The Hurt
Locker
Not many times
people are able to watch an interesting documentary while actually feeling the
emotions in the film. When you do come
across a film that exemplifies this, I like to categorize it into a particular
genre-hybrid known as Docudrama. Mainly,
a docudrama is exactly what the name implies; a mixture of a documentary film
and drama film. In simpler terms, it is
a film that tries to recreate an event, era, story, etc. while revolving an
emotional, or conflicting situation around a character. The film that I believe
fits into this category of docudrama would be Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker. Within this particular movie it gives the
viewer a first hand like experience of what it is really like to be in
war. A lot of the scenes throughout the
movie make it feel real and as if you are actually there. There are some
instances in the film where it specifically shows protocol and communication
techniques that goes on with the bomb squad.
This particular footage is like watching a documentary because it is
derived from actual documents. This film
also serves as a drama in that it revolves around one or more central
characters lives while being in this war.
It shows the struggles that the characters endure and obstacles that
they must overcome. The Hurt Locker serves as a film that is much more enjoyable to
watch than a boring documentary film. It
is a lot more than that, because the movie exemplifies real issues that the
characters must surpass. Although there
are genres that can reflect on current obsessions, anxieties, and other
emotions, a mixture between two different genres will make the film more
enjoyable and interesting for the viewer.
Right from the
start of the movie, Kathryn Bigelow places the viewer right into the action and
drama. The opening scene starts with the
Army bomb squad in Iraq rolling a bomb on a wagon-type device to a specific
location about 200 meters away. As the
bomb is getting closer and closer to its destination, one of the wheels on the
wagon breaks. When this happens it
forces one of the bomb squad members to go fix the problem. We watch as the
character, Matt Thompson chooses to suit up in a bomb suit and prepares to get
the job done with the bomb. In the build
up of Thompson going to the bomb, the squad seems to be calm and ready to get
the job done. In fact the members start
joking with each other while Thompson is walking closer and closer to the
bomb. Once the bomb is picked up and
brought to the correct position, chaos starts to break out because the army men
see a civilian on his cell phone. The
men run over to the man on the phone telling him to put the phone down. At this point the bomb goes off earlier than
planned with Thompson nearby. With the
explosion of the bomb he is killed and blood splatters all over and within the
helmet he is wearing. Sergeant JT
Sanborn and the rest of the crew see this and become very emotional. The director did an incredibly good job in
establishing the drama right away by showing how the whole crew reacted to the
situation that occurred. In the very
next scene a new character is introduced who is supposed to take Thompson’s
spot on the crew as Staff Sergeant.
Right away you can see some negative feelings between Sanborn and the
new character, William James. The first
impression the movie watcher gets from James’ character is that he is arrogant
and a straight badass because of his attitude towards Sanborn. I believe
Bigelow is trying to get across a point in this scene, which is that not
everybody always gets along in the Army. William explains to Sanborn that he
can’t be Thompson, but that he will do his best in his job. By having this
scene in the movie, it illustrates the real life documentation of soldiers in
the war and feelings towards one another.
Not only were
the feelings that soldiers have during war made clear throughout this movie,
but also the protocol and communication was vividly expressed and well
documented. Many times throughout the film, Bigelow used point-of-view
camera shots to add to the feeling that the movie was a documentary. These shots would give the viewer a
perspective of the characters and their surroundings. Aside from this camera technique, Bigelow
also teaches the viewer some things in the film. Many people do not know or realize the safety
precautions that go on while defusing bombs, but this movie gave us a clear
picture on what actually goes on. There is one particular scene where William is sent into a car to defuse a bomb that is
within it. At first, William is wearing the huge bomb suit when he walks
up to the car, but he decides to take it off.
Sanborn and Owen Eldridge question William for doing this, but William
responds by saying “There's enough
bang in there to blow us all to Jesus. If I'm gonna die, I want to die
comfortable”. This particular quote is
important to the film, because it shows just how brave William is, and it sets
up the drama for the scene. While he is
in the car, SGT. Sanborn and Eldridge are
surrounding the perimeter and looking out for suspicious people or things going
on around them. William starts searching through the car and looking for
the bomb very carefully. In the meantime, SGT. Sanborn and Eldridge are
getting nervous and antsy because there are people around the town observing
the bomb defusing. In fact one Iraqi citizen is videotaping the three
American soldiers the entire time. Sanborn tries to communicate via
headset to William and tells him “hurry up, we got to get out of here. We
have a lot of eyes on us”. This is where the scene starts to get
suspenseful and really dramatic. As
minutes go by and William is still trying to defuse the bomb, we see how Army
protocol is for protecting one another. William tells Sanborn to get to
the top of the building and right away we see Sanborn sprint all the way to the
top. Once he is there he keeps trying to communicate with William, but is
unable to because William took his headset off due to the fact that he was
being distracted while defusing the bomb. As the scene moves on, we see
exactly how William approaches finding the bomb and destroying the bomb without
setting it off. This particular scene illustrates Army protocol and the
communication between one another when defusing a bomb. I believe that Bigelow decided to put this
scene in the movie because it is a dramatization of something that goes on
occasionally in Iraq. The scene not only
shows how the crew communicates, but also the way the scene is filmed makes it
seem as if you are actually there.
Another
technique that Kathryn Bigelow uses to make the film more enjoyable and
interesting is the way the scenes are shot.
The camera work throughout this film is fantastic, in that it makes the
viewer seem as if they’re apart of the movie.
Like I said before, Bigelow uses point-of-view camera shots to show us
the surroundings of the characters, but she also uses medium and long shots to
show the distances between people. By
using this strategy it brings the feeling of a documentary film, but it also
makes the viewer seem as though they’re caught up in the drama with the
characters. One particular scene that I
enjoyed in the film was a scene where Sanborn and William are messing around
with one another at night. The scene
starts off with the guys in the bedroom one night. William draws a circle on his stomach with a
marker, and tells Sanborn to punch it.
The camera watches as JT Sanborn hits William James, and the guys seem
as though they are having fun and actually bonding because they both start
laughing afterwards. William then
tackles Sanborn to the ground and places his knees over Sanborn’s arms to
reject him from getting up. As this is
going on the camera focuses on William riding on top of Sanborn. Sanborn gets angry with this and in a
struggle to get up; he opens up a knife and puts it to William’s face. The camera focuses on the knife to William’s
face and it brings a sense of discomfort to the viewer. The way the scene is filmed not only brings
drama, but it also establishes the feelings that these men have towards one
another. This for example is a real
confrontation that can happen between anyone in the Army. The scene expresses
true human emotions between the characters, and as the movie goes on this
particular scene becomes more important.
With the progression of the movie we see how James and Sanborn grow to
like each other. There is one scene
where Sanborn is sniping bad guys from across the desert and William James is
helping him by telling where the bad guys are.
As the viewer is caught up in the suspense of the sniping, the camera
focuses on JT Sanborn and we see him slowly dosing off due to the heat and
physical exhaustion. William notices
that JT is not in good shape and he grabs a juice box. Instead of drinking the juice for himself,
William places the straw into Sanborn’s mouth and tells him to drink up. I believe that Kathryn Bigelow chose to put
this into the movie because it shows how the two characters have grown to care
for one another. Not only is this scene
dramatic in the sense that it brings suspense and discomfort, but it also
brings pathos to the characters.
In a
documentary film, the viewer usually is unable to adapt to a character and feel
the emotions going on. In a drama film,
the viewer may understand the emotions and conflicts that occur, but the story
may not always be believable. The Hurt Locker fits perfectly into the
genre-hybrid of docudrama because the film is believable, and the viewer can
adapt to characters to feel their emotions.
This particular film had many dramatic scenes that were established by
the dialogue or camera techniques, but the movie also was made to recreate an
event based on actual documents. Even
though there are many different genres that can reflect on current obsessions,
anxieties, and other emotions, mixing two different genres can make the film
both more enjoyable and interesting for the viewer.
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