"Zero Dark Thirty" reopens bin Laden torture debate

The killing of Osama bin Laden came after what's been called the greatest manhunt in history.

That story is being told in the new film "Zero Dark Thirty", which has premiered in Los Angeles.

It includes one of the most controversial parts of the hunt for the Al Qaeda leader, the use of torture.

Jessica Chastain stars as a CIA agent alongside Australian actor Jason Clarke.

(SOUNDBITE) Jason Clarke, Actor, saying (English):

"I think all those facts are already out there. It's already there so I don't think it's controversial in the fact that it's been debated for a long, long time. Those scenes were very hard to shoot."

(SOUNDBITE) Jessica Chastain, Actor, saying (English):

"To not include scenes of torture would be to be lying about what happened and would make a watered down Hollywood movie. They did not want to do that. They wanted to show everything that's involved."

"Zero Dark Thirty" is directed by Kathryn Bigelow, who won a Best Picture Oscar for Iraq War thriller "Hurt Locker".

Her latest project is considered a top contender to take the award again.

Uncomfortable as it may seem to many, the film argues that bin Laden would never have been caught without the use of torture.

It opens in the United States on December 19, with wider release on January 11.