I Miss U all my Blog

As I’ve stated before, every biker film made since 1969 suffers from the curse of being compared to Easy Rider no matter how different the films may be. The Loveless suffers from this comparison. I’m not normally one to watch a mortorcycle film, but seeing as Kathryn Bigelow just became the first female to ever win the best director Oscar, I thought I’d like to see where she started and I am glad I did.

The Loveless is co-directed by Bigelow and Monty Montgomery and I have to say that it proves that from the get-go Bigelow didn’t concern herself about being a female director who should be concerned with woman’s issues – a rhetoric I hear quite a bit once the gender of a director is discovered by a critic. Instead, Bigelow concerns herself with the stuff of human emotion, namely conflict, rebellion, adversity and the hard to love hero. These are things normally placed within male protagonists and male-centric films, but the theme is universal to all.

In The Loveless, like The Wild One, the conflict comes from a group of bikers that head into town and stir up the prejudices and fears of the residents. The bikers are all ex-cons, unafraid of the locals disdain and willing to use the few residents who find them appealing, creating an end for their journey that ruins the town in a way The Wild One could not and the nomadic journey of Easy Rider didn’t allow.

This film is an exercise in the study of a rebellious character, but for those who want to see how Bigelow became who she is, or want to watch Willem Dafoe shine in his first major role this is a definite film to see.



Directors: Kathryn Bigelow & Monty Montgomery



Vance: You never can tell on a day like this- things could be goin' jake one minute, then, presto- before you know it, you're
history.

William James is called in to be the head of an elite bomb squad in Iraq that only has about 30 days left in their rotation; Eldridge and Sandborn, the other two officers in his unit just want to play it safe and go home but James has other plans. He is an adrenaline junkie who loves the challenge bombs present him and doesn’t believe in “safe”. James is more at home in war than civilian life and this creates a huge conflict amongst he and the other men as he abruptly forces them into his version of the Iraq war.

In my opinion female directors have taken a huge blow lately as two films that were potentially great for us in 2008 both blew - Twilight & Punisher War Zone. Both were franchise films with cult followings and if executed well could have brought female directors to a very prominent light; instead the films were lackluster representations of the great female talent that is out there. That is why I thank God for Kathryn Bigelow & The Hurt Locker.

The Hurt Locker is one of the best and most psychologically intense war films I’ve ever seen. Bigelow infuses each bomb sequence with a tension befitting of the activity at hand; the bomb becomes almost a character in the scene infused with an evil all its own and James’ own personal puzzle. She also manages to make each of the men their own distinct and fully developed character, complete with a motivation all their own – this is something not normally seen in action films, but including this makes the film something different entirely.

I don’t know if Kathryn Bigelow and The Hurt Locker will be remembered come Academy Award time, but she should be. I hope that the momentum The Hurt Locker has been creating will carry forward for Bigelow and the rest of us female directors out there.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow
Writer: Mark Boal
Staff Sgt. James: Jeremy Renner
Sgt. Sanborn: Anthony Mackie
Spec. Eldridge: Brian Geraghty
Contractor Leader: Ralph Fiennes
Col. Reed: David Morse
Connie James: Evangeline Lilly
Sgt. Thompson: Guy Pearce

Staff Sergeant James: There's enough bang in there to blow us all to Jesus. If I'm gonna die, I want to die comfortable.