The Hollywood War Film and Conflict

This chapter assesses the importance of films about wars, which crystallises an image of the conflict depicted that remains influential at the time of its release and for audiences in the years after it was made. It argues that the significant amount of people's knowledge and understanding about any particular war comes more from films made about the conflict than textbooks or documentaries. It also describes films about modern wars that provide a cultural battleground for interpretations of how they are viewed at the time and how they will be understood by generations to come. The chapter mentions Alison Landsberg, who asserts that cinema gives powerful experiences which both resonate and influence the perception of events just as forcefully as firsthand memories. It examines the role of films in the way wars come to be understood and how master narratives are largely constructed in the national imaginary through the cinema.

Conclusion

This chapter provides a brief comparison between the categories Paul Storey identified as the defining characteristics of the Vietnam War film and The Hurt Locker. It examines how far the films made about Vietnam influenced those made about Iraq and Afghanistan. It also investigates how American films about the wars in which it participates tend to embody and perpetuate very similar ideas as the Vietnam War regardless of the enemy it is fighting or the complicated nature of the geo-political conflicts. The chapter talks about the immersion of The Hurt Locker in the ideological parameters of the culture which made it. It explores the ambiguity at the heart of The Hurt Locker and challenges some of the assertions of its film-makers.

The Cinematic Language of The Hurt Locker

This chapter begins with an epigraph, “What can you do with the camera that makes you feel like you're a participant?”, which was taken from the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges' book War is a Force that Gives Us Meaning. It points out that the epigraph was used in the opening of The Hurt Locker and considered one of the film's central thematic motifs and metaphor. It also looks at The Hurt Locker's very particular cinematic style that is described as both jagged and frenetic. The chapter discusses how The Hurt Locker was filmed in Jordan, a country which borders Iraq to the west and has a very similar architecture to Baghdad where the film is primarily set. It analyzes the cinematic language and narrative choices that lead towards understanding the character of William James as a masculine hero and a decisive man of action.

Introduction

This chapter analyzes the film The Hurt Locker, including its stylistic and narrative devices, cultural impact, reception, and relationship to the genre. It analyzes what The Hurt Locker ultimately portrays about the Iraq War, which was officially brought to an end by President Barack Obama on the 18 December 2011, but still continues to be fought onscreen. It also explores the central contentions that are key to the affective impact of The Hurt Locker during the time of its release and after a decade later. The chapter talks about The Hurt Locker as one of the definitive American war films of the twenty-first century and as the first film from the genre to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. It describes The Hurt Locker as a vivid and dynamically realised film, which should be regarded as a powerful cultural artefact intrinsically connected to the times in which it was made.

The Reception of The Hurt Locker: Anti-War or ‘War Porn’?

This chapter reviews The Hurt Locker as one of the most positively reviewed American films and most critically praised film about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. It looks at reviews that emphasized how realistic The Hurt Locker was, its experiential immediacy, its contribution to how the war would come to be remembered, and its status as an apolitical text. It also asserts how The Hurt Locker can influence the public with very minimal knowledge of the Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) and learn about what they do and how they do it. The chapter explains the vast majority of popular media that emerged from capitalist and corporate owned enterprises that are directly supported by government organisations. It explains how often people connected to the production of the film emphasized its authenticity, reportorial nature, and its realism.