Time talks with Kathryn Bigelow about 'Zero Dark Thirty'

>>> welcome back to " morning joe ." joining us now, "time" magazine's executive editor. this week's issue features the director of "zero dark thirty," kathryn bigelow .

>> on the cover.

>> good to see you.

>> you, too. thanks for having me.

>> this movie has stirred up an awful lot of controversy. kathryn bigelow , i'm not sure, knew what to do with that. now she's put herself out there. she was on colbert the other night. you had a chance to talk to her. what did she say about it?

>> at first she wanted the film to speak for itself, but she was -- and i think all the filmmakers, they were sort of fascinated by how the discussion unfolded, the controversy around the film. and i think they really want to be part of that conversation. and so jessica winter who's our culture editor sat down with kathryn and about an in-depth editor not just about this film and the controversy but also about the whole arc of her work which i think really helps you understand why she made the film the way she did.

>> was she -- if you listen to her in she's interviews, she stands by the movie. she says i wouldn't change a frame despite the fact a lot of people have pointed out even people at the cio who said there was no straight line between torture and the capture and killing of osama bin laden . how did she answer some of those discrepancies?

>> well, you know, one thing -- i saw the film very early, i saw it in october before it was even finally completed. you know, everybody interprets that straight line differently. for me, it wasn't as obvious. i didn't -- you know, coming to it before people were talking about it, what i came away from that film thinking is that there were so many things that led to the capture of bin laden that you couldn't isolate anything, really, in a sort of sequence. i mean, a film makes that, you know, it has to make that arc. but i think there's a lot of room for interpretation. even all of us watching the same film could see things very differently. i think that's kathryn stands as an artist. if you l her work, she's not necessarily interested in telling people what to think. and that's maybe something we're not so used to. we often leave movies feeling like all right, this is the agenda. and i feel satisfied. and it's a happy ending.

>> actually, most films leave you kind of wondering, actually. in some ways.

>> when you make a film like that which is not a documentary but dealing with real events, what do you think the responsibility of the filmmaker is to then portray those real events accurately given the political sensitivity around this question of torture, no torture, what role did it play?

>> i mean, i think, obviously, they have -- they bear a huge responsibility. and i think they are straightforward about that. they stand by the reporting.

>> because obviously, the people in langley don't agree with the reporting that if that's what they're saying.

>> well, it's interesting. in the piece, jessica talked to former cia director michael hayden . she talked to other people. we quote a letter that leon panetta had sent to john mccain ash around the time that all of this history was unfolding. there's a lot of different opinion even within that community about what happened, what didn't happen, what led to what. that's something we try to lay out in the piece.

>> did you talk to her at all about her role now as kind of the poet laureate of the wars of the 21st century ? she's now arguably the most important --

>> "hurt locker."

>> "hurt locker" and now this?

>> she's embracing that role. this is not the last time we will be discussing a controversial film by kathryn bigelow .

>> also in time, "from chads to riches." the piece on al gore who we're going to have on next wednesday, by the way. tell us about it.

>> it's about his new book which i'm sure he'll tell you about next wednesday so i'm not going to spoil it for you except that it's about the future and apparently there's lots of drawings.

>> i should disclose, i edited the book.

>> you did?

>> oh.

>> and in my impartial way, i think it's quite brilliant. it is a remarkable survey of what's driving global change .

>> you sounded like my dad. all right.

>> quickly, the second part of that, "chads to riches," a lot of people talking about his sale of current tv , going to make him a boatload number. you've looked at some of the numbers. what do you think?

>> they say they sold is for $500 million and he got $100 million out of it. i would not necessarily take those numbers to the bank. he's done very well. he was an adviser to google, he's on the board of apple. i don't know how big the boat is.

>> financier of money.

>> financier of money.

>> the new cover of "time" -- oh, poor rattner -- is kathryn bigelow , radika jones, thank you so much for being on the show today.

>>> up next, former nfl quarterback and executive vice president of the denver broncos , john elway joins us here in the studio. we hope louis didn't turn him off, seriously. we're sorry about that. you're watching " morning joe " brewed by starbucks.