The Hurt Locker

Opening Remarks

I really enjoyed this film. At first I thought this film was going to be boring and did not want to watch it but once I did I got into it and did not want to stop watching it. This is one of my favorite films; it was put together well.

Context

This film took place in the Middle East and is based on the war going on in Iraq. The director of this film is Kathryn Bigelow; she was the first women to win an Oscar. It was filmed only 3 miles away from Iraq to keep the authenticity of the locations. During filming, three, four or more hand-held super 16mm cameras were used to film scenes in documentary style. Part of the shooting took place during the Muslim month of Ramadan, which is observed by fasting from sunrise to sundown. The expression "the hurt locker" is a preexisting slang term for a situation involving trouble or pain. The film The Hurt Locker relates to is Taken; both main characters do what they enjoy most even if it gets in the way of their family. A thematic thread is peole who crave the adrenaline rush will do anything to obtain it.

Setting, Costume & Acting

The costumes were pretty realistic. The soldiers' uniforms emphasize how dangerous war is. The uniforms and civilian clothes shows the difference of their worlds. While the civilians live there, the soldiers are there to fight and serve their country. The actors were great at conveying their characters. Srgt. James did the best; he seemed liked he was not scared and that he enjoyed what he was doing. The actors were believable; they showed the emotions that soldiers fighting in Iraq would. The setting was very dangerous but Digelow wanted to get the sense of realism of war for this film. The production design is very realistic. It is made up of all the weapons and machinery. Without all the weapons the film would not be realistic.

Cinematography & Lighting

The style of The Hurt Locker is realistic; it is showing the audience an issue people go through everyday although we may not see it everyday. What also gives this film the realistic feel is the use of handheld camera work. Most Hollywood films are not handheld so intense fight or battle scenes do not feel as realistic but in this film they use handheld work which does

not seem as fake. The camera angles in this film vary from scene to scene. The cinematographer does a very good job with coverage in this film. The use of close ups show the stress and emotions that are going on inside the characters' minds. The cinematographer uses many different shots in each scene. First they start with an establishing shot that is a long shot then go in closer for dialogue scenes or to show how a character is feeling. There are not many bright colors in this film, they are mostly dark colors that reresent the danger and fear of war. The director uses mostly close ups in this film to get the audience to pay attention to the little details of war rather than the big picture. There are not many long shots in this film because the director wanted to pay attention to the details.

Editing

The style of the editing is quick cuts. The end product of the film was smooth and all the shots transitioned well with each other. There were no cuts or scenes that seemed unrealistic like some Hollywood war movies. An example of manipulation of time and speed in this film is in the beginning of the film. There are about 3 different times they show the explosion of the bomb and the different angles. The length of the cuts varied; some were short, for example the war scenes, and some were long, such as when the characters are depressed. There were no narrative techniques in this film; i think the director chose to have it this way so it emphasizes their life in the war and does not take attention away from what is going on at that time.

Score

Repeated motifs throughout this film are the sound of guns, bombs and the stress or frustration in the soldiers' voices when they want to go home. Some foley sounds are the bombs and guns. These were most likely made in a studio. This film is synchronous; we know that when a gun is shot that we are going to then hear the sound of the gun. An example of sound effects is when the first bomb goes off. They isolate the sound of the sand from all the other sounds in the scene for emphasis and they do that for the sound of the car, sound of the bomb exploting and the soldier breathing until the last shot when they then put all the sounds together.

Script

There is no narration in this film, but dialogue between the characters is used throughout the fil. This film is character driven because the characters' emotions and actions are what got them through to the next day. The dialogue between the characters is believable and can be how real soldiers talk in war. Their dialogue is informal but that can be seen as emphasis to how stressful it is to fight in war for the soldiers. The use of humor in this film shows that the soldiers, although they are putting their lives on the line for their country everyday, are just like everyone else and need a good laugh to relieve their stress and frustration. I think that "hurt locker" really means that whether someone likes to fight in war or does not, they are always going to be in pain whether it is physically or mentally. They are putting their lives in danger to not only fight for their lives but their family's and strangers' lives.

Genre

The features that show this film is an action film/war film are the bombs, machinery, guns, and the people that are killed. This film can also be a dramatic film because of all the depression the soldiers have to go through when they lose a soldier. Also because they have to be away from their friends and families for so long to fight for their country.

Closing Remarks

I did not really like the ending. The decision Srgt. James makes ties back to the quote from the beginning of the film. War is James' drug; James has a talk with his son, although his son cannot understand and is telling him that the only thing he loves is war. Life at home is too boring for him and does not have any excitement like war does.

Short Documentary

The documentary I chose was True Life I Can't Have Sex. The objective of this documentary is to show how something so small in life can scare and affect women's relationships. The three women in this documentary cannot have sex because of a physical condition. These 3 women cannot control their pelvic muscules so it hurts them to have intercourse. This affects their everyday lives because it causes them anxiety whether their boyfriends are going to leave them because of this condition or if they can even have a normal, intimate relationship. It also causes them stress in their relationships because Tali's boyfriend is getting tired and fed up because of this condition and that causes them to have relationship problems, that most likely led to their break up. Tamra was able to find a way to stop her pelvic pain and is not going to try to date until she can control her pain after surgery. Tess and her boyfriend worked together to try to fix this condition and her boyfriend is working with her and being understanding, which she is happy for because she does not think any other guy would put up with it.
The camera work in this documentary was pretty static. There were some changes in angles but it was mostly made up of stationary shots. They also used photos throughout the documentary. When the women went to their therapist appointments the camera would just follow the women around. The was no really variety in camera work.

The editing brought the audience in and is what made the audience pay attention. The editing style was not boring; it was very interesting because it went from one girl to another then went back to the first girl. This style did not divide the documentary up by girl but rather time in their lives. It showed all their struggles at one time then their success at one time. It also was interesting because you were able to see the different points of views of the women and people in their life. Although the women in this documentary are going through the same thing the effects of it are different. One girl is alone trying to find a relationship, another girl is struggling with her boyfriend and their relationship, and the other girl is able to be open with her boyfriend and he is supportive of her. The sound design was calm. It did not distract the audience from the documentary and was very subtle.