I. Context
This film takes place near the current time, as in 2010 or 2009 probably, for the movie was made recently and takes place during the Iraq war, which started in the early 2000's. There has long been much opposition to this war because it has been thought to be unnecessary and American and Iraqi civilians often resent the war and what it represents. The war was originally meant to get rid of weapons of mass destruction, but there were no weapons of mass destruction, causing the war to be questioned and many American soldiers and Iraqis in general being killed. This probably results in much of the violence and hate against the American soldiers, a violence that the soldiers must fight to protect themselves and the civilians who generally hate them.
This being a war movie often reminds me of other war movies like Black Hawk Down, but I rarely watch war movies, but I have seen part of that movie and how both movies show much of carnage of war to shock the audience and show them the horrors of war through the movies. I have only watched really parts of older war movies like The Dirty Dozen and Patton, and in those movies I can see more of how they glorify war and being a soldier, but this film does the opposite: it does humanize all of the soldiers, but some, like James, are shown not to be glorious in their "bravery" but instead rash and full of hubris, trying to be the hero when they cannot be. This lack of glorification is probably due to the lack of support for this war, but it does in no means say that soldiers are bad people; some of them just have bad characteristics.
3. Setting, Acting and Costumes
The visual style is quite jarring in the way that handheld is often used and the editing is very fast. The color correction generally makes for a harsh visual tone, with harsh yellows and some blues used throughout. The actors are quite good, I think, for they can be harsh like a bitter soldier, but they can portray a believable breakdown when their characters have "had too much."
The production design is really harsh in the way that area around the soldiers is set, with a set of the run down buildings and and dust all around, also making sure to emphasize the small details in the surroundings of the soldiers to show the horror and danger of their surroundings. The iconography of the whole piece is connected much to the technology of war, including guns, tanks, robots and even the bomb-diffuser suit. This is characteristic of a war film, for the technology is very important to the plot of the story, for the technology moves the story forward by causing the conflicts/ being the catalyst for many of the conflicts in the story. The soldiers are always struggling with the effects of these weapons both psychologically and physically, creating conflicts like when James and Sanbourne are in the desert; they come to terms with their relationship while they fight for their lives against the enemy, bringing them closer while defeating the enemy. A lot of focus is put on the mechanics of the gun in this scene, emphasizing its importance in this scene and throughout the film.
4. Cinematography and Lighting
The editing style goes towards a more formalistic ideal, for the director is unafraid to manipulate a moment in time in many different ways, representing a certain idea, like the damage caused by the first bomb in the movie when the first bomb diffuser dies, replaying the same moment over and over again, emphasizing a few different objects that get damaged by the blast.
The camera is often shaky, bringing it a bit closer to realism, but this is done in a way that is formalistic, for the shakiness demonstrates the tentative and dangerous nature of the situations the soldiers are in. The framing and angles are not always stable, as previously mentioned, but can also contribute to the idea that people have of documenting war as something that cannot be controlled by Hollywood conventions of smooth camera work: the war is meant to be gritty and raw, not conditioned to the expectations of Hollywood. A long lens is used during one battle scene where the solders are having trouble shooting down some terrorists from a long way away.
The dominant imagery is of guns and bombs, for those are the main issues presented in the film and how they cause death and general loss. The main color throughout is a dull, sand yellow, for that is the color of the dust around the area and it really represents the dulled down feelings of the soldiers towards loss because of the amount of loss they have faced.
5. Editing
The editing is semi-formative, for it manipulates time but still maintains a plot structure of some sort. The shots can be very short, like at the beginning when the soldiers were trying to save the other soldier from an imminent bomb, and very long, like when the soldiers were waiting to get a good shot on the terrorists from a far away distance. The movie is made to make extra tension, and the tension is created by these conflicting cutting styles depending on the situation, whether it is cut quickly or slowly. Sometimes the cuts between one point of time and another is rather sudden, like when the soldiers are talking about all of the death and the harshness of war and then it cuts to James shopping at a grocery store when his tour of duty was over.
The parallel action in the piece is very tense, for there is a lot of parallel action only in the most desperate situations to create a sort of sense of terror, like when the guys are in the alley way searching for the guys who sent the bombs into the residential area. There are no real montages, at least by my standards; its not that "semi-formalistic", or not that interpretation of semi-formalistic.
6. Score
I didn't notice the soundtrack throughout the movie too much, but that might be the point of the movie. It focuses more on sounds that are in the background and emphasizing the small details of the situation, like a bomb sound going from a low sound to a crushing loud sound, to create surprise. As far as the actual soundtrack music went, the style went for a hardcore sound. There seemed to be a sort of mesh of musical styles all together, including a little Arabic music combined with metal.
7. Script
It is interesting to note how the narrative starts off with one of the characters that seems to be like one of the main characters dying. After that, the other two soldiers who are introduced at the beginning are not really the main characters as much as James. The beginning seems to put Sanborne in a position of power at the beginning, but then the focuses mainly on James and his power over the others and his story.
I think that this movie is more character driven than plot driven, for there is more focus on the struggles of the soldiers and how they deal with war and their personal lives, and their actions are relatively repetitive; there is always tension because they always are diffusing bombs and shooting down enemies, but that is the same action and it is more about how the soldiers react to such situations.The dialogue is very terse, with a lot of cussing and dark humor used, like the wedding ring being "something that almost killed" James. the archetypes of the hero are blurred, for James is not a traditional hero; he does save people, but it is not for as good as a reason as heroes are normally considered to have; he also does it for the rush, as he explains to his son that he has to leave him because war is the only thing he really loves.
8. Genre
This genre is an action/war film because it places much focus on combat and its stress with characters hardened by war, making sure to keep the action interesting, but then showing the converse, the characters with emotions that are so affected by the action. The characters are not the glorious heroes, but instead some guys trying to fight a non-glorious war.
The action is what makes sure that this film meets the requirements, including the technology of war. It is really gritty and creates strong bonds between the men, the soldiers. This brother-like bond is very important to the action film, for that sense of camaraderie in such dire times is signature, like in Lethal Weapon and The Fast and the Furious. The genre was subverted a bit with the more formalistic editing, like by focusing on bystanders and cutting the same moment in time several different ways and using slow motion. Also, there is a lack of glorification, like I mentioned before, which is more a part of general action movies rather than war movies. Older war movies seem to glorify war more rather than ones about more recent conflicts, like this movie and Apocalypse Now.
Conclusion
I thought that the jarring nature of this film was very interesting, especially since it was about a more current conflict that we are still in, bringing this film "closer to home" than movies about older conflict. I was interested in the tone of the film and the way that the soldiers were presented as many different types of people, from soft to harsh to somewhere in the middle, even within the main trio throughout the movie, Sanbourne, James and Eldridge.
The production design is really harsh in the way that area around the soldiers is set, with a set of the run down buildings and and dust all around, also making sure to emphasize the small details in the surroundings of the soldiers to show the horror and danger of their surroundings. The iconography of the whole piece is connected much to the technology of war, including guns, tanks, robots and even the bomb-diffuser suit. This is characteristic of a war film, for the technology is very important to the plot of the story, for the technology moves the story forward by causing the conflicts/ being the catalyst for many of the conflicts in the story. The soldiers are always struggling with the effects of these weapons both psychologically and physically, creating conflicts like when James and Sanbourne are in the desert; they come to terms with their relationship while they fight for their lives against the enemy, bringing them closer while defeating the enemy. A lot of focus is put on the mechanics of the gun in this scene, emphasizing its importance in this scene and throughout the film.
4. Cinematography and Lighting
The editing style goes towards a more formalistic ideal, for the director is unafraid to manipulate a moment in time in many different ways, representing a certain idea, like the damage caused by the first bomb in the movie when the first bomb diffuser dies, replaying the same moment over and over again, emphasizing a few different objects that get damaged by the blast.
The camera is often shaky, bringing it a bit closer to realism, but this is done in a way that is formalistic, for the shakiness demonstrates the tentative and dangerous nature of the situations the soldiers are in. The framing and angles are not always stable, as previously mentioned, but can also contribute to the idea that people have of documenting war as something that cannot be controlled by Hollywood conventions of smooth camera work: the war is meant to be gritty and raw, not conditioned to the expectations of Hollywood. A long lens is used during one battle scene where the solders are having trouble shooting down some terrorists from a long way away.
The dominant imagery is of guns and bombs, for those are the main issues presented in the film and how they cause death and general loss. The main color throughout is a dull, sand yellow, for that is the color of the dust around the area and it really represents the dulled down feelings of the soldiers towards loss because of the amount of loss they have faced.
5. Editing
The editing is semi-formative, for it manipulates time but still maintains a plot structure of some sort. The shots can be very short, like at the beginning when the soldiers were trying to save the other soldier from an imminent bomb, and very long, like when the soldiers were waiting to get a good shot on the terrorists from a far away distance. The movie is made to make extra tension, and the tension is created by these conflicting cutting styles depending on the situation, whether it is cut quickly or slowly. Sometimes the cuts between one point of time and another is rather sudden, like when the soldiers are talking about all of the death and the harshness of war and then it cuts to James shopping at a grocery store when his tour of duty was over.
The parallel action in the piece is very tense, for there is a lot of parallel action only in the most desperate situations to create a sort of sense of terror, like when the guys are in the alley way searching for the guys who sent the bombs into the residential area. There are no real montages, at least by my standards; its not that "semi-formalistic", or not that interpretation of semi-formalistic.
6. Score
I didn't notice the soundtrack throughout the movie too much, but that might be the point of the movie. It focuses more on sounds that are in the background and emphasizing the small details of the situation, like a bomb sound going from a low sound to a crushing loud sound, to create surprise. As far as the actual soundtrack music went, the style went for a hardcore sound. There seemed to be a sort of mesh of musical styles all together, including a little Arabic music combined with metal.
7. Script
It is interesting to note how the narrative starts off with one of the characters that seems to be like one of the main characters dying. After that, the other two soldiers who are introduced at the beginning are not really the main characters as much as James. The beginning seems to put Sanborne in a position of power at the beginning, but then the focuses mainly on James and his power over the others and his story.
I think that this movie is more character driven than plot driven, for there is more focus on the struggles of the soldiers and how they deal with war and their personal lives, and their actions are relatively repetitive; there is always tension because they always are diffusing bombs and shooting down enemies, but that is the same action and it is more about how the soldiers react to such situations.The dialogue is very terse, with a lot of cussing and dark humor used, like the wedding ring being "something that almost killed" James. the archetypes of the hero are blurred, for James is not a traditional hero; he does save people, but it is not for as good as a reason as heroes are normally considered to have; he also does it for the rush, as he explains to his son that he has to leave him because war is the only thing he really loves.
8. Genre
This genre is an action/war film because it places much focus on combat and its stress with characters hardened by war, making sure to keep the action interesting, but then showing the converse, the characters with emotions that are so affected by the action. The characters are not the glorious heroes, but instead some guys trying to fight a non-glorious war.
The action is what makes sure that this film meets the requirements, including the technology of war. It is really gritty and creates strong bonds between the men, the soldiers. This brother-like bond is very important to the action film, for that sense of camaraderie in such dire times is signature, like in Lethal Weapon and The Fast and the Furious. The genre was subverted a bit with the more formalistic editing, like by focusing on bystanders and cutting the same moment in time several different ways and using slow motion. Also, there is a lack of glorification, like I mentioned before, which is more a part of general action movies rather than war movies. Older war movies seem to glorify war more rather than ones about more recent conflicts, like this movie and Apocalypse Now.
Conclusion
I thought that the jarring nature of this film was very interesting, especially since it was about a more current conflict that we are still in, bringing this film "closer to home" than movies about older conflict. I was interested in the tone of the film and the way that the soldiers were presented as many different types of people, from soft to harsh to somewhere in the middle, even within the main trio throughout the movie, Sanbourne, James and Eldridge.
