Emotional Imagery

There are countless news articles and photojournalism printed everyday about the War on Terror. We are flooded with images of warzones, troops, and the daily life of Middle Easterners. For those of us who want to be involved as indirectly as possible, we rely on these articles to stay informed on what’s going on overseas. War can be experienced from the comfort of our living rooms by simply turning on CNN, Showtime, or popping in a movie. Films about the war haven’t necessarily been as accurate as they could be, perhaps because it’s been less than a decade since 9/11—until now.

Kathryn Bigelow’s (K-19: The Widowmaker) newest project, The Hurt Locker, depicts the daily challenges of an elite bomb squad with frightening accuracy. After a long standing leader of Bravo company’s Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team is killed in action, Sergeant First Class William James takes over, joining Sergeant J.T. Sanborn and Specialist Owen Eldridge. While Sanborn is focused and concerned about getting the job done as smoothly as possible and Eldridge is usually nervous and on the verge of breaking down, James’ reckless approach to missions puts both men on edge and creates an uncomfortable setting throughout the film.

As a visual person, I tend to gravitate towards photojournalism as a means of staying involved in the Middle East. If a picture is worth a thousand words than each frame from The Hurt Locker is worth two thousand. Bigelow captures the emotion and intensity of the actors, but also gives an accurate glance to the soldiers’ surroundings. Footage is dedicated to the “action,” which, in this war, is not copious amounts of gunfire and explosions. The action is the soldiers fight to make it to the next day; to be able to return home. While some imagery is so subtle you almost dismiss it, some shots seem to have come straight from a news article. However, it’s the subtle imagery that makes the biggest impact and leaves a lasting impression.

One of the most disturbing and emotional scenes involves an Iraqi boy that James befriends earlier in the film. While an image like this would be too graphic for a newspaper or television news story, photos of this nature exist. Soldiers aren’t the only casualties of war.

Bigelow takes advantage of close-ups, everything from the actors’ faces, to an extreme close-up of the shell of a bullet colliding with the ground. The focus on the soldiers and not the action is what makes the movie interesting and realistic. The soldiers are the ones fighting, not bombs and guns.

Maybe some would argue that The Hurt Locker doesn’t have enough action for a war movie. Saving Private Ryan has been accepted as an excellent depiction of World War II and has many scenes of intense violence, but that was a different war in a completely different time. You can’t see terror. You can’t shoot down terror like a German soldier. That makes this war all the more frightening. It doesn't just hurt physically, but emotionally.