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I tend to be leery of war movies, but based on good reviews and a compelling trailer [livejournal.com profile] holyoutlaw and I saw this one at the Egyptian last night. It's about a bomb squad in Iraq in 2004. It is an absolutely riveting, intense experience, since as Luke pointed out you never know what's going to happen next. One of the interesting things about it is that it takes no political stance toward the war, or at least the politics are deeply integrated into the story. There's no discussion of why these American soldiers are in Iraq, what the larger strategic or imperial goals are. It's about three guys trying to survive and perform a job, and it is in particular a character study of one guy who gets off on the adrenaline rush of defusing bombs -- of facing death over and over again.

The narrative is episodic, and the episodes are centered on different kinds of bombs -- IEDs, car bombs, a body bomb, a suicide bomber. They also run into a group of British mercenary bounty-hunters ("contractors") at one point and are involved in a gun battle alongside them. There are episodes between the bomb-defusing and combat where the tension and dread is ramped down and the characters seek release and recovery of their humanity. The camera keeps us in close; we're with the unit, almost part of it. (As with Public Enemies, there is a you-are-there video look, but it's not so anachronistically jarring.) At the same time, just as there isn't much overt political commentary, there isn't much psychological probing. For the most part we are just shown what these soldiers do, and even when what they do is personal or idiosyncratic, it isn't tied to biography or character analysis. The main character doesn't know why he gets off on taking crazy risks any more than we do. The closest we get is a soliloquy spoken to his infant son, in which he tells us how he feels but not why.

The title is enigmatic, perhaps poetic. It's hard to say what it means, but it tugs at understanding. This is a tense, terse, powerful, unsettling film, directed by Kathryn Bigelow. It left me almost physically shaken, and yet meditative. It delves unflinchingly into the horrors and dangers of war, and yet it circles around a charismatic figure who gets off on it. At that level, perhaps it is a political statement about America.

Date: 2009-07-24 05:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kdotdammit.livejournal.com
Excellent drilling down into the essence of the film. It just opened here today. I'm going to it Sunday and can't wait. Kathryn Bigelow was originally a conceptual artist. From what you say here, it sounds like the movie is much more abstract that your standard narrative driven war movie (which is why I'll like it). I'm really really looking forward to it.

Date: 2009-07-24 06:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] randy-byers.livejournal.com
Yeah, I suspect you'll like this one. It's not really arty (not even as arty as, say, Public Enemies), but it has a strangely detached air for all the dread and tension and immediacy it evokes. I didn't know that about Bigelow's background. The only other things I've seen by her are Blue Steel and Strange Days, and I don't remember much about the former and found the latter pretty disturbing. I should probably take another look.

Date: 2009-07-27 09:18 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] trinfaneb.livejournal.com
You've never seen Bigelow's "Point Break?" Follow it with "Hot Fuzz" to get an appreciation for its influence :)

I'm looking forward to "Hurt Locker" although I'll probably have to wait for the DVD.


Date: 2009-07-27 09:37 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] randy-byers.livejournal.com
Patrick Swayze, Keanu Reeves, and Gary Busey walk into a bar ... Yeah, I should probably check that one out. I wanted to see Hot Fuzz when it came out, but I didn't get a round tuit.

Bigelow's Near Dark seems to have a lot of fans, too.

Date: 2009-07-28 09:35 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] trinfaneb.livejournal.com
And don't forget John C. McGinley as the sarcastic FBI boss :)

I thought Hot Fuzz was a fun movie, but I really loved the dvd commentary.

I'm not a big Near Dark fan mostly because I just don't enjoy horror movies that much. But it does have some very well shot action scenes and enjoyable scenery chewing by Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen and Jenette Goldstein (aka the James Cameron Repertory Players).

Date: 2009-07-28 10:07 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] randy-byers.livejournal.com
Yeah, I'm the same way about horror, so I'm not sure how I'd do with that one. I'm okay with stuff on the atmospheric, gothic, weird side, but if it gets too brutalist or flesh-rending, I usually bail.

Date: 2009-07-30 02:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] trinfaneb.livejournal.com
Bigelow builds some pretty decent atmosphere in "Near Dark" but all the nihilistic violence turned me off way back when. Who knows, it might seem tame and reasonable by today's standards.

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