Movie’s bomb squad doesn’t bomb out with audiences
by Marty van Duyne
EOD teams have one of the most intense jobs in the military. But without their efforts, many others would not survive.
(Editor's Note: This article appeared in the August 2009 issue of The Dahlgren Source)
Washington, D.C. – The Hurt Locker doesn’t just give us a glimpse into the reality of war. It gives us a first hand look into the psyche of the war fighter that puts his life on the line doing perhaps the most dangerous job on the battlefield – defusing explosives.
At its most basic level this is a hard driving action film. It will have viewers riveted by the intensity of the day-to-day activities of an Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team that literally explodes onto the screen before them.
The film opens to a scene of a Bravo Company EOD team preparing to carry out a somewhat “routine” operation to safely blow an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) in an abandoned vehicle.
You can almost feel the heat of the Middle East desert as EOD technician Sgt. Matt Thompson (Guy Pearce) walks the dusty Baghdad street towards the car.
Tension and suspense begin to build as he heads back to join his two squad members after setting the charge. We hear “25 meters” come over the headset inside his helmet, just as a cell phone is spotted in the hands of a local butcher.
Clad in a heavy plated 75-pound bomb suit made of stiff ballistic material and a pair of rubber over boots that weigh him down with each step, Thompson begins to run.
Renner returned from The Hurt Locker with dead eyes
Faced toughest audience yet at Navy Memorial screening
by Marty van Duyne
Washington, D.C. - - Star of The Hurt Locker Jeremy Renner told an audience of his struggle to acclimate to his life after filming the intense drama.
Following a screening of the movie at the U.S. Navy Memorial on July 9, the actor fought back tears as he described the intensity of his role as Staff Sgt. William James. Portraying the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technician plummeted him into a military job that he admits he could not do in reality.
Renner joined a panel on stage to discuss the impact of combat on the body, mind, and soul and not just the volatility of war but also the volatility of the human psyche that accompanies it.
The actor detailed how he went into hibernation after 44 days of filming in Jordan and had to work himself back to a normal social interface even with his girlfriend. He said, “My girl friend said I had dead eyes.”
However, the actor’s need to decompress closely parallels the experience of returning combat troops.
U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Loree Sutton, a physician and director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, said a soldier had succinctly summed up the need for readjustment in a comment to her, saying, “It’s really tough to shift from being a target to shopping at Target.”
Renner said it was extremely important to him personally to accurately portray the men he feels are the real heroes, the EOD teams whose names no one even knows.
But the actor faced perhaps his toughest audience that evening, as the invited guests included active military, veterans, and family members, but he was greeted with a rousing round of applause.
From CBS correspondent Kimberly Dozier who was critically injured by an Improvised Explosive Device (IED), to Steve Voland, a bomb technician and an executive at EOD Technology (EODT), to the military and veterans in attendance, the opinion was overwhelming that Renner and The Hurt Locker got it right.
TAPS (Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors) founder and chair Bonnie Carroll and Sutton both commended the filmmakers for their efforts in giving military families and civilians insight into the reality of battle faced by our troops.
TAPS, EODT, the USO, the G.I. Film Festival, and Slate sponsored the screening.
|
Spec. Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) and Sgt. J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Macki) are frantically trying to get the street merchant in their sights. The camera closes in for a tight shot on a finger hitting the send button.
A plume of smoke and sand fill the air. And Thompson is sent airborne by the concussion from the blast that ripples across the roof of the abandoned car and rolls the sand through the desert street like a wave rolling into shore as it crashes onto the beach.
Shaken by the loss of Thompson just 38 days before the company is scheduled to rotate home, the team tries to adjust to his replacement, Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner).
He has the personality of a lifer who is dedicated to his mission and highly adept at his job. But he is also somewhat of a cowboy.
The squad begins to stress out, as James carries out his duties with a level of almost reckless abandon.
After their first successful mission together, James returns to the hummer after the climatic experience, lights up a smoke, and declares, “That was good.”
And we begin to get up close and personal insight into the psyche of the soldiers as they slowly develop camaraderie.
Conflict arises almost immediately between the men and we have a front row seat as they work out their differences with fists flying or as they empty a bottle together.
But in the highly charged environment in which they operate on a daily basis, it is a realistic portrayal of the purgation of emotion.
Eldridge is the youngest of the trio and the most impressionable. He is the most shaken by the chain of events. Scared, he just wants to get through each day and get home alive.
Sanborn is the rock of the group. He is the steadying force, the calming factor that helps to bind the team together.
The relationship with James helps Sanborn grow and realize he wants someone to carry on his legacy and starts to contemplate a need to further fulfill his personal life.
Although James’ portrays a somewhat cavalier attitude we get a glimpse into his own humanity as he befriends a young boy. And it is this relationship that demonstrates the fragility of the unpredictable adrenaline junkie’s psyche.
Despite his bravado we see him step into the shower in his camis and watch the waters fall as he leans his hands against the wall.
Even under the worst of circumstances the soldiers must overcome their differences. Whether through fisticuffs or discussing their personal lives the men form a bond. And the squad takes on a psyche of its own as they carry out their life and death mission.
The realism of the story is derived from journalist and screenwriter Mark Boal’s time spent embedded with a U.S. Army bomb squad in 2004 in Baghdad.
Prior to filming, Renner and other actors and production personnel spent time at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, Calif. They learned the intricacies of disarming ordnance first hand from Army EOD teams in the Mojave Desert.
The movie was shot in Jordan in the summer and both cast and crew were exposed to the same environmental conditions as troops in the Middle East.
Director Kathryn Bigelow brought this heart pounding drama to the big screen. Her talents in combining direction, script, camera work, music, and editing have given the audience a soldier’s eye view from this character driven movie.
The actors took on such a realistic persona of the characters they almost seemed to become the soldiers they depicted. With multiple-surround hidden cameras, close crop shots, and the magnified sound from inside the protective bomb suit it puts the actors right on the street with the action.
The effect of these elements doesn’t just bring the war to the audience but also brings the audience right into the war.
This is not a typical war movie. The devastation in the wake of the EOD mission has a feel of realism, without sensationalism.
It is intense. It deals with death in some of the most harrowing ways. But throughout the suspense, the director spares us from any scenes of continued blood and gore, while not letting us doubt for a minute that it is the outcome of many EOD missions
As the adrenaline charged character of Sgt. James, Renner hammers home the chaos of war. And as he interacts with his squad he lets the audience walk in his boots.
From the technical aspects to the acting, this movie is a stunning portrayal of endurance, brotherhood, and sacrifice on the modern battlefield and an Oscar worthy homage to our military EOD teams.
|
