Film review: The Hurt Locker

Aug 25 2009 Surrey Herald

Kathryn Bigelow is back with one of the best war films of recent times, writes Pierce Hunt.

GETTING to grips with the Iraq War on the big screen has proven to be a difficult task for Hollywood's filmmakers.

Paul Haggis's 2007 film In the Valley of Elah failed to set the world alight, but it faired a lot better than the handful of misfiring war flicks - including Redacted, based on the Mahmudiyah killings - released since the invasion of Iraq in 2003.

Tackling this unpopular genre head on is Kathryn Bigelow, and the K19: The Widowmaker director has managed to produce an uncompromising, independently funded classic.

Filmed on location in Jordan - just five kilometres from the Iraq border - The Hurt Locker has a stamp of authenticity thanks to the sweltering temperatures and close proximity to the actual war zone.

As there was no studio funding or interference, it meant Bigelow didn't have to answer to anyone, and her decision to give the audience a fly-on-the-wall experience in the heart of the Middle East works wonders.

Mark Boal, an embedded journalist in the US Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal team in 2004, wrote the script for The Hurt Locker. And it's his real-life observations of the soldiers' world that makes you feel like you are in the thick of it.

The film follows the daily struggles of three soldiers in the bomb squad, with the main focus on Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner), a maverick who only feels at ease when he's faced with the task of dismantling a bomb. The film delves into the harsh realities of war in the unforgiving desert; where combat is the only normality the three guys know.

Alcoholism and isolation are prevalent throughout the camp, but it's William's

unorthodox approach that alienates his team, as he does not do things by the book.

There are no victors or losers in The Hurt Locker. The lack of structure and vulnerability in the soldiers' lives is frightening for all involved, even if they keep a stiff upper lip for the most part.

This may be a little too close to home for anyone who has a family member serving in the forces but, as an insight into the minds of the men on the frontline, it's an unprecedented account of how raw human emotion cannot be contained, regardless of the peer group they're within.