Hurt Locker

Well, I just finished Hurt Locker. I suspect I'll be thinking about this movie for a while. It's about a squad of three men who defuse / detonate bombs. The film does a fantastic job of putting you in the position of walking up to a bomb or trying to find wires in a car that was set on fire and that has a trunk full of bombs. I understand you can't possibly know what something like that really feels like, but I've never watched a movie that does it as well as this.

These three men are each different - on a spectrum of hating war to loving war. Sgt James is addicted to war - to the thrill and the danger, and (I suspect) the bizarre freedom that he feels in Iraq. Nothing matters to him but approaching a bomb. He keeps souvenirs of bombs under his bed, and he is very unhappy at home with his GF and child. He needs to be in the action.

Sanborn takes his job seriously, and is pissed that James puts them in danger. He wants to get out of Iraq, but at the same time he would like to be able to "put on a suit" like Sgt. James and walk up to danger so calmly.

Eldridge hates it there. He is sure he will be killed and sees no possible end but eventual death during his tour of duty.

Between these three men, the movie shows a variety of reactions to each bomb, each scenario, each person they meet. The movie also shows discrimination and violence by and against each side of the conflict. It shows ignorant personnel, mercenaries, violence, body bombs.

Behind it all, I kept thinking about the quote at the beginning of the movie - war is addictive, or something to that effect. So I'm wondering, how few people does it take on each side - people like Sgt. James who is addicted to his bombs - to keep war a fact of our everyday lives? If you think as far back as you can remember into history, it would seem that there have always been plenty of addicts. Can we ever expect it to stop, or is that just a pointless waste of time?

This movie was directed by a female, Kathryn Bigelow. It's interesting to watch a movie in a male genre that is directed by a female. If you watch, try to imagine how this movie would have been realized if a man had directed it - whether you think of Michael Bay or Coppola.