Hurt Locker

Historically one of the worse endeavors undertaken by our species is war. As the lyrics of a once popular song lyric note war is good for ‘absolutely nothing’. One might argue that one group has found a use for this heinous activity; screenwriters. Some of the most intense films ever created had to do with war. In fact the very first film ever to win the much coveted Academy Award for Best Picture of the Year, ‘Wings’ back in 1927. Now eighty two years later another war film took home the same honor; ‘The Hurt Locker’. A lot may have changed over these many years in the technical presentation and construction but one thing about war flicks has remained untouched, they afford the perfect platform for raw, unbridled outpouring of emotion. ‘The Hurt Locker’ represents part of a new era of films in this venerable genre. Another factor that most war movies have in common is how they reflect the population’s attitude towards the current conflict. In World I the people were against the Kaiser supporting the men waging the fight in bloody trenches all across Europe. The next World War followed soldiers as they fought from one bombed out building to the next. In each case films depicted a courageous army supported at home by a grateful nation. War became an issue that ripped the generations apart during the Vietnam era of jungle war faire. Once more our country is engaged in an unpopular conflict this time in the deserts of Iraq. There are those that are dubious of the causes of the war for the most part there is an acceptance of the men and women fighting it. Just as films such as ‘Platoon’ and ‘Apocalypse Now’ came to represent the Vietnam War ‘The Hurt Locker’ is posed to serve the same function for the Gulf war. In this war the deadliest menace comes from IED’s, ‘Improvised Explosive Devices’. The soldiers assigned to disarm these homemade weapons are the characters used to present one of the most taught and exciting drama to hit the screen in a very long time.

Most writers receive the advice to write about what they know and in this case Mark Boal took these words to heart. In 2004 he was journalist embedded with a bomb disposal unit in Iraq. While there he experienced firsthand the constant sense of danger that pervaded the air every time the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit responded to a call-in remember talking to my father-in-law about his time in the New York City fire department. He worked one of the busiest areas in Brooklyn where it was not unusual to have a multiple alarm blaze on a regular basis. He spoke of risking his life like most men would speak about a day at the office. He also mentioned some of the fire fighters getting off on the rush of danger and how these men were a danger not only to themselves but everyone on the squad. This is exactly the circumstances that provide the basis for this screenplay. Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner) takes over an EOD unit after the previous squad leader (Guy Pearce) is caught in an explosion. The team is set to rotate out in less than a month so their focus is on surviving one day at a time. It doesn’t take long before the senior member of the team, Sergeant JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) realizes that James not only takes too many risks he is getting off on the imminent danger; he is an adrenaline junkie and war is the ultimate high.

There is so much going on in this movie that you really don’t sit down to watch it; you experience the film. At its core is a story of contrasts. James is in it for the rush. He knows that back home there is no way he will be able to sustain this level of thrills. James is only alive when he is defusing a bomb. Then there is JT. He leads the support team that is supposed to keep James safe as he plies his skillful trade. He is counting the days until he can return stateside, hopefully to start a family. JT is prone to duck for cover while James pulls off his protective gear before facing an unexploded bomb. When James follows a wire to discover he is surrounded by six other bombs the look in id eyes is like an addict that just tripped over a kilo of pure drugs. Renner certainly earned his Oscar nomination for Best actor with this role. The power of her performance didn’t come from a tense moment or dramatic speech; it comes from a sustained effort where Renner embodies his character down to the tiniest detail. The way he holds a cigarette or walks up to a device just tells the audience everything you need to know about James. The character is given a more human aspect with James’ interaction with an Iraq street urchin called Beckham (Christopher Sayegh) who sells black market DVDs and hustles soccer games with the American GI’s. James develops a strange affinity with the boy providing s poignant counterpoint to James’ normal disregard for his own life.

The direction by Oscar winner Kathryn Bigelow slammed me in the face from the first minutes of this amazing movie. The look was static, jumpy and disconcerting; exactly the mood required placing the audience into the sandy boots of the characters. The entire film is quick cuts and off kilter angles using shadows, buildings and gratings to redefine the framing of each shot. Bigelow will go down in history as the first woman to place the Best Director Oscar on her mantle but she will also be remembered as one of the true masters of this craft. I watched this film on Blu-ray which provided an incredible sense of immediacy to the watching. The high definition video juxtaposes an inherent beauty of the desert landscape with the inescapable scars left on the land and people of the area. The DTS-HD soundtrack is more a visceral experience than just auditory. If you have a 7.1 receiver and woofers in the front, rear and center they will join with the sub woofer to provide substance to the explosions that rumble through you. You will hear the distinctive clink of shell casings hitting the street and bullets whizzing past your head. This is not only the year’s best film it is on its way to becoming a reference quality Blu-ray.

Posted 03/16/2010