Mountain FogTHE HURT LOCKER: POWERFUL PORTRAYAL OF A MODERN CONFLICT
September 7th 2009 08:12
Jeremy Renner's Sgt. James inspects the aftermath of an oil tanker explosion in The Hurt Locker.
David Simon has a lot to answer for. Having rendered just about every modern police procedural film irrelevant with his excellent television series, The Wire, he’s now done the same thing with the Iraq War.
Simon’s recent HBO miniseries, Generation Kill, followed a battalion of recon marines through the early days of the Iraq War. Sharply written and filmed, it provided an intense look at the conflict through the eyes of the highly professional and ultra cynical soldiers. It also refused to browbeat, presenting the ham-fisted approach taken by the US military as a simple fact, instead cataloguing the ridiculous hoops an individual soldier had to jump through simply to have a positive effect on the conflict.
The offerings out of Hollywood haven’t been nearly so successful. Often too concerned with making a statement on the American political, intelligence or media machine, the films have usually lacked in character, dominated by their subtext at the expense of strong narrative.
Thankfully, The Hurt Locker changes all that. It uses the Iraq War to inform its characters and narrative first and foremost, pushing deeper commentary about the war to the sidelines.
The film opens In Baghdad in 2004, and roadside bombs are a frequent danger. The American Army is working to make the city a safer place, and when it comes to dismantling IEDs (improvised explosive devices) they call on the services of Explosive Ordnance Disposal crews, small units consisting of a point soldier and two others supplying lookout for trouble that could come from all sides.
Such is the case for Sgt. J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty), who after losing their previous leader are assigned to work under Staff Sgt. James (Jeremy Renner), a maverick disposal expert whose ultra efficient ways don't always end up on the right side of protocol and frequently land him on the wrong side of Sanborn and Eldridge. As their tour winds down, the pressure gets tighter and tighter for the war-weary crew, and James’s risk-taking is in danger of pushing all three men over the edge.
It’s potent stuff for a film and screenwriter Mark Boal has delivered in style with his taut script. Episodic in nature, Boal shifts The Hurt Locker’s central trio from one tension-riddled set piece to the next. Making the palms sweatier is the growing tension between James and the rest of the team, as his borderline reckless actions often threaten to wipe out the whole unit.
In between these butt-clenching scenes, Boal takes his time to stroke some character out of these highly strung war men, allowing the players to layer on some extra dimensions. For the most part it’s straightforward writing, and despite the addition of one clunky subplot it remains crisp and lean.
Director Kathryn Bigelow answers the call of the script in style, delivering the movie to the viewer with maximum impact. Bigelow knows how to direct an action film, and seems to thrive on subverting overt masculine material. She must have rubbed her hands with glee when she first saw what Boal had delivered – prime grist for her typically excellent work with male dominated casts.
Technically, Bigelow proves her worth also. She utilises Barry Ackroyd’s documentary-like cinematography to great effect, rarely letting him overplay his hand, and never using it as an excuse to not properly set up the geography of her heart-stopping set pieces.
All in a day's work in The Hurt Locker
The unknown cast comes to the party, delivering plenty of oomph. Renner is highly impressive as Sanborn, but he’s frequently in danger of being outshone by the criminally underrated Mackie. Geraghty is very effective also as Specialist Eldridge, a young man who recognises the danger in an inability to correctly interpret what he’s going through. Ralph Fiennes and Guy Pearce pop up also in virtual cameos, a trick of casting seemingly done to nail home the film’s realistic world.
The final result is a potent little (by today’s standards) film that will have you peeling your own skin. The Hurt Locker is a great illustration of how to make an antiwar picture: forge the issues through your characters and their experiences and your screenplay is already half realised. As it is, it seems The Hurt Locker has been forgotten, lumped in with the other dreary films on the Iraq War. That’s a shame, because this is the best film about the modern nature of conflict in recent memory.
Check out a trailer for The Hurt Locker below:
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Comment by JohnDoe
Film & TV on DVD
I am a huge Bigelow fan, Near Dark and Strange Days are both favourites. I have read many favourable reviews for Hurt Locker and regret not catching it on the bigscreen but it will be a certain netflix view.
Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight