What The Hurt Locker Actually Says About The US, Its Soldiers, and Iraq

Best Picture winner The Hurt Locker is a polarizing film, with soldiers criticizing its accuracy and authenticity while film folks laud its cinematic achievements. But it is actually these achievements, specifically the meaning of the film, what it is saying and what it is about, that not only allow the film to stretch reality, but often require it to. The Hurt Locker isn’t meant to be an accurate depiction of Iraq because it is about something else entirely: it is about what was behind the Iraq War, why it happened, and why it turned out the way it did.

Movies Under The Surface is a series of video essays that explores what makes great films great. The videos are about understanding movies at a deeper level, beneath plot and story, at their heart.

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Footage from:
The Hurt Locker (2008), Dir. Kathryn Bigelow
American Sniper (2014), Dir. Clint Eastwood
Lone Survivor (2013), Dir. Peter Berg
Zero Dark Thirty (2012), Dir. Kathryn Bigelow

Music from:
The Hurt Locker Soundtrack - Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders
Khyber Pass - Ministry

For educational purposes only.