While we were staying in the Motel in Casa Gande, we made maximum use of the high speed internet connection and downloaded three movies to watch in our van. One of the films was ‘The Hurt Locker’, an independent U.S. film about a bomb disposal unit in Iraq. It was a very “real life” kinda war movie, tense and stressful, but so well made.

I don’t usually watch war movies because I find them traumatising and/or too annoying for words (big drama, big soundtrack, big formulaic emotions etc), but this film, with it’s minimal plot, was an effective character/situation study. It didn’t feel overblown and we were quite riveted. As I said, “real life”, but made with a certain subtlety. (If there’s one damn thing I go for in a film, it’s subtlety.) A real window into another world. Eye-opening. Crazy times for these men.

One thing it highlights is how different the war in Iraq is from other wars we know from films, such as WW1 or 2. Those wars were all about the combat in the trenches, gunfire, grenades, man to man, etc. This film gives you some idea of what it’s like fighting in Iraq, dealing with bombs that are about to explode and kill lots of civilians, for example, and hiding from snipers in the desert.

I would highly recommend this film. It was directed by a WOMAN, which I find thrilling, because I actually doubt that a woman has ever directed a war movie before. Maybe I liked it because it had the sensitive, feminine touch of the x chromosome. For example, the soldiers’ fatigues were of a floral design. Plus they talked, really talked, about their feelings at every opportunity, as well as gossiped non-stop about their comrades (and enemies!) I’m kidding about that, but I do think it’s cool that it was made by a lady.