Hurt Locker Analysis

Hurt Locker was a fascinating movie that kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. Movies that take on miltary persectives are usually attention -grabing because in any circumstance where your life is constantly on the line onlookers will be intrigued to see what those characters are thinking. I thought the cinematography of the film and the various shot selections engaged the viewers throughout the film and put the film in an intricate storyline.

The film is about a team of soldiers who go around in Iraq diffusing bombs who are part of an (EOD) team which stands for Explosive Ordinance Disposal team. The film shows psychological effects of war life and the struggles soldiers face of hardships as well as accomplishments. The characters in the film have various personalities which highlight the variety of personalities in actual war-life one of the characters Specialist Owen Eldridge was literally frightened throughout every mission and lacked the confidence of the other two characters. Through Eldridge the director, Kathryn Bigelow envisions the variety of characteristics and personalities that surround life as a soldier. Eldrige was constantly put in life or death situations that pushed him physically as well as mentally to the limit, but as a soldier he exercised his fears to complete the tasks set ahead of him.

The director of the movie Kathryn Bigelow was not that well known of a director but through this movie she became the first female director to win an Academy Award in Best Picture and Best Director in 2009. Through this we can suspect she will get many more job opportunties for portraying a male-dominated profession so elequoently. She lacked to address those females who are also in Iraq and face similar struggles to the males, but then again she heightens the fact that men are more acknowledged then females when considering war-life. The time period Bigelow uses is a more recent time where technology is at a high point and its most relevant to our country as we know it today. The time period shows how all soldiers lives are affected by the war and also shows the struggles in certain characters minds who can't look at life the same way anymore through the experiences they've encountered. For example Sergeant JT Sanborn doesn't wish to settle down and start a family through the experiences hes encountered and the atrocities hes seen. Sanborn's character becomes harsh in a sense that the little things in life don't seem to make sense anymore and he wishes to escape the war life and the constant worries of death. A thematic thread that surrounds the film is said in the preface of the film that "war is a drug" like a drug war also is addicting in which it makes life seem useless and the only sanction is death. War envelops your life also like drugs and changes your views on how you see life.

I thought the acting was very well played. Throughout the film I was envisioning real-life circumstances and soldiers. Even the Iraqian people seemed realistic and Bigelow used actual charcters living in Iraq to make the movie as realistic as possible their clothing acuarately portrayed the characters they were supposed to play. The seting of Iraq was a key part in the effectiveness of the film because the worn down, beaten look of Amman, Jordan revealed something as close to Iraq as possible.

I thought the cinematography in this film was effective throughout the movie, especially since it seemed like each scene was filmed by hand to make it more realistic without completley steady shots. Also the opening scene was captivating because it had the robot's persepective and we saw a different angle to the films cinematography instead of all the same outlook. The shots had great attention to detail and the sequence in each shot followed well, the lighting in all the shots were clear and identifable. For example in the bomb shot were one of the bombs go off we see debris flying as well as a dust build up from the explosion. The contrast of the dust in the background to the clariety of the soldier being thrown to the ground excutes the scene well. The wide variety of shots allow us to picture whats going on at that time and feel what those soldiers feel at that very time to make it an effective portally of war-life. All these components help make the film realistic and allow viewers to picture real war life and the life of EOD specialists. It also adds realism because each shot is carefully put thematically in a way, so we understand the struggles, the triumphs, and failures of these very soldiers.  

The editing was really good in this film and seemed to be varied throughout the movie. The style of the editing seems to create tension in the film. For example in the bomb diffusing scene where the bomb was in the car James seemed to be dragging on the process when there was no more need to continue diffusing the bomb. The scene also cuts and jumped to Sanborn's worried, frantic expressions also to Iraqian residents watching the feat and the long process of diffusing bombs. Other scenes seemed dragging like when James approaches the bomb or walks toward the bomb sites it anticipates his step but doesn't seem to be neccasary. Other shots cut quickly like where James can't save the man with bombs strapped to him Sanborn bursts saying he can't take it anymore. Then from Sanborn's outburst it cuts to James hopping at the mall with going around with a cart. This cut seems rushed and fast because the scene goes from failure to a breaking point to James in his attempt to live a normal life. These scenes seem the most critical in the movie but are rushed while other scenes like going to diffuse the bomb seems dragging. Although the majority of the film, the fast cutting and style of editing is effective the closing scenes seemed too rushed taking away from the film's message that "war is a drug." Because a drug takes time to kick in and throughout the movie we were slowly seeing the effects of the war on the soldiers, but in the end when the final results were shown it was too fast.

The score of this film seems to be based on anticipation and action and follow a documentary of an EOD team that faced every challenge and obstacle of war life. Lots of close ups in the movie create the mood of the film and allow a transition from one mood to the next. A recurring motif was the drastic change of emotions that each soldier faced especially Sergeant Wiliam James who seemed so calm at times where his own life was in danger but so reckless when he saw Beckham dead turned into a human bomb. James was so emotionaly effected  by the war that he couldn't see life the same anymore and had to go back to serving. These seens also were syncronized well because James started off careless, then changed to outraged and feeling even for a boy he barely knew. An effective transition in his character was shown so we can see a transition from James character from being completely carleless and heartless to caring for a boy he barely knew.

I thought the script was well wriitten in making the film as realistic as possible and creating a team of EOD members who actually go around in Iraq deffusing bombs. The narrative structure followed well to match each scene building anticipation and creating a varied story that envisions the mixed emotions of soldiers lives, like that of actual life. The narrative also effectively expresses the characterizations of the three soldiers acuartely displaying their emotions and struggles as a team facing life or death situations constantly. The dialogue helps the characterizations and help show emotions like fear, anger, happiness, worry and hatred in the film.  

 I thought this film fitted well with a pshycological war drama because pshycologically each of the main characters had breakdowns and faced tasks and circumstances that led to their meltdowns. For Eldridge he was pushed to the limit when he was shot at and injured his leg, Sanborn could't stand the war anymore when the man blew up because James couldn't save him, and James broke down after seeing Beckham brutally killed and turned into a human bomb. The scenery and the movie is based around the Iraq war and its dramatic because each day is more difficult and seems more likely that death will come.

I thought overall this film was well written and made. It had me on the edge of my seat waiting for something big to happen, when everyday something big was occuring. I learned its message that "war is a drug" as well as the hardships soldiers face everyday in a life where death seems inevitable. I never heard of the EOD squad, but was fascinated to learn about such an intense group that live with failures as well as successes. War life changes who you are dramaticaly and makes you see things differently just as it did to the main character James.