The Hurt Locker

I suspect no other film from the past, present, or future will embody the Iraq War as wholly as “The Hurt Locker” does. However, the film explores themes that are more specific to this war than they are necessarily to war as a whole (for more generalized themes, see “Saving Private Ryan”).

It has an episodic quality to it that limits the storyline. Three instances feature a break from these bomb diffusion sequences. One works, one works only to an extent and one seems unnecessary (at least to me). The two events in question have James running off into the night to chase bad guys but I couldn't help and wonder if such deviant behavior is possible in the military. It must be I suppose, but as a civilian I felt the legitimate possibility of such actions was uncertain in this movie. The scene that does work involves a shootout in the desert that really becomes an intensely character-driven moment and puts some fantastic editing on display.

The suspense is real when it needs to be and created not by quick cuts and overzealous camera movements, but by the classic method of simplicity. Kathryn Bigelow knows that suspense happens naturally in a story. It doesn't need to be glazed over. In the previously mentioned sequence where snipers are positioned in the desert surrounding our protagonists, the initial gunshot happens so matter-of-factly, it's chilling. The sound of the shot is barely audible. The group takes cover and prepares to retaliate. At one point, Sgt. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) runs out of ammo. Another magazine has to be retrieved off of a soldier shot down just minutes previous. Sanborn replaces the mag. It jams... too much blood on it. Sanborn hands it back to his Specialist Eldridge (Brian Geraghty). He can't get the blood off and needs someone else to help. There is no overt yelling and screaming at one another during all of this, the voices are kept cool but with a strong hint of nerves. All the while several snipers sit in a not-so-far-off building. Its scary how it seems to take place in real time.

Much of the film leaves a veil of mystery over the intent of the Iraqi people that the soldiers encounter. One citizen drives a car straight into a zoned off area and pulls up next to Staff Sgy James while he is preparing to dismanttle a bomb. After a good long minute and a half, maybe two (or maybe it just felt long), where James points a gun at the man commanding him to move, the citizen remains in his car and drives away. It's never revealed why this happens. In a sense, this underlines our xenophobic tendencies. I can imagine the soldiers constantly nervous about the intent of the citizens on the streets and we as an audience become are just as nervous.

The thread that really pushed this movie through was the idea that the main character symbolized our relentless involvement in the middle east. Credit Boal for a fantastic, and yet relatively neutral, metaphor. The character is simply presented and we are allowed to determine for ourselves how we feel about his decisions. Ultimately though it all suffers from a lack of depth in its other themes.

Much like Slumdog Millionaire of yesteryear, the success of Kathryn Bigelow's film with the awards circuit is attributable to its jaw-dropping editing. It is what enables the viewer to fall in love with the movie as a whole, and as a result with every element attached to it.