The subject of the hunting of bin Laden itself is full of many highlights: military, terror, suspense, politics, technology... So one year after this happened, the United States appeared in two widely spread films on this subject: "Seal Team 6: The Raid on Osama Bin Laden" and "Zero Dark Thirty". Both films adopted the form and style of imitation documentary films, showing how the United States took a special military action on May 1, 2011 to kill bin Laden in his hiding place-an ordinary and ordinary city in Abatabad, Pakistan. Inside a well-protected house. It is interesting to compare the two films. Of course, Zero Dark Thirty, directed by Kathryn Bigelow, a female director who has always been good at shooting tough military themes, looks more solid and tough, and the theme is more thought-provoking.
"Seal Team Six" focuses on the three or four core fighters of the "Seal Team Six" who perform specific hunting tasks. This event is presented from their perspective. The main theme is motivation and praise, which reflects the anti-terrorism actions and heroism of the United States. Praises. The film highlights the "documentary" texture with fragments of heroes' interviews with the media, Obama's speeches, and certain news reports. Interviews between fighters and CIA intelligence personnel appear regularly throughout the film, intersecting with the development of the plot. It seems that the parties concerned explain and comment on the events that have taken place, and play a framework to highlight the "documentary" in the overall structure. The role of "sexual" characteristics.
However, "documentary" is just a shell, and the overall style of "Sea Leopard Six" is still a feature film-I mean, its narrative structure and means of image presentation are more of a dramatic story. This story includes the macro and micro aspects. The "macro" aspect: the US government, from the CIA to the White House, how to detect and analyze intelligence, after repeated discussions, make decisions, and embark on training exercises, and finally win. The "micro" aspect: how the SEAL Team 6 fighters face difficulties and traumas, how to say goodbye to their families, how to get along with them, and finally come back from victory. The two narratives are intertwined, with the same trend and the same theme. Both the plot narrative and the picture style are smooth and smooth, there are no unexpected bumps, and there are not too many surprises. In short, the end is to overcome all difficulties smoothly all the way, and finally sing triumphant songs. It can be said to be a mediocre story.
"The Hunt for Bin Laden" takes a more personal perspective. It tells how Maya, a female CIA staff member, persisted in tracing Bin Laden’s whereabouts for ten years; finally, under the changing political situation, after numerous reports, waiting for high-level decisions and approvals, and finally passed The action of the SEALs completes the mission. This female intelligence officer is also one of the main characters in "Sea Leopard Six", named Vivian (in the story are pseudonyms, but there are real prototypes in reality). "Sea Leopards Six" also highlights her tenacity, sensitivity and resilience, but it has also undergone a relatively flat and dramatic treatment. The performance of "Hunting Bin Laden" is more complicated and delicate, and her image is not magnificent, but disturbing. Because this is not an ode—but it makes us more impressed by the preciousness of the characters.
"The Hunt for Bin Laden" does not seem to have a clear and smooth story frame. In fact, its "story" is still there, but it is more hidden than popular feature films. The director adopted subtitles to separate the progress of the plot, such as: "Human Error", "Operation Canary", etc. However, in each stage of the advancement of the plot, there are no common dramatic turns and prompts; often there are only daily scenes. The transition of the scene, the switching of locations, the change of events-what emerges are a large number of scenes, and the characters seem to act without a certain direction.
All of these have caused this effect. First, the way the story is told avoids the usual cause-development-climax unfolding, and the second is the way the shots are presented. A comparison of "Seal Team Six" is clear. As a military and espionage movie, "Sea Leopards Six" shows the technical aspects: how to track, how to detect, how to attack, and the process of political decision-making: how to persuade and how to make decisions. Tracking and reconnaissance accounted for the process of finding the enemy, tracking and finally discovering the destination in a few minutes; the process of the offensive was also quite dramatic: exercises, deployment, enemy screams, resistance...In short, they were all quite satisfactory. . In "The Hunt for Bin Laden," technical scenes are rarely shown. The tracked scenes are often switched between the close-up shots of the characters and the panoramic view of the downtown area. The stalker’s nervousness, dazedness, and luck are rediscovered-a very ordinary emotion is revealed in the process, not like the spies of "Sea Leopard Six" The hero seems to be confident and sure of winning. The scene of breaking through Bin Laden’s residence used two "look" methods: one was the shadowy commandos seen in the dark night, and the other was the view of the house through the soldiers' luminous mirrors. The "enemy" in the room only has panic, evasive, and sporadic resistance, but no fierce confrontation. In short, Kathryn Bigelow avoided many of the common expressions of such stories. In the end, he didn't even give the enemy a complete face, but only a part of his nose. In the end, there was no exaggeration of the victory, and the heroine got on the huge and empty special plane to return home, tears shed.
From this film, you can feel the director’s personal perspective on this historical event, as well as stronger questions, including: Did the highly professional ability and quality of the “national defenders” ruin them Life? Do we need to adhere to principles and bottom lines in war-in order to avoid "becoming like an enemy"? Are "counter-terrorism" and "revenge" "just"? These "humanistic" questions are not directly thrown out, but are presented through forbearance and tough narratives.
In short, two films with the same subject matter, "The Hunt for Bin Laden" is even better. From the comparison, we can learn how to make a better subject of its own merits (in line with mainstream values, "good"). Inspired. Of course, the similar plots between the two will be linked together.
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