I am not schooled in the art of moviemaking.

I am not schooled in the art of war.

But one does not need such schooling to be carried away by the intensity and profundity of Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker (2009; DVD 2010).  He or she only needs to have something they want to live for…something they care about…to feel the emotions that are quietly rampant through Bigelow’s work.

After its stunning Oscar trip, I decided to check it out on DVD and was, quite to my non-surprise, blown away.

The Hurt Locker, written by Mark Boal, is a harrowing look at the Army’s secretive bomb disposal unit that disarms bombs in combat zones.  The search for wires, fuses, and corpses (yes, bombs can be hidden in humans) is intense, and the documentary-esque, hand-held camera intensifies the already suspense-filled scenes.  Cinematographer Barry Ackroyd’s the ‘audience-as-fourth-in-the-humvee’ at times is suffocating and overbearing in the most exhilarating sense.

The movie follows a three-man team, Sergeant Will James (Jeremy Renner), Sergeant JT Sanborn (Anthony Mackie), and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) of Bravo Company on their forays through Baghdad, investigating and disposing of explosives.  The performances are raw and intense, as each man, through his courage, also harbors secret hopes and dreams that makes the countdown to home ever more excruciating, as each call could mean the end.  Following these men into the heroic and the insane sets the senses on edge.

As I watched the movie, I was taken by a range of emotions, such as the often perceived inanity of war and the undeniable pressure on brave men and women that is necessary to protect others from the absurdity of enemy war tactics that place civilian and army in like danger.  At times, one is led to question the veracity of Boal’s portrayal of the locals’ often laissez-faire investment in the almost-certain dangers they face every day, as they look on from rooftops and porches into skirmishes that might as well end with an offer of lemonade and a snack.

We can quibble with the Academy all day as to whether The Hurt Locker was the right choice for movie of the year.  However, one thing is clear:  the message it conveys, and how it conveys it with the thin $15 million budget it had, makes it an astounding cinematic achievement.

One certainly does not need schooling in movies or war to appreciate it.  One only need be a member of the human race, with hopes, desires, and a healthy sense of frustration.

-josh