One of my favorite films from the last few years was The Hurt Locker, directed by Katherine Bigelow. The Hurt Locker puts the viewer through an emotional roller coaster in an attempt to convey some of what everyday life is like for the three characters, American soldiers, in the film. What sets this film apart from others for me is how they can create such suspenseful scenes and still show the monotony of life on the ground for the soldier.
For example, in the opening scene a relatively routine ordinance disposal mission slowly unravels until it goes completely bad.
After watching this scene, The Hurt Locker establishes the danger the characters are truely in and able to subsequently bring the viewer to the same stress levels, same adrenaline, even if all the build up is for nothing.
In this scene two of the main characters clear a building. Same build up but without a violent ending.
I believe Katherine Bigelow does this in an attempt to show the audience how in combat the level of stress and adrenaline the soldiers experience. The movie also shows how this can affect everyone differently. For example one of the main characters develops PTSD and can't handle the stress. One of the other main characters is an adrenaline junkie. While although he mostly is quite and keeps to himself, on the inside, he is yearning for the unparalleled adrenaline rush of being at war. After returning home at towards the very end of the movie there is a scene where the character is in the super market, staring at a seemingly never ending line of cereals. The elevator-esq music cuts to a guitar riff showing the soldier back overseas on yet another tour because he is addicted. Katherine Bigelow uses the camera, editing, music, plot, and characters all to effectively evoke the emotion she wants her audience to feel.
Hi! Although I have never seen this movie, I have heard a lot about it. My brother-in-law is an E.O.D. Technician in the Marines out in San Diego. He took me to their warehouse where his offices and equipment is kept and I got to try on one of those suits! They are nicknamed 'pickle suits' and weigh about 80 pounds...I am thinking that they had a lighter version of the suit for the movie because he told me that it is pretty impossible to run in those. In order to pass the test to wear the suit you have to put it on, then kneel down, roll over, and stand up. I felt so ridiculous in it because the helmet was so heavy and the rubber shoes so awkward that I could not even bend down or stand on my own! There is even a quick-release sort of deal, where there are zippers between the legs and around the body and arms, and if there is an emergency you just grab the zippers and twist your body and the suit that took 20 minutes to put on just flies right off! It is a really cool piece of technology that they have. Just a cool anecdote I thought I would share!
ReplyDeleteKudos to your brother-in-law, those guys are pretty smart. Its a pretty good movie, so of course I recommend it. I never really thought about it but it is pretty crazy that guy ran in the suit. I'll admit there are a few parts of the movie that aren't "real". Like the one character is able to sneak off his base, wander around iraq on his own at night, and make it back on. And there isn't a scene where they get into this fight with this sniper that doesn't totally make sense. But over all I still like the movie.
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