The Tagline - “War is a drug.”
Moving away from the controversy surrounding the film The Hurt Locker and whether it is
considered propaganda or pro-US, I would like to focus on the film as an
individual entity and not draw or shift attention to the debate surrounding US
involvement in Iraq. The focus of this review is to uncover the film within its
own narrative and film representation. It is important to remember that
Hollywood cinema projects a view of the world that is both ideological and
confined by the restrictions of the Hollywood production system.
Perhaps the only indicator of the controversy surrounding a film is its box
office success and Hurt Locker certainly did not break any box-office records
in consideration of its estimated budget versus the box-office. This is a key
indicator that the film is an artistic, although perhaps misguided, vision of
the director rather than a formulaic film with a conventional narrative and
character development.
Drawing attention to the tag line “war is a drug,” it is worth noting that
the realisation of the driving forces, the essence behind why the soldiers do
what they do, is that are looking for their next fix. They are addicted to
combat and the adrenaline rush of action. There is no need to become frustrated
at the lack of in-depth Iraqi characters, or how scenes do not reflect actual
battle reality. All film is pure creation, even the Neo-realist cinema from
Italian during the 1930s-1940s ceased to become reality once the image passed
through the lens of the camera.
BUY the Hurt Locker from Amazon.com here
Hurt Locker [Blu-ray]
A relationship within the film that needs attention drawn to it is that
between Sergeant First Class William James and the small Iraqi child called
Beckham. The relationship is interesting because at first the interaction is
both light-hearted and then turns darker, with overtones of violence – even if
only spoken through words.
In essence the job of the IED bomb disposal team is to be surrounded by
potential hazards from mysterious bombers, every friendly face could be the
culprit, they are strangers in a strange land – and yet here a bomb disposal
wild-card jokes with a young child about adult DVDs. The issue is not the
conflict between the people of Iraq or Americans, but rather about the fact that
the IED experts need the next fix. The relationship merges between joking and
searching for the missing boy and the discovery of a bomb-laden child. The
effects of this addiction impacts William James inability to stay on a constant
emotional level with his newfound friend, moving between withdrawal symptoms
and real human concern and anxiety as noted by his search for the missing
Beckham.
A war film directed by a woman?
Briefly mentioning the director Kathryn Bigelow, it is worthy to note that
as a director her previous notable films Blue Steel (1989) Near Dark (1987)
Point Break (1991) and Strange Days (1995) – all deal with characters who live
beyond the normalities of society, on the fringe of conventional acceptance by
their peers.
The film has to remain isolated from the people of Iraq, because this is the
condition in which the soldiers are placed. The alienation of the Iraqi people
present in the film is a statement about the real alienation faced by the
soldiers. This is not a propagandist view by any means but an observation.
“The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a
drug.” As American War Correspondent and Journalist Chris Hedges quoted and we
see this during the final moments of the film. William James is back in action
and the days left until his rotation finishes is 365 days, 365 days to revel in
his addiction.
BUY and Watch the Hurt Locker from Amazon.com here
Hurt Locker [Blu-ray]
