The films screenwriter, mark boal, says the meaning may change based on context, but basically a hurt locker is a place of pain and sufferingyou know, somewhere you really dont want to end up. A reallife soldier says the hurt locker is based on his. The film is based on the story of a soldier who disarms bombs and struggles that come with being a. The hurt locker summary we dive right into the middle of a war zone in 2004 baghdad, a yearish after the iraq war began. Definition of hurt locker, buzzword from macmillan dictionary. It is a colloquiallism, that means to cause someone physical or mental suffering. Bigelow knows that you cant build suspense with shots lasting one or two seconds. The first shot establishes the setting of the film, the beginning of this film is very fast pace. What the hurt locker means for the rest of us 05042010 05. The hurt locker is extremely well written and well directed. The hurt locker is a 2008 american war thriller drama film directed by kathryn bigelow and written by mark boal. The movie gave even more illustrations to americans about the war. To be put in the hurt locker signifies that something profoundly troubling or painful has happened to you. Mar 05, 2010 the hurt locker director kathryn bigelow on set in jordan.
When a new sergeant, james jeremy renner, takes over a highly trained bomb disposal team amidst violent conflict, he surprises his two subordinates, sanborn. Cinematography analysis the hurt locker was released in 2008 and was a hit. Inspiration for the title came from the experiences of mark boal, the films writer, who picked up on the phrase in 2004 during his time as an embed journalist with a bomb disposal unit. The hurt locker star jeremy renner says the title of film took on different meanings over the course of the shoot. Aug 28, 2009 how weird and ironic, then, that the nearest thing we have to wayne is also the best and most insightful antiwar film about iraq. To put someone in a hurt locker is to physically mess someone up, badly. While some saw this movie as an antiwar film, its clear portrayal of the humanity and heroic actions of the three soldiers keeps it from being political in any way.
Directit bi kathryn bigelow, it starns jeremy renner, anthony mackie, brian geraghty, christian camargo, ralph fiennes, david morse, an guy pearce. Putlocker watch all your favorite movies and tv series with a simple click. Through sturdy imagery and violent action, it says that even hell needs heroes. The hurt locker 2009 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. The hurt locker is much more tightly focussed and successful, but any insights into americas involvement in iraq wont be found there. It opens with a quote, war is a drug, from chris hedges, a nation institute senior fellow and author of war is a force that gives us meaning yet for more than two hours, the film imbues baghdads combat zone with excitement and drama. The hurt locker is a movie written by mark boal and directed by kathryn bigelow. The hurt locker as propaganda the american prospect. Kathryn bigelows blazingly powerful action movie the hurt locker.
Kathryn bigelows attempt in giving a clear message through her movie, the hurt locker 2008 movie, is. With six oscars and nine nominations, kathryn bigelows 2008 thriller the hurt locker is one of the most critically acclaimed war movies to come out of the global war on terror. Information and translations of hurt locker in the most comprehensive dictionary definitions resource on the web. What is the message of the movie the hurt locker 2009, and what. Aug 03, 2015 lets have a look at the hurt locker which, in my opinion, answers all the above questions perfectly. The hurt locker is about a man who is in a military. A wellacted, intensely shot, action filled war epic, kathryn bigelows the hurt locker is thus far the best of the recent dramatizations of the iraq war. Form and meaning of the hurt locker a decade of academy.
The soldier vividly displays war as a drug that needs to be taken by all soldiers at all times of their lives for their survival. It is one based on deceit, deception, fear, and is one theme subtly conveyed in katheryn bigelows 2009 hit film, the hurt locker. According to the movie s official web site, in iraq it is soldier vernacular to speak of explosions as sending you to the hurt locker. Lifedeath situation of the solders on the frontline. In fact, like so much american military slang, hurt locker along with related hurt expressions dates back to the vietnam war. The 2009 film has undoubtedly brought hurt locker into wider recognition. The hurt locker is a 2008 american war thriller drama film directed by kathryn bigelow and. But the movie soon careens into the tedious and the absurd. Winning six oscars including best picture and six baftas including best film. The hurt locker kathryn bigelow, 2008 is an awardwinning film that captured the attention of many filmmakers and audiences. If an army marches on its stomach, old charlie is in the hurt locker, with charlie a nickname for the viet cong. It stars jeremy renner, anthony mackie, brian geraghty, christian camargo, ralph fiennes, david morse, and guy pearce. Present a movie as a hyperrealistic look at todays wars and those.
But the films writer, who picked up on the phrase during his time as an embedded journalist with an explosive ordnance disposal unit in 2004, is rather more vague in his definition. The hurt locker is empty contains spoilers richard. Analysis of the movie the hurt locker 69 words cram. Another similar phrase is, a world of hurt meaning that someone is in or is going to be in a great deal of physical, mental, or emotional suffering. If the hurt locker is not the best action movie of the summer, ill blow up my car. Oct, 2008 if someone inflicts pain on someone else, they are said to be putting them in the hurt locker.
It dates back to the vietnam war where it was one of several phrases meaning in trouble or at a disadvantage. Essay analysis of the movie the hurt locker it was the best option to engage in warfare in order to remove hussein from power. Check out other lesser known facts in this in depth look at a modern day movie classic. The hurt locker is about a man who is in a military demolition squad in iraq and this mans struggle. Chris hedges, war is a force that gives us meaning the worst imaginable news. The hurt locker has dazzled cinephiles and critics alike, and is a favorite for best picture and best director at march 7s oscars. The movie s official website says of the title, in iraq, it is soldier vernacular to speak of explosions as sending you to the hurt locker. This also explains why the hurt locker is up for a best picture oscar. Not the us soldiers but the us as a whole jamess character represents the us and he is addicted to war, while sanborn and eldrid. What the hurt locker means for the rest of us huffpost. The most powerful war movie scene ever took place in a cereal. In eldridge, a viewer sees a young man who is perturbed by the deaths of fellow soldiers to some of whom he feels responsible for their demise. Jul 17, 2009 the hurt locker sets itself up as am antiwar film.
The voice over sounds very dictatorial and it refers to the setting of the film. What makes the film so essential is its pinpoint accuracy in mapping the disorienting roads a man. The hurt locker looked poised to win big at the oscars this weekend until getting embroiled in a controversy about whether or not its realistic. The hurt locker is a 2008 american war film aboot an iraq war explosive ordinance disposal team wha are bein targetit bi insurgents wi booby traps, remote control detonations an ambushes. Mar 03, 2010 but the movie soon careens into the tedious and the absurd. May 15, 2010 the plot of the movie the lockers also known as the hurt locker is quite simple. The two war movies up for oscars this sunday are as far apart as bugs bunny is from baghdad. Mar 12, 2010 the oscar for best picture this year went to kathryn bigelows the hurt locker, and rightfully so. What does the title of the movie hurt locker signify. Its a film about an army bomb squad in iraq during the war that must find and disarm bombs in order to protect people. The hurt locker is about the long, painful endgame in iraq, the. Mar 08, 2010 the press pack for kathyrn bigelows film claims hurt locker is gi slang for severe injury.
The hurt locker is about the long, painful endgame in iraq, the asymmetric nightmare in which the military cannot engage the enemy in any meaningful sense. The hurt locker can mean different things for different people with everyone having a different opinion and thoughts. Thats why for me the most powerfully poignant scene from any movie is from 2009s the hurt locker directed by kathryn bigelow and starring jeremy renner. A lot of movies begin with poetic quotations, but the hurt locker opens with a statement presented as fact. A team of soldiers from the explosive ordinance disposal or eod team is trying to defuse a bomb. It is roughly synonymous with causing someone a world of pain. The movie reflects on the celebrated life of a soldier and is entitled, war is a drug.
The hurt locker was born of boals embed with an army eod unit, which gives the film a further air of authority and authenticitybased. Sanborn anthony mackie and specialist eldridge brian geraghty know what it feels like to lose a team member. Jan 23, 2017 get ready for the oscars with a look back at the 2008 iraq war thriller that took home six academy awards. The hurt locker is about how the us is addicted to war. Acting under the cover of a hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a cia agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six americans in tehran during the u. Eod soldiers view the hurt locker article the united. Background hurt locker editors of the oxford english dictionary claim that the first recorded example of hurt locker dates back to 1966, when it was used by a us newspaper in relation to the viet cong, the army that fought the us and south vietnamese governments during the vietnam war.
Most combat troops want to get it over with and go home. We were working with grainy super 16mm film, editing in standard definition. One of the things thats so haunting about the hurt locker is how unsatisfying it isits almost an antimovie, a movie designed to withhold the. The press pack for kathyrn bigelows film claims hurt locker is gi slang for severe injury. Why the hurt locker hurts the american conservative. Apr 23, 2012 the hurt locker represents the epitome of an oscar surprise. Being hurt is, of course, experiencing physical pain. The most tense and debilitating moments are done so in slow pacing and seemingly tranquil moments rather then rushing into rapid action and quick camerashots. Get ready for the oscars with a look back at the 2008 iraq war thriller that took home six academy awards. A few thoughts about the hurt locker slog the stranger. The hurt locker is a great film, an intelligent film, a film shot clearly so that we know exactly who everybody is and where they are and what theyre doing and why. The hurt locker, and what it means to be addicted to war huffpost.
Iraq and afghanistan veteran advocate paul rieckhoff pointed out a couple of significant inaccuracies bomb squad techs acting like infantrymen, bad tactics, wrong uniforms, etc. But a crucial group remains less than enchanted with the film. The plot of the movie the lockers also known as the hurt locker is quite simple. I am cutting and pasting this, it answers your question the hurt locker of the title refers to his collection of detonators from bombs hes taken apart, fragments of wire that just barely missed. It also gave people a little more of an indication as to what the hurt locker actually means. I didnt particularly want to go see the hurt locker, because every other iraq war movie ive seen managed to portray american soldiers as. The film did a good job representing the poem using a. The hurt locker was released in 2009 but i happened to watch it in 2011 when the two above events were taking place. One of the earliest uses appeared an associated press article by john wheeler on february 21, 1966. Jeffrey sarver, has filed a lawsuit against the oscarnominated makers of the hurt locker for defaming his. According to the writerproducer mark boal hurt locker is a military slang that means a bad and painful place. Beating out films like avatar, the blind side, and up, it is the lowest grossing film to ever be crowned as best picture, doing so in 2010. Jun 26, 2009 the hurt locker, directed by kathryn bigelow from a script by mark boal, is the best nondocumentary american feature made yet about the war in iraq. The hurt locker 2008 frequently asked questions imdb.
Does the coronavirus remind anyone else of that film 28 days later. I actually felt kathryn bigelows film the hurt locker to be prowar, even while it graphically depicted some of wars more gruesome realities. Corliss summarized, the hurt locker is a nearperfect movie about men in war, men at work. Theres no rocksolid definition of what a hurt locker is, but it basically refers to a state of agony or injury. The protagonist, william james, has a childbound wife but she is there only to provide. The few women in bigelows movie appear only briefly. Well save some more history on the term for the later section, but the bottom line is. In the movie, the hurt locker, director kathryn bigelow brings a fresh perspective on war and its consequences through the three characters that embodied the gamut in psychological terms. William james, who has a terrifyingly dangerous job, addresses it like a daily pleasure. The hurt locker director kathryn bigelow on set in jordan.
Hands down, it was the least wellmade film of the year of any i can recall, and i pretty well can think of all of. Hurt locker is a slang term for a place of deep pain and discomfort. The screenwriter of the film, mark boal continues to rise with the hurt locker as only his second screenplay, the other being in the valley of elah. The story is an excuse to see three lives lived out in the face of danger, but there is constant jeopardy and suspense. At any rate, the hurt locker is such an important film whose director, kathryn bigelow, explosively plays with the optical illusion so effectively that a viewer cant help but stay on the edge of ones seat. Kathryn bigelow, the director of the movie, together with the dp, barry ackroyd, used various techniques to take the audience to the war field. Heres why the hurt locker is the worst war movie of all. The movies official website says of the title, in iraq, it is soldier vernacular to speak of explosions as sending you to the hurt locker. Nov 11, 2016 yet for many, including me, my time in combat was nothing compared to the year i returned home. It so happens that the hurt locker takes place in iraq. Jul 29, 2009 the hurt locker is the place where pain is found.
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