The `` The Truth '' leading up to Bin Laden's murder as seen in Kathryn Bigelow's ` `Zero Dark Thirty ''

fortified mansion

The title "Zero Dark Thirty" is a military term meaning "30:00 AM." Osama bin Laden lived in hiding with a few compatriots in Abbottabad, a provincial city in northern Pakistan, and the US Navy SEALs carried out a top-secret operation to kill bin Laden at 12:30 AM on May 2, 2011. They raided his hideout and killed him. The hideout was completed around 2005, and bin Laden spent about six years there until he was killed. The art team for this film built a full-scale replica for filming in Jordan, where " The Hurt Locker " was filmed. It is said to be a faithful replica of the real hideout in Abbottabad.

Abbottabad is an area with many wealthy people, surrounded by mountains, and lined with luxurious mansions. Furthermore, the city is known as a base for the Pakistani military, with many military academies and facilities located within the city. As a result, most of the city's residents are veterans. In other words, Bin Laden had his mansion right on the doorstep of the military. Art director Jeremy Hindle used aerial photographs of the hideout, measured the dimensions of the hideout from the photographs, created a three-dimensional model, drew architectural blueprints, and built it in just three and a half months.

"Zero Dark Thirty" (c)Photofest / Getty Images

The hideout that was replicated for filming did not have any movable walls to make it easier to enter or exit, and all the sets were built exactly like the real thing. This meant that the actors and staff were crammed into limited spaces such as hallways, making filming extremely difficult. The hideout was quite large, with the surrounding walls ranging from 3 meters to over 5 meters high in some places, and even barbed wire laid on top of the walls. Although it is a simple structure, it completely blocks out outside views, making it feel just like a fortress.

You can see that the interior furnishings, floor design, and even the old-looking paint to recreate the aged look have all been faithfully reproduced down to the last detail. Photos of the hideout are available to the public, so we can all be amazed at how faithful it is.

In addition to replicating the mansion, the film's art team also recreated the undisclosed stealth helicopter as best they could. The actual operation used a cutting-edge stealth Blackhawk helicopter, but its full details have not been made public. Because the information is classified, no materials are available, so a perfect reproduction was impossible.

However, one of the two planes that were sent out lost lift and crashed, causing an emergency landing on the grounds of the hideout. As a result, the team members decided to dismantle the crashed plane by blowing it up to maintain secrecy, but some of the wreckage, such as the tail section of the plane, was not blown up properly and was left intact. Photographs of the tail section have been reported to the public, and their existence is widely known. The art team relied on photos of the tail section to attempt to recreate the entire thing. The greatness of "Zero Dark Thirty" is also evident in these artistic aspects.

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" Zero Dark Thirty " Blu-ray, video extras

Text: Hayato Otsuki

Born in May 1993 in Sapporo, Hokkaido. Writer, editor. He started his writing career in 2016 and currently contributes columns, movie reviews, etc. to various media. By reading the creator's Arrival from a bird's-eye view, we incisively analyze and explain the original intention of the work. His writing publications include "THE RIVER", "IGN Japan", and "Real Sound Movie Club". My specialty is action and fantasy.

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(c) Photofest / Getty Images