One of the early films coming out of Sundance that is getting some serious awards buzz is Scott Z. Burns’ “The Report,” starring Adam Driver and Annette Bening. The film, which was reportedly purchased by Amazon for a remarkable $14 million, follows the true story of Senate staffer Daniel Jones, who is given the task of leading an investigation into the CIA’s Detention and Interrogation Program. And based on early reviews, the film actually serves a bit like criticism of Kathryn Bigelow’s “Zero Dark Thirty,” which took on the subject years ago. However, according to the filmmaker Burns, that’s not necessarily the case.
Speaking to IndieWire at Sundance, Burns opens up about how his film criticizes the aforementioned “Zero Dark Thirty” and why he doesn’t outright condemn the film, instead offering another look at the same subject, albeit with a more independent lens.
“It isn’t a criticism of [‘Zero Dark Thirty’],” explained Burns. “It’s an illustration of how the CIA used popular media to influence our perception of their program. And that was their narrative. I’m sure if someone had offered me that narrative, it would have been very flattering to go, ‘Oh my god, I get this story!’ And in some ways, the CIA manipulated Hollywood and used movies to help further their story.”
According to Burns, he says the reason that he wanted to show Driver’s character having to go through so many hoops and endless amounts of bureaucratic red tape is that he wanted the audience to see just how difficult it was for the independent report to actually see the light of day. And how, as he mentions, “Zero Dark Thirty” relied solely on the White House and CIA-approved version.
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He also goes on to explain how the actual report that was made by the committee about the interrogation tactics wasn’t available until after the film was complete, and even though Senators spoke to Sony about allowing them access to the report for “Zero Dark Thirty,” the production was already done, and it was too late.
So, once film fans get a chance to see “The Report” for themselves, it’ll make for an interesting double-feature with Bigelow’s Oscar-winning film.
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