.

Where did the film fail?

Although Zero dark thirty Although the film was well received both critically and at the box office, historical inaccuracies and controversy hindered its success. These inaccuracies show that the film was not always as representative of true history as audiences thought.

First, The former Deputy Secretary of Defense has now spoken out and claimed that the role of torture in Zero dark thirty was exaggerated and presented in too positive a lightHe also commented that the role of the Obama administration had not been adequately portrayed. The mention of Obama was very low in Zero dark thirtyand largely ignored the priority Obama gave to the searchFrom his candidacy in 2007 to his actions after his election as president, Obama’s ambition to close the manhunt gave the CIA plenty of leeway, but it was ultimately left out of the film.

A less glaring example that limits the truth behind the film is the way Pakistan was portrayed. Both the country and the citizens of Pakistan received a rather stereotypical portrayalFor example, you will hear Pakistanis speaking Arabic rather than Urdu or other regional dialects, and locals wear old-fashioned headgear. This helped to distract from the historical significance of Pakistan in the larger context and the impacts that the country and its people have faced.

It is to be expected that films dealing with historical events and people do not always correspond 100% to the sources. In view of this, the way in which true events are portrayed is Zero dark thirty reflects the short period of time since Bin Laden’s assassination and the film’s release. During the film’s release and even for a while afterward, these reviews did little to dampen the critical response.

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Movies similar to Zero Dark Thirty

The contemporary atmosphere at the time Zero dark thirtyThe release of helped cement its huge success, especially in the US. So for fans of this film or the genre, there is a decent selection of similar films that exude a similar energy to a political thriller. The obvious answer is Seal Team Six: The Raid on Osama Bin Ladenand that is exactly what the film promises. The main difference with this film is that it feels more like a chronicle of the raid on the Abbottabad complex in which Bin Laden was ultimately killed.

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Another good choice is Toa Fraser’s 2017 thriller, 6 dayswhich depicts the siege of the Iranian embassy in 1980. This film also plays with true events and dramatized fiction and follows the event from three different perspectives, from the perspective of the negotiator, the SAS leader and a news reporter. For those who are more interested in films closely linked to the September 11 attacks, then 12 Strong is a good choice. Directed by Nicolai Fuglsig, this film follows the US Army special forces sent to Afghanistan after the attacks, and ends with the fall of Mazar-i-Sharif just a few months later.