THE HURT LOCKER

Recently realized that my last post was my response to the Hunger Games film.... which, for the information of anyone who reads this, would be 100% different if I were to write that post today following my second viewing. Just a little side note...

I know you're terribly curious as to what has kept me from posting, so I'll go ahead and share. The last 6 or so months have been full of change for yours truly. Big changes with school (graduation!!!) and work (new job!!!), as well as personal life (.... never mind). Have I been engaging in the various art forms? Not really, actually. Sure, I saw some of the major blockbuster films of the summer [The Avengers was my favorite, The Dark Knight Rises was a little sub-par imo, but still a great film], but I haven't been "watching" films or "reading" books like I used to. I used to cling to these forms of entertainment during the big life changes, because the escape from reality was kind of my anchor. I don't think it is anymore...

I'm rambling, yes. And so far, this is more about my personal life than my thoughts concerning entertainment, but it was one of those posts that felt necessary. Necessary for myself, obviously. I guess I prefaced this post like this because I wanted to explain my recent infatuation with war films and otherwise depressing genres... which would be a slight bit confusing to those who know me.

THE HURT LOCKER

Excellent film. There are so many reasons I could use to back my claim of excellence for this movie, but I'll keep this relatively tame.

1) The cinematography just seemed right. I realize that that statement in and of itself wouldn't be considered an appropriate or valid reason to deem a film "great", but that's exactly how I want to describe it. The use of angles and shots and lighting, the lack of music to fill the emptiness... it just seemed so well done. The "less is more"/raw mentality doesn't always work for me, but I really appreciated it in this movie. I thought it was very well directed from all directions.

2) I loved the lack of a very emotional and driving story line. Not until the end do we start to understand the point of the film; the majority of the movie almost feels like a documentary, like we're watching in real time as an EOD unit goes about doing their job day-by-day. This approach bored me at first, but once it got going I really started to appreciate the concept. By the end I was completely satisfied.

3) Great characters, good acting. The three main characters kept me hooked, but the actors seemed to start off a little slow. Once they warmed up (or maybe it was just that I was beginning to care for their characters), they were pretty convincing. There were still a few moments that felt really cheesy and sophomoric as far as acting is concerned (not just for the main characters, but for other parts as well), but overall I was pretty content, but not completely blown away.

4) The last few scenes of the movie summed up exactly why it is that I enjoy this genre in the obsessive way that I do. More about that in my summary...

Like I said, there were a lot of reasons to love this movie. There were also a few reasons NOT to enjoy it (I mean, do EOD guys really double as snipers? I didn't think so...?). But even the scenes that seemed the most inaccurate and unrealistic still managed to create a very believable view of the kind of things that happen over there.



Now, another film that I watched within the last week was BROTHERS, but I don't have the energy to cover that one right now. Suffice it to say, the film was incredible and moving, and I had few if any negative thoughts following my watch. It blew me away. I was very skeptical of Tobey Maguire's ability to play such a dramatic role, but even he put me to silence.

SUMMARY:

"The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug." (as quoted from THE HURT LOCKER)

and

"Who was it that said only the dead have seen the end of war? I have seen the end of war. The question is, how do I go on living? " (BROTHERS)



These quotes sum up the many reasons that I love to watch these films. Having dated one and known many a military man/woman, it has always interested me to understand what it is that causes the dramatic change once they return home after an overseas tour (particularly the ones who serve in combat, obviously). Some of them want nothing more than to go back, and some seem to be only half alive/detached/living in a contorted view of reality. It makes me sad either way, because the ones who love it seem to only be happy when wearing fatigues on the field of battle, and the other seems to have a very difficult time finding any happiness. Either way, it seems like both types, at the very least, have a hard time readjusting to reality. Necessary though it may be at times, war is a truly ugly fact of life. Here's to the men and women that serve... the sacrifice is so much more than we can imagine!