The CIA and the Pentagon pulled out all the stops for the creatorsof "Zero Dark Thirty," staging interviews with officials and a NavySEAL for an inside account of the hunt for Osama bin Laden. Critics praised themovie's gritty and gripping feel but, with the film due for release in majorEuropean markets this week, controversy has erupted over claims that itjustifies US agents' use of torture on detainees.
The access granted to director Kathryn Bigelow andscreenwriter Mark Boal has turned the Oscar-nominated movie into the mostdetailed public account that exists of the May 2011 raid on a Pakistanicompound to kill Bin Laden. Nate Jones of the National Security Archivesresearch institute dubbed it "the closest thing to the official storybehind the pursuit of bin Laden." Although the assistance offered to the "ZeroDark Thirty" crew sparked accusations that the White House used the movieas a propaganda tool, cooperation between Hollywood and the Pentagon or CIA isnothing new.
The first film ever to win Best Picture at the AcademyAwards, "Wings" in 1929, featured dogfight scenes with bi-planesthanks to help from the army. It was the beginning of a relationship that hasgrown over decades. The film industry covets access to hardware and expertisethat only the armed forces can provide, while in return, defense officials wantto burnish the military's image on the big screen.
For the Pentagon, the decision whether to work on a filmproject all comes down to the script. Characters in uniform need to reflectwhat officials consider to be an accurate picture of the practices and theethos of the military. If not, then the Defense Department refuses to grantpermission to film at a base or to rent out US tanks or aircraft for aproduction.
To the Pentagon's critics, the arrangement amounts tostealthy propaganda, with the military using its leverage to effectively censorscreenplays. "They make prostitutesof us all because they want us to sell out to their point of view,"director Oliver Stone told author David Robb in the book "OperationHollywood," which blasts the Pentagon's role.
Hollywood heavyweight Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of"Black Hawk Down," "Top Gun" and "Pearl Harbor,"said the horse-trading with the Pentagon is about finding a practicalcompromise. "If we feel it's hurting the integrity of the film, then wewon't do it. And if they think it's going to hurt their image, then they won'tdo it," he said in "Operation Hollywood."
Ties between the Pentagon and Hollywood frayed in theaftermath of the unpopular Vietnam War, and most movies about that conflictreceived no assistance from the military, including Stone's "Platoon"and Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now." But the release of thegung-ho fighter pilot movie "Top Gun" in 1986 was a watershed,reflecting a shift in American attitudes and a resurgence of collaborationbetween the Pentagon and Hollywood.
