The Hurt Locker

The Hurt Locker â€Å"The Hurt Locker†, written by Mark Boal and directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Nominated and won for Best Picture, this award winning film captured the attention of many filmmakers and audiences for boldly showing the harsh reality of war and how a soldier deals with the horrors of war. â€Å"War is a drug†, a quote that this movie successfully reflects in its story and theme. The soldier associates war as some kind of drug that one must take to for keep going in life. This film emphasizes this through James, main protagonist of the story, who is a constant danger to himself and to others around him. The film is about an American army bomb disposal unit in wartime Iraq tasked with finding and disarming bombs in order to protect the local populace. The Hurt Locker also focuses on their struggles and victories in Iraq and portrays the life of the military. Not only does the Hurt Locker have a good story, but this film also implements many film techniques such as elements o f mise en scene, superb cinematography, and editing. I will talk about how â€Å"The Hurt Locker† deserves to be an Academy Award winner referencing these elements of film. The reason why this film is considered to be a great film is because of its emphasis on film technique. One of the elements portrayed in this film would be the incorporation of Mise en Scene. There are many examples of Mise- En -Scene used to create a sense of realism in the film. One I would describe the visual style would be gritty. Everything from the setting to the costumes were authentic enough that it added to the realism of film. In the beginning of the film, I would describe the actors as your typical jarhead in war films. As the film progressed however, they became rather complex. Each character has their own sense of values, some want to stay in Iraq and fight because they believe its the right thing to do while others, like James, the main protagonist, loves being a soldier and wants to stay in the chaos forever. The location of the filmed in Jordan, which is located a few clicks away from the Iraqi border. This helped created the realism and atmosphere it needed for film to be authentic as possible, which audiences love in war films. The scene that implements elements of Mise-en-scene would be the opening sequence of the film. The film opens with the quotation â€Å"The rush of battle is a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug†. The sequence is portrayed as a documentary film, having the camera act as if it were reporting a story on the soldiers rather than traditionally film a scene. The camera movements were rough and visuals were grainy. The lighting in this sequence was realistic, using frontal lighting to an area to create a natural environment and the color of the scene was neutral, which gave the impression that they were filming in a real situation. Being able to use mise en scene to convey a film’s message, theme, and symbols is such an enthralling experience, especially with the Hurt Locker. Achieving realism, you are able to guide an audience towards key narrative elements, and thus having a viewer’s such as me fully engaged. We want to know what it will be like to be a soldier like James and this film was able to take us into the action. This film was able to create the feeling of curiosity and suspense which adds to the many reasons why this film is great. Cinematography are one of the many film elements that contribute to this film’s success. To have a scene to be more suspenseful, the director incorporated different types of camera angles. The scenes that focuses a character on a personal level, the framing would be tight and concise. The most occurring thing in the film are bombs, this represents how the bad the world is. The soldiers themselves can be described as the ones who are morally good and are praised for it because they are considered the main focus of the film. I noticed that green and orange was the reoccurring color theme of the entire film. These colors represents the correlation between peace and chaos in the film. Green represents the goodness that the soldiers are bringing into the war. Orange is suppose to represent the chaos and violence that war brings to an area. The camera was constantly close to the action, giving more suspense to it. The distance of the camera in the establishing shot is a bit isolated as it tries to show every part of a given location, which makes every scene dramatic and shoves away visual beauty for harsh, honest realism. The film was shot on-location, so actual sunlight and fluorescents were used as the film’s source of light. The best example of light contrast would be the scene where there was a massive explosion. The fire was able to provide the light source and it perfectly contrast with the pitch black night. The supermarket scene would be the one that would be the most vital part of entire film. This scene’s cinematography was perfectly coordinated to convey the hollowness of the James as a person. It portrayed the contrast of the film by showing Jamess inner conflict between his civilian life and his life in the military. James has become someone who rather risk his life in the battlefield than living a normal life. The setting would be the focal point of contrast between the two worlds. In Iraq, danger is everywhere, poverty is prevalent, every step you take could be your last. Then the scene’s setting changes and see James walking around a supermarket. The place is filled with food and basically the opposite of what it’s like in Iraq. This contrast portrays these worlds as completely different things. Another things to portray a contrast between the two worlds would be the use of color. In the parts where it shows James in Iraq, the color of sand is used to repres ents the grittiness of his life in the military. Everything from the buildings to the uniforms, they all share the same color. On the other hand, the supermarket’s use of colors is your typical color scheme of an average store in America. The color distinction was done intentionally for to correlate the sandy color palette of Iraq to dirtiness and the white color scheme of the supermarket is associated with cleanliness. Cutting from Iraq to America emphasizes the nature trying to cope with living with war and returning to civilian life. This was done on purpose to have the audience feel confused. One moment James is talking about how he loves his job and another where James is back home, trying make assimilate back into the normal of a civilian. Overall, what James had to go through in the supermarket scene can relate to many soldiers who have been consumed by the horrors of combat. To them, trying to adjust to the normal life is just too hard for them. The supermarket scene describes that feeling perfectly. The techniques implemented were able to get into the emotional state of a war torn soldier who’s desperately trying to live a normal life. The feeling of being changed after emotionally intense events and feeling disoriented were drawn with detailed precision. James may be a ticking time bomb waiting to happen, but I think many soldiers can relate to what he’s been through. Editing can be a subtle, but powerful tool that enable filmmakers with a plethora of film decisions. Surprisingly, â€Å"The Hurt Locker† had little editing done on the film, maybe that it wanted content, rather than form. Instead of making any â€Å"fancy† editing to the film, keeping it to a minimal actually preserves the realism of its message. It takes advantage of some very simple techniques. In most films, if not all of them, the length of the cuts depends on the situation of the scene. The pacing of this film was usually slow. Whenever something dramatic or emotional is happening, the duration of the shots lengthen, to extensive proportions. An example of this would be the conversation between Sanborn and James after the failed attempt of disarming the bomb from a suicide bomber. Sanborn snaps saying that he can no longer deal with the stress of being a soldier. This scene was the most critical in defining two different characters. Lengthening the shot helped giv e a sense of realism to the scene. During the action scenes however, the pace of the film quickens and the length of the shots shorten. This creates the rush needed to keep the audience invested into the film. (CONCLUSION) The Hurt Locker is a very powerful film that deserves all the praise received of being an Academy Award Winner. The message that war can be used as a drug and soldiers themselves can be addicted to it has been prevalent throughout the film. This addiction has soldiers such as James to value war over anything else, including family. Personally thought the film’s topic was interesting because it focused on that impact a lot of people. The film has a good sense of projecting reality of what it is. It’s not the typical movie where it creates an illusion of fantasy where when the film is over, the audience returns to reality.

Buddhist religion Essay

The Four Noble Truths are the foundations of the Buddhist religion. From these emanate the rituals and beliefs still practiced today. The Buddhist philosophy centers on the basic truth that with the existence of life, the presence of suffering comes along with it. So, it is a primary aim of a Buddhist to alleviate oneself from the suffering of life. Hence, this contemporary Buddhist practices revolve around the four Noble Truths which explain how to end suffering and guide one’s self into what they call Nirvana, an enlightened state of being. To end suffering, one must overcome ignorance, craving or attachment to worldly pleasures which are rooted to the evils of lust, hatred and delusion. To overcome these evils and hasten their way towards Nirvana, most of Buddhist monks practice celibacy, teaching and preaching. Their days are often spent in rituals, devotion and meditating. What defines the basic moral code of the Buddhist religion is the observance of five precepts which prohibit killing, stealing, harmful language, sexual misbehavior, and getting intoxicated. To counteract these evils and overcome suffering, Buddhists try to instill within their very selves the practices of loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity. They pray fervently, contemplate, and devote their lives to simple chores and service to others in order to facilitate the achievement of their enlightenment. To encapsulate these practices meant to suppress suffering is to follow Siddhartha Buddha’s Noble Eight-Fold Path which consists of right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right-mindedness, and right contemplation. Following this path will lead, eventually, a believer towards Nirvana.

Analysis Of Langston Hughes s Poem I, Too - 978 Words

Langston Hughes America, the ideals of freedom, equality, and opportunity traditionally held to be available to every American. This is what everyone was told, what the Declaration of Independence states. But, Langston Hughes a black American poet in the Harlem Renaissance period saw the truth. Being an African American in the United States during the early 1900’s was difficult. Many lived a life full of hardships; segregation, prejudice and economic hardships, viewed as second-class citizens. Even with all the suffering Hughes found a positive side and managed to create inspiring poetry. In his poem â€Å"I, Too† he describes how domestic servants are treated by the owner when guests come to visit. Hughes uses this situation to create optimistic and patriotic poetry. Hughes views America as the land of freedom, equality and opportunity and he uses his poems to boost peoples pride and argue against racial injustice. Some critics mistake the simple form and language of Hughes poetry for meagerness of meaning. Others criticized him for remaining limited by his persistent focus on the folkways, language, and basic issues surrounding lower-class African American (Biography). Hughes wrote what he knew about, he wrote for the people who could understand the simple English language. He was not writing to impress the white critics or upper-class black folks. He felt the poor black residents of Harlem, though they did not wear shiny shoes, go to Harvard, or listen to classicalShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of Langston Hughes s Poem, I, Too1193 Words   |  5 Pagestheir rights against those who tries to take it away. In the poem, I, Too, Langston Hughes shows that to be an American means that you should refuse to buckle under awful pressures. The speaker, an African American man, was denied the rights to sit down at the dinner table when company comes. However, the speaker â€Å"laugh and eat well and [grew] strong† then no one will dare say to him â€Å"eat in the kitchen† then. The African American man â€Å"too, am America.† The speaker decided to take the time in the kitchenRead MoreLangston Hughes The Weary Blues Analysis1256 Words   |  6 PagesOn Langston Hughes’s The Weary Blues Kevin Young, a graduate of Harvard University and one of the winners of the Guggenheim Fellowship, writes the historical perspective of Langston Hughes. He discusses the flowering of the African American literature and culture and how it is actually just the extension of the New Negro movement. From the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes is able to represent â€Å"different things† for â€Å"different men.† The uprising of Hughes’s poems are the result of their hardshipsRead MoreLangston Hughes : A Modernist1222 Words   |  5 PagesSappington 13 Apr. 2017 Langston Hughes: A Modernist Credited as being the most recognizable figure of the Harlem Renaissance, Langston Hughes played a vital role in the Modernist literary movement and the movement to revitalize African American culture in the early 20th century. Hughes’s poems reflect his personal struggle and the collective struggle of African Americans during this cultural revival. Langston Hughes’s life contained key influences on his work. As a child, Hughes witnessed a divorceRead MoreAnalysis and Interpretation of I, Too Sing America by Langston Hughes1148 Words   |  5 PagesPoem I, Too Sing America is considered to be very characteristic for radical poetry of Langston Hughes. The majority of literary critiques and historians refer to Hughes as one of the first American poets, who set the standards and examples how to challenge the post-World War I ethnic nationalism. His poetry contributed and shaped to some extent the politics of the Harlem Renaissance. In analysis of Black poetry Charles S. Johnson wrote that the new racial poetry of the Negro is the expressionRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of The Ideology And Reality Of Equality987 Words   |  4 PagesLiterary Analysis of the Ideology and reality of equality in the works of Langston Hughes Langston Hughes was an African American writer and poet. Langston Hughes wrote about what it was like living as a Negro, as a black man, as any person of color in America. He wanted to portray the dignity, soulfulness, and resilience of his people. In his writings, he tends to believe that people aren’t wholly good and they are not wholly evil or bad either. He writes with such a conviction and an almostRead MorePoem Analysis On I, Too, Sing America 1611 Words   |  7 PagesDai Yueh Cheng Dr. Smedley English 1B 9 March 2015 Poem analysis on â€Å"I, Too, Sing America† In the poem â€Å"I, Too, Sing America† by Langston Hughes, he envisions a greater America, a more inclusive America where all the races can proudly represent themselves as American citizens. Hughes was a leader of Harlem Renaissance, and had tremendous pride of his race as an African American. However, during that time period, African Americans were being considered as second-class race, and they were being segregatedRead MoreThe Negro Speaks Of Rivers1548 Words   |  7 PagesLangston Hughes was an American poet, novelist, and playwright whose African-American themes names him a primary contributor to the Harlem Renaissance of the 1920s. After moving from several cities, Hughes and his mother finally settled in Cleveland, Ohio. During this time, Hughes began to write poetry. One of his teachers introduced him to the poetry of Carl Sandburg and Walt Whitman, both whom Hughes would later cite as primary influences. By the time Hughes was enrolled at Columbia UniversityRead MoreAnalysis Of The Poem Dream By Langston Hughes1909 Words   |  8 Pagesof each poem are very similar, but yet are different in their own unique way as well. The two pomes are about dreams, the first poem, Dream is about what could possibly happen if we let go of our dreams and don t purse them. The second poem, Harlem is about the possibilities of what could happen when we postpone our dreams. Both poems do not exactly end with a happy ending, for they show the regret that we will be left with, possibly even death. The poem Dream by Langston Hughes is aboutRead MoreLangston Hughes: A Poet Supreme Essay1879 Words   |  8 PagesLangston Hughes: A Poet Supreme Black poetry is poetry that (1) is grounded in the black experience; (2) utilizes black music as a structural or emulative model; and (3) consciously transforms the prevailing standards of poetry through and inconoclastic and innovative use of language. No poet better carries the mantle of model and innovator the Langston Hughes, the prolific Duke Ellington of black poetry. Hughess output alone is staggering. During his lifetime, he published over eightRead MoreRhetorical Analysis Of Langston Hughes s The American Dream 3454 Words   |  14 Pagesdeeply embedded construct of race comes into play. As a black man born into a time of overt racial prejudice, Langston Hughes was all too familiar with the double consciousness that came with life as an American minority. This roller coaster is the subject of the vast majority of his literary work and has continued to be a major presence and inspiration for literary work everywhere today. Hughes shows a deep loyalty to the ideals that brought the Declaration of Independence and the Bill of Rights into

The Odyssey, By Plato And The Triumph Of Odysseus

It can start a war or end one. Give you the strength of heroes or leave you powerless. It can be snared with a glance but no force can compel it to stay. Love. It was the downfall of Troy and the triumph of Odysseus. The dual nature of love in Greek myth as both destruction and salvation may have led to Plato’s unique conceptualization of love. In The Symposium he speaks of two Aphrodites: Common and Heavenly. The first has domain over physical attachments and is considered vulgar. The second, being divine is concerned with the soul, not the body. It is a heavenly love, a love of the mind, the spirit. It is also exclusively for same-sex partners. Although Plato’s conception of love may not have been the prevailing notion of the time, it is†¦show more content†¦Plato is very concerned with honor and the proper circumstances for such relationships to develop, stating that there is only one honorable way of taking a man as a lover - â€Å"when the lover is able to help the young man become wiser and better, and the young man is eager to be taught and improved by his lover - then, and only then, when these two principles coincide absolutely, is it ever honorable for a young man to accept a lover† (Plato, 877). The repeated emphasis on honor, wisdom, and virtue is a recurring theme throughout greek homosexual relationships. The archetypes of the two male partners: the younger lover known as the ‘beloved’ (eromenos) and an older lover (erastes). Cantarella asserts that â€Å"love relationships, were also, in fact, intellectual ones that in some ways saw the beloved as the disciple and the lover as the master of life, ethics and civic education† (Cantarella, 8). It will come as no surprise that such relationships were especially prevalent among the upper class and were considered a denotation of wealth and station. While the debate was still ongoing as to whether or not homosexual relationships were natural, advocates used the perception of unnaturalness to their advantage. The Greek satirist Lucian points to the apparent lack of homosexuality in animals as one of the many gifts they have been deprived of such as human intellect. Furthermore, he