How do Kathryn Bigelow’s films The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty use language to portray the life of combatants in a battle?
Kathryn Bigelow is one of the most iconic directors of the modern era. Her sense of depicting language remains unopposed. She mainly directs films of the war genre. Several of her works have been greatly appreciated, such as The Weight of Water, The Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty, etc. These have won her several awards and secured her place as one of the most influential directors of all time.
The Hurt Locker is a slow paced film. Most of the scenes have been deeply elaborated with excessive portrayal on the character’s expression. Set during Iraq War, it illustrates the lives of three soldiers who have the most terrifyingly dangerous jobs in the world – working in a bomb disposal squad. They risk their lives every day to provide safety to the society they are aiding. It is an extremely harsh and touching film, which depicts the message that when you love something and keeping repeating it, it becomes an obsession and you cannot live without it. Most of the characters in the film can be interconnected to the actors where he/she have an unsafe passion. There are several metaphors buried in each scene which, when examined carefully, reveal the political meaning.
The lead character of The Hurt Locker, Sergeant First Class William James, is, metaphorically, a character representation of America, often putting him and his team members in harm’s way. He treats his disastrous job as his routinely desire. His exposition takes place at 11:04 minutes, where he is newly accommodated. The shot begins with a close up of his face covered the outside of his arms, a cigarette between his fingers and an evident listene...
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...er a group of children who throw stones at their vehicles. A wide shot is provided to accentuate upon importance of Eldridge and how he protected the group without ever demanding any acclaim. After his service, James returns home to his wife and son. He is not always able to convince Connie to like his job as bomb technician. However, he says to his son that one day things that seem special to him might not seem special to him anymore. He confesses that he only loves one thing in the world, and cannot spend his life if filled with boredom. He returns to the army with his role as a bomb technician. This again has a direct link to the opening quote.
On the other hand, Zero Dark Thirty is relatively a fast paced film, depicting the account of the man-hunt of Osama Bin Laden.
Works Cited
"The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug."
According to Christopher and James Collier,”War turns men into beasts.” It is true because many people are willing to
... out of a 1950s woman's film. The melodramatic influences of the film continue to manifest themselves in the newer release, just as Apocalypse Now continues to influence the epic movies of contemporary filmmakers. The unison of operatic spectacle and personal conflict spawned an original genre in the 1970s that remains an effective method of addressing social concerns. As we enter another period of political unrest and social change, it is likely that a new wave of melodramatic films is beginning to form on the horizon; there are certainly parallels between a government that declares war on terrorism and the U.S. army in Vietnam, who "knew everything about military tactics, but nothing about where they were or who the enemy was" (Cowie 143). From Conrad to Coppola, nuclear family to nuclear terrorism; never get off the boat, unless you're willing to go all the way.
While all of the soldiers carried things, this story gives an awareness of not only the physical facet of war, but the emotional side equally.
War can not be fully described in just words, humans have to experience it to know how it really is. In passage 1 from “The Things They Carried”, a fictional memoir by Tim O'brien, the narrator describes the contradictory nature of war. O’brien uses rhetorical strategies to characterize the experience of war. O’brien uses imagery, anaphora, and paradox to guide readers understand the experience of war through fictional writing.
Zoroya, Gregg. "In 'The Hurt Locker,' war is like a drug." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 24 Feb. 2011.
Like "The Lives of the Dead," it begins with a statement that the rest of the chapter throws into question. "The War wasn 't all terror and violence," the narrator tells us, "Sometimes things could almost get sweet" (31). What follows, however, is a series of vignettes that are anything but "sweet." When a Vietnamese boy with a plastic leg approaches an American soldier with a chocolate bar, the soldier reflects, "One leg, for Chrissake. Some poor fucker ran out of ammo" (31). When the same soldier steals his friend 's puppy, "strapped it to a Claymore antipersonnel mine and squeezed the firing device," he responds with an ironic affirmation of the initiation right of the conventional war story: "What 's everyone so upset about? ... I mean, Christ, I 'm just a boy" (37). Here, the novel renders ironic both the loss of innocence and the "reconsideration" that structure the traditional war story. The positive spin that underlies the war story as a genre emerges here only as a bankrupt fantasy. Thus in "How to Tell a True War Story," the narrator warns, "If a story seems moral, do not believe it. If at the end of a war story you feel uplifted, or if you feel that some small bit of rectitude has been salvaged from the larger waste, then you have been made the victim of a very old and terrible lie" (68). Aimed
Powerfully illustrating the addictive, psychological effects that war can have on individuals, himself not immune, Hedges writes, “The chance to exist for an intense and overpowering moment, even if it meant certain oblivion, seemed worth it in the midst of war—and very stupid once the war ended.'' He describes war as an escape from the mundane, normal lives most of us lead, a chance to shed individual responsibility and to feel a part of a larger calling. Humans, yearning to bring meaning to their lives, have always searched
"If you think reality is just living comfortably and following your own whims, can you seriously dare to call yourself a soldier?" This is a quote said by one of the main characters in the anime, Attack on Titan. This character is Eren Jaeger. Five years ago in Wall Maria, two new breeds of Titans appeared, the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan. One hundred years of peace and prosperity, ruined by the Colossal and the Armored Titan.
Randall Jarrell utilizes strong diction to create a very raw and surreal viewpoint of war. The soldier’s emotionless description of his death reveals
The sacrifice in war is heavy. You may enter with a healthy body but in return, leave with a damaged one; both inside and out. The author, Liam O’Flaherty, examines this claim in his book “The Sniper”. While showing the physical and psychological dangers of war O’Flaherty reveals the impact war has on a soldier. A soldier in who goes to war sacrifices both their bodies and mind in warfare.
Saving Private Ryan (Spielberg, 1998), is a unique war movie that has changed the way this genre is depicted and filmed. The movie does not boast some heroic, Rambo like, soldier that attempts to stop the war and get the girl. It shows the soldiers sense of duty and sacrifices made for the country on such a tragic time. Spielberg’s film lacks “censorship” (Basinger, P. 7) when showing the brutality and casualties of war. He captures the mentality and the image of the common war hero. Spielberg’s representation of war and ability to make his audience relate to the film is the true uniqueness of the film and what separates it from the others.
Zero Dark Thirty is a documentary based film on the September 2001 terrorist attacks. The majority of this movie Takes place in the Middle East where the CIA in stationed and trying to find the whereabouts of Osama Bin-Laden.The search is led by Maya, a CIA agent who, at first, seems a bit squeamish. There have been countless representations of this historical event including photographs and films. I personally think a film can get the point across that the author is trying to portray better than a stationary photograph. In a photo there can be many interpretations and even misrepresentations. In a film there is no question about what is happening. In a film you don’t have to try and depict what is going on because it is played out for you.
World War Z is a film adaptation of the book written by Max Brooks. It was first released in theatres in 2013 and made a revenue of $200 million dollars. The movie is directed by Marc Forster and had a budget of $190 million. The film is PG-13 and has a rating of 63% on a famous film review site called “Rotten Tomatoes.” Although film adaptations have their flaws, it seems that this film has more than just a few. There were several reasons why I wouldn’t recommend this film.
In this essay I have chosen to connect all four texts by the “Portrayal of Soldiers”. I am also using the two themes “War changes people for the worse” and “People in power sacrifice others for personal gain” to connect two texts to each theme.These themes are present in the songs Hero of War, by Rise Against and War Pigs, by Black Sabbath. They are also present in the films Rambo: First Blood, by Ted Kotcheff and Siege of Jadotville, by Richie Smyth.
This film really focuses on the characters. Their thoughts, anger, distress, and mistakes become part of your mistakes. This deals with a father’s s priority and how he will achieve that priority by using unethical ways like torturing an innocent man. Bringing up child abduction and torture are