PART ONE:
The Hurt Locker is a film based on the personal wartime experience of journalist Mark Boal. This film is a thriller that is set in the Iraq War. Personally, I didn't really enjoy it. First of all, I didn't know of a single actor in this film. Maybe it's just me, but sometimes I tend to enjoy movies a little bit more when I know the actors that are in them. Indeed, there were some parts that gripped me and had me interested- but for the most part I found this film to be quite boring. This definitely isn't a film that is going to make a lasting impression me and honestly I doubt that I'm even going to really remember this movie when this class is over. I hate to place sexist stereotypes but I feel like this movie is in many aspects a "boy movie"- which is perhaps why I didn't enjoy it as much. I felt like this movie was very dull as far as character development was concerned. There wasn't much storyline- it was just a war movie to me.
PART TWO:
This movie opened up my eyes to war. I felt like it was extremely realistic in that aspect- which also scared me. This movie made me feel very appreciative that we have men and woman brave and strong enough to fight for our country like this. The most memorable scene was probably when Sgt. J. T. Sanborn was talking about wanting a son. This scene was the only scene I felt that held a substantial amount of emotion. It made you realize that these men have feelings and aren't just people shooting guns. These men endure so much physically and mentally.
PART THREE:
I think "hurt locker" is meant to symbolize a period of physical and emotional pain. I think it means a bad and painful place. Based on the events of the movie, I definitely don't think it symbolizes anything that is tied to happiness.
Loved your part 3!
ReplyDeleteTHE HURT LOCKER is a tense but emotionally distant war film vexmovies from director Kathryn Bigelow, and starring Jeremy Renner. It follows an Army bomb disposal unit around as they do their job in war-torn Iraq. Unlike most war films it doesn't really take a stance on whether or not we should even be there, instead focusing on the psychology of warfare and what it does to the human mind. I thought that this approach mostly worked, although it kept the audience at a certain distance emotionally from the characters. The main character is played by Jeremy Renner, and he is the sergeant in charge of the unit. He is brash, reckless and one could almost say he has a death wish. What is closer to the truth is that he just loves what he does, and the thrill he gets from doing it. Also in his unit are another sergeant and a specialist played by Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty, respectively. They serve as counterpoint to Renner's character, and as a rational check against his unbridled nature. While most of the film deals with their bomb-defusing exploits, there are some moments when the true ugliness of the Iraq War shows its face, such as a tense nighttime scene in which Renner's character stalks someone he thinks is responsible for the death of a young street vendor he met. He ends up in the wrong place yidio movies and just leaves before the situation escalates. It is in moments like that where the film hints at a possibly deeper reading of the film in terms of whether we should have even been in Iraq in the first place. That being said, the film is well-acted by everyone involved and the handheld cinematography worked in its favor, putting the viewer into the heat of the situations that arose. I guess my biggest gripe would be that it never explicitly challenges American presence in Iraq, but it's not necessarily a film's job to do that for you. With what it portrayed, and who the main character was, it still allows you to draw your own conclusions. For one, it must take a special someone to be a bomb disposal expert. And also, not everyone is cut out for combat. Overall, THE HURT LOCKER is a solid piece of filmmaking and an interesting look into modern warfare.
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