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In The Hurt Locker, the first female to win a Best Director Oscar, Kathryn Bigelow, has made a taut thriller and dramatic war film with more machismo than an action blockbuster.
The 2010 Best Picture winner is the study of a bomb disposal unit in the always potentially booby-trapped wastelands of Iraq; and of what happens when one of them is replaced with a reckless adrenalin junky on an apparent death wish.
SSG William James (Jeremy Renner) brings an unnecessary extra dose of danger to every insane situation in which the crew find themselves. He is quick to tackle the deadliest jobs and walk right into the 'hurt locker' - a term that means the place of ultimate pain. Along the way he befriends a young Iraqi boy (Christopher Sayegh) who plays soccer, calls himself Beckham and sells pirated DVDs.
Essentially a series of set pieces in the sands of Iraq, Bigelow's film lays bare the always terrifying days of the units tour of duty and the different personalities of its men. The film was also acknowledged for Best Film Editing and its conservative cut count helps add to the realism - it doesn't jump from frame to frame like a Jerry Bruckheimer movie.
Renner and fellow actors Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty handle their roles as members of the war weary unit well; even when the scene turns decidedly homerotic during a drunken, semi-clothed wrestle in the barracks.
For all the realism that glares from its sandblasted frames,(THL was shot on location in Kuwait and Jordan) The Hurt Locker has been savaged by many who know best for its unrealistic depiction of the conflict in Iraq. Taking the most criticism from returned soldiers seems to be the fact that a unit of just 3 men are patrolling deadly side streets looking for insurgents.
But perhaps what is most unrealistic about The Hurt Locker is the lack of any depth or even basic humanity given to the people on the other side of the US - Iraq equation. Even the one character towards whom SSG James shows real affection, Beckham, is undermined by the appearance of another child kicking a soccer ball and selling DVDs - as if he was merely a 'strategy' used by insurgents to infiltrate US troops.
There are critics and viewers alike who have referred to the film as apolitical, but it appears at the very least to be nihilistic in its intention - as if nobody can be trusted, least of all anyone from Iraq. If The Hurt Locker has a message of any kind beyond 'Never trust an arab', its that the war mentality is just that, a mentality, and its self-replicating and feeds on the madness of itself.
Despite its moral ineptitude, The Hurt Locker (purely as cinematic effort) is an intense and impressive film. While perhaps not a worthy Best Picture recipient given the brilliant Inglourious Basterds and A Serious Man were also in competition, it is the best Iraq War film since 2007s criminally underrated Redacted.
The 2010 Best Picture winner is the study of a bomb disposal unit in the always potentially booby-trapped wastelands of Iraq; and of what happens when one of them is replaced with a reckless adrenalin junky on an apparent death wish.
SSG William James (Jeremy Renner) brings an unnecessary extra dose of danger to every insane situation in which the crew find themselves. He is quick to tackle the deadliest jobs and walk right into the 'hurt locker' - a term that means the place of ultimate pain. Along the way he befriends a young Iraqi boy (Christopher Sayegh) who plays soccer, calls himself Beckham and sells pirated DVDs.
Essentially a series of set pieces in the sands of Iraq, Bigelow's film lays bare the always terrifying days of the units tour of duty and the different personalities of its men. The film was also acknowledged for Best Film Editing and its conservative cut count helps add to the realism - it doesn't jump from frame to frame like a Jerry Bruckheimer movie.
Renner and fellow actors Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty handle their roles as members of the war weary unit well; even when the scene turns decidedly homerotic during a drunken, semi-clothed wrestle in the barracks.
For all the realism that glares from its sandblasted frames,(THL was shot on location in Kuwait and Jordan) The Hurt Locker has been savaged by many who know best for its unrealistic depiction of the conflict in Iraq. Taking the most criticism from returned soldiers seems to be the fact that a unit of just 3 men are patrolling deadly side streets looking for insurgents.
But perhaps what is most unrealistic about The Hurt Locker is the lack of any depth or even basic humanity given to the people on the other side of the US - Iraq equation. Even the one character towards whom SSG James shows real affection, Beckham, is undermined by the appearance of another child kicking a soccer ball and selling DVDs - as if he was merely a 'strategy' used by insurgents to infiltrate US troops.
There are critics and viewers alike who have referred to the film as apolitical, but it appears at the very least to be nihilistic in its intention - as if nobody can be trusted, least of all anyone from Iraq. If The Hurt Locker has a message of any kind beyond 'Never trust an arab', its that the war mentality is just that, a mentality, and its self-replicating and feeds on the madness of itself.
Despite its moral ineptitude, The Hurt Locker (purely as cinematic effort) is an intense and impressive film. While perhaps not a worthy Best Picture recipient given the brilliant Inglourious Basterds and A Serious Man were also in competition, it is the best Iraq War film since 2007s criminally underrated Redacted.
An impressive piece of film-making with no heart - 4 Stars
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