Film Analysis: The Hurt Locker

902 Words2 Pages

The Hurt Locker is a war film that is set in Iraq during the Iraq War and fits in the adventure and action genre. The plot is about a three man bomb defusal team consisting of James, Sanborn, and Elridge finding themselves is extreme, life-threatening situations where they must defuse explosives over the violent conflicts. The director, Kathryn Bigelow, has done a good job with the mise-en-scene, making the setting overall extremely believable, giving a sense of realism in the film. The film’s mise-en-scene creates a believable Iraq War settings with the use costumes, weaponry, and all the grime and dirt present in places which sells the idea. Sounds and symbolism is used to show heavy tension amongst the soldiers .The film also contrasts James’s time in Iraq and his life back in America using the Supermarket scene. The idea portrayed in this film is the addiction to war which can be seen in James.
There are many elements in the film that give a very authentic feel of the setting. In the film, the buildings all look like they are from the Middle West, covered in dried mud, and a desert is shown a scene which gives the idea of a country that living in poverty and is an extremely hot country. The costume adds to the realism to the scene where the locals wear traditional Muslim outfits companied with burkas. The costume and the soldiers use points towards to them being affiliated with the US Army as the M4 Carbine they carry around and their uniform with the combat boots, sand colour shirts, and the helmet covers.
The M4 Carbine is shown to have scopes attached in the film and lens glare can be seen when the gun moves, further adding the realism and suggesting that it’s an expensive equipment. The emphasis on the thickness of the de...

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...risking your life on the battlefield. However, James is addiction to war has placed himself back into the field, dismantling more bombs.
Bigelow use of mise-en-sense is effective as it creates a realistic and believable setting. The detail on the costumes and the weaponry in the film further adds to the realism of the situation. We also get to somewhat feel what James is going through from using camera techniques clever lighting schemes, and the dialogue. All of this connects to the theme which is the addiction to war, hence elaborating the message shown at the opening of the film. I believe the camera shake is overused. I understand that it’s used to involve the audience and show how disorienting and uncomfortable the situation is however too much camera shake can be of an annoyance in my opinion.

Works Cited

http://www.cinemablography.org/supermarket-scene.html

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