Matthew Lambert/ Winonan

Continuing with the month of Kathryn Bigelow, it’s time to look at the United States Government espionage thriller, “Zero Dark Thirty.”

The movie follows the United States’ decade-long manhunt for Osama bin Laden following the September 2001 attacks. Maya (Jessica Chastain) is sent to assist the mission to find bin Laden, by whatever means necessary. The film shows the illegal torture techniques used to obtain information by the United States, the countless number of deaths related to their manhunt, and the eventual successful mission to kill bin Laden.

Jason Clarke stars as a merciless torturer working for the CIA, Mark Strong as Maya’s boss and constantly angry boss, the late great James Gandolfini as the director of the CIA, as well as Joel Edgerton and Chris Pratt as two of the cocky Navy SEAL team members that eventually take down bin Laden.

This movie, when compared to Bigelow’s Oscar winning movie, “The Hurt Locker,” is similar in theme since it’s in the vein of the United States involvement in the Middle East, but it’s presented a different way.

Instead of showing the point of view of soldiers and their emotions connected to war, Bigelow shows the people behind the scenes while trying to find bin Laden. It’s an interesting new spin on a war movie. Rather than spend time on the actual violence, it deals with the issues behind the violence as well as the people involved.

Like all Bigelow films, the sound editing and film editing are some of the best in cinematic history. While it’s a war movie, the sounds of fighting and explosions don’t blare out of the speakers. Everything is on an even keel, so you don’t have to constantly adjust the volume when a fight comes on screen. The film editing is extremely smooth, especially in the sequence where the Navy SEALs storm bin Laden’s home. The sequence shifts from low-key and high-key lighting, to even some night vision goggles the Navy SEALs are wearing.

“Zero Dark Thirty” is it’s own brand of war movie with its complex narrative mixed with a cast of characters who are equally intense and highly intelligent. It’s a film that needs to be sampled more than once. Being that I have seen this movie multiple times, I’ve picked up on new things and an overall better understanding of the plot. Give this film a chance, and watch it closely or you might miss something.