Hip Hip Hurrah
The Hurt Locker, one more film about Iraqi war, probably most would have thought, including the writer of this article. Bigelow and Boal have set out to prove they make a different film not just another film on Iraq. The film begins with the American Army's Explosive Ordnance Disposal team at a busy market place in a town of Iraq trying to grapple with the situation of dismantling a bomb. The crew employs a robotic device to go near the explosive bag, that is covered with kemp material. As the robotic device fails in executing the command the person in charge risks his life to go near and trying to place the bomb under some heavy material. A desperate local- man tries to contact somebody over his mobile phone and triggers the detonator of the bomb, is absolutely unaware of the kind of bomb that has been planted there (any technical device that receives and sends signals could detonate the bomb), bringing the technical expert down to the earth. It is only a glimpse of what the army personnel experience day by day not only in Iraq but anywhere in the world in case there is a war.
The tag in the beginning shows that the crew has to remain as the defusing squad for only for forty more days. However, as the new party takes over from the existing one at the end of the film, it shows four hundred days, a multiplication by ten. It brings with it the ennui of staying in the place for more than a year with the mental stress of facing death minute by minute. The film features five great scenes of struggle starting from the beginning. The first scene ends in disaster and the subsequent scenes never fail to elicit heart-throb and finally all end well.
The new bomb expert is passionate about bombs that he even risks his life in finding the kind of fuse that is connected to some eight thousand odd bombs planted in a car. James, the person replaces the dead expert, along with two personnel who are posted to give protection to him, snatches away all credits as they carve a mark in everyone's hearts. James develops friendship with a boy named Beckham, 'named after the famous English foot-ball player', who sells dvds. The boy is killed and a bomb is placed in his viscera. James suspects the owner of the shop of dvds, as the boy is soon replaced by another one, as the one who prompts the terrorists and James forcibly enters into his car and demands him to show the killers of the boy. The Iraqi drops him at a professor's house and cheats on him. The professor's wife is violent towards the American soldier though the professor is warm in getting him acquainted with the situation.
James and Sanborn are the two who stay till the end of the expiration of the crew's term, as Eldrige is injured in an exchange of fire between the planters of bomb and the crew. The film achieves its finale with a terrible scene. The crew is summoned to another market place to defuse a bomb that has been attached to an alive Iraqi. Though James feels pity for the victim he is not sure whether the victim is genuine or an imposter in the guise of a common man. Notwithstanding to his hunch, he tries to break the iron clamp with a wrench. As it is a time bomb, he seeks pardon from the local man and runs away for his life. The destined man accepts his fate and resolves himself to flames. There are some wonderful scene sequences with fantastic camera angles. The cameramen have done a lot of hard work in trying to bring things at the war site to viewers. In some scenes the cameras shiver to conform themselves with the place of action.
The crew of the film finished shooting by 2008 itself. It waited for over a year to find distributors as no one was ready to come forward. No body knew what prevented them from coming forward but the film has received much praise and appreciation after its release and has done well in the academy awards event too.
No comments:
Post a Comment