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4A Daily News ��� Thursday, January 3, 2013 Pastimes & Arts entertainment Film succeeds with tricky balancing act By Steven Rea The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT) NEW YORK ��� On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Kathryn Bigelow was in an editing room, in post-production on "K-19: The Widowmaker," her Russian nuclear sub thriller, when word of the attack on the twin towers reached her. "We just stopped what we were doing and shut down for a few days," she recalls. "I was just trying to process it all." That same morning, Mark Boal was in his apartment in New York, trying to roust himself from bed. After the planes hit the World Trade Center, he walked downtown, working with rescuers, moving through the debris, the chaos. A few days later, he started reporting a story for Rolling Stone "about the way Muslim students at American universities were experiencing a racist blacklash." "Zero Dark Thirty," directed by Bigelow, written by Boal, and produced by both, begins with recordings of 911 calls from the twin towers. The screen is black, and the heartbreaking sound collage is a reminder of the horror and fear that more than 2,600 people in lower Manhattan faced that day in the minutes before they died. The coordinated suicide attacks ��� the two jetliners that hit the skyscrapers, another that crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, and a fourth that failed to reach its target, exploding in a field outside Shanksville, Pa. ��� resulted in the deaths of nearly 3,000 people. The attacks were carried out by al-Qaida, the radical Islamist group headed by Osama bin Laden. For the next 10 years, American intelligence agencies brought their resources to bear on the hunt for bin Laden. "Zero Dark Thirty" is Bigelow and Boal's fictionalized but doggedly researched and richly detailed account of that global search, culminating with the May 1, 2011, raid on the alQaida mastermind's compound in Abbot- Western Art Show deadline The deadline for entries for the upcoming Western Art Show & Sale at the 72nd Red Bluff Bull & Gelding Sale is Jan. 10. Entry forms and e-mail pictures of entries, even if not completed, must be sent by this date. There will be cash prized for three places in each category ��� painting, drawing, photography, leatherwork, sculpture and silverwork. Prizes are $700 for first, $200 for second and $100 for third, plus a bull sale vest and a $1,000 best of show award. The major sponsor for the show is Western Horseman Magazine and information about the show is in the December issue. For more information, visit the Red Bluff Bull & Gelding Sale on Facebook or redbluffbullsale.com. Orland Art Center events MCT photo Director and Producer Kathryn Bigelow (left) and Writer and Producer Mark Boal on the set of Columbia Pictures' thriller. "Zero Dark Thirty." tabad, Pakistan. Even before its wide release, Bigelow and Boal's film has triggered debate, denials and controversy. Does the long and graphic "enhanced interrogation" sequence at "Zero Dark Thirty's" outset, with Ammar alBaluchi (Reda Kateb), a nephew of one of the 9/11 conspirators, being strung up on ropes, locked in a tiny cabinet, and waterboarded, represent an endorsement of torture? After all, Ammar does, finally, give up vital information. "People will come away from the film with all sorts of reactions, and that's OK," says Boal, who came to screenwriting with a background in investigative journalism. "We're not trying to settle a debate, and we're certainly not trying to score points on one side of the debate or the other. ... It remains to be seen, but there seems to be a pretty healthy diversity of reaction." "And I find ��� and I noticed this in 'Hurt Locker,' too ��� that film, because it's such a potent medium, is almost a Rorshach test in that it can have the effect of confirming what people want to see. Take that one (torture) scene. The information that then becomes a key part of the narrative is actually disclosed over a lunch. Ammar is having hummus, figs, cigarettes, and they're sitting and chatting." Bigelow, who won the best director Oscar for "The Hurt Locker" in 2009 ��� Boal won for best original screenplay, and the film won best picture ��� chimes in. She cites another scene in "Zero Dark Thirty," when al-Qaida operative Hassan Ghul gives up information. "He's very forthcoming," she says, "and it's just an interview, like we're having right now." It's a tricky balancing act, what Bigelow and Boal have pulled off. "Zero Dark Thirty" is based on recent events ��� events that shook the world at its axis, and that will be hard for many people to revisit. But it is also a product of Hollywood, an espionage thriller, an "entertainment" whose studio, Sony Pictures, hopes to score big at the box office. "I think that the story was inherently very dramatic," Bigelow says. "That was sort of a given, and against that background was a question of tone and balance, and compression. You know, compressing 10 years into 2 1/2 hours. ... But we had to remain faithful to the research while also creating those compressions ... and keeping the audience oriented through it all. "And I think the key thing Mark came up with in the screenplay was putting the audience at the center of the hunt. The audience shares the perspective of the people conducting this operation. And so, suddenly, you're in the middle of the Peshawar market in Islamabad, trying to find this very small needle in this very large haystack." At the center of their gripping tale is Maya, a CIA operative played by Jessica Chastain. There were a number of agents involved in the decadelong manhunt for bin Laden that the filmmakers could have focused on. But when they heard about a young intelligence officer, a woman, deeply committed to finding bin Laden, they knew they had their hero ��� or heroine. An Alpha female, not unlike Bigelow. "I think you could have legitimately told the story through a number of different peoples' perspectives," Boal says. "But narratively, dramatically, cinematically, this seemed like the pretty clear way to go." Art Show and Sale through Jan. 26 "Wildlife Wonders II" with featured artists Sherrie Russell Meline and Steele Roberts-Ross Once again, the Orland Art Center is presenting a stunning wildlife show featuring wonderfully detailed paintings of waterfowl as part of the Annual Chico Snow Goose Festival of 2013. Two especially gifted artists have been brought to the area for this show, both of whom are nationally recognized as experts in the field of Wildlife Fine Art. From Mt. Shasta's Wingbeat Gallery, artist Sherrie Russell Meline brings her exquisite studies of a variety of waterfowl, in all their feathered finery. Delicate layers of acrylic washes allow for exceptional accuracy in every detail of her work. Equally talented painter Steele Roberts-Ross comes from Yreka, and brings his meticulous images of beautiful birds in their natural settings. His paintings of wildfowl in action convey a sense of wonder, first experienced when he watched the birds he encountered growing up on the family farm in Illinois. That passion for wildlife is clearly evident in his images today Meet these artists at their reception 3-7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 4th. Enjoy refreshments and there will be live music performed. Orland Art Center Show and Sale always features art with a wide price range. Original art, quality prints and Fine Art cards are always available in a variety of sizes and media. Gallery hours are 1-6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays for the show's duration. Visit www.orlandartcenter.com and click on Artists. Blue Room Spring 2013 The Blue Room Theatre in Chico is ready to start its Young Company Spring 2013 Performance Projects and Classes, beginning in January. ��� Performance Project includes: AIDA: School Edition. This Young Company Performance Project provides an exciting opportunity for any young person in grades 7-12 to explore Musical Theatre in a dynamic, challenging and fun environment. This class is directed by Allison Parker, Music Direction: Livy Gomez. Class meets 2-5 p.m. on Saturdays, Jan. 26 through April 13. There will be no class on March 23. Tuition $185 ��� AIDA: School Edition- The Alien Invasion of Upper Creek, Kansas. This is a super-fun class for ages 7-18. Anyone who wants to be in a play with music while working on the basic skills of acting is welcome. Whether you���ve been in many shows and want to try more comedy or whether you���ve always wanted to try being in a play- this Performance Project is for you. Class meets 10 a.m.-1 p.m., Saturdays Jan. 26 through March 9. Directed by Fred Stuart & Loki Miller Tuition $12 Young Company Classes include: Center Stage is Fun Theatre for Little Kids ages 4-6, Wednesdays; Intermediate Acting is a free, by-audition class for teens seeking a challenge, Mondays; The Extremely Fun, non-scary, superbasic, please I Just Want to Get My Feet Moving the Same Direction as Everyone Else in this Show Dance Class on Tuesdays. For more information visit www.blueroomtheatre.com, visit the theater���s facebook or Twitter. Antsy show at State Daily News photo by Chip Thompson Antsy McClain and the Trailerpark Troubadours performed Saturday night before an audience of about 200 at the State Theatre in Red Bluff. The event was a fundraiser for the Red Bluff Kiwanis Club.