Rahil Samlal
The Hurt Locker Opening Scene Analysis
The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008) is an award-winning film that captured the
attention of many filmmakers and audiences. It’s a film about an Army bomb squad in Iraq
during the war that must find and disarm bombs in order to protect people. It’s a dangerous
job that the main character Sgt. William James takes on. The Hurt Locker focuses on their
struggles and victories in Iraq and portrays the life of the Army pretty well. The film not only
tells a good story, but also uses many techniques of film to make a wonderful and brilliant
movie. The very first sequence in the film portrays these elements of film technique and adds
to the meaning of the film as a whole.
The Hurt Locker has a very untraditional beginning; there are no credits and begins in medias
res. It jumps right into the characters in action. The story is told in linear form with some
flashbacks. Sgt. Sanborn, Sgt. Eldridge, and Sgt. Thompson are attempting to disassemble a
bomb. St. Thompson is wearing the protective bomb suit and advancing toward the bomb,
while Sgt. Sanborn and Eldridge are staying back and keeping a look out. The sequenced I
analyzed begins when Eldridge sees suspicious action coming from a butcher shop nearby.
Eldridge franticly yells and tries to get an aim on the butcher man, while Sanborn is yelling
and protecting the rest of the area and Thompson is running, unaware of what’s going on.
The scene ends with the butcher man dialing the cell phone to set off the bomb, which kills
Thompson.
As a set-up for the rest of the film, this sequence plays an important role in constructing
meaning of the film as a whole. There are many techniques that apply to the deeper
meaning of the film. First of all,
this film follows a narrative form. As a part of the narrative, this sequence
foreshadows the type of jobs that Will has to do when he replaces Thompson. The
explosion’s impact represents the reality of the job that they have to do. This sequence
serves as an obstacle that Will must overcome later on in the film; he needs to make
sure that nothing like this happens again.
Also, underlying this sequence is the fact that it was one of the first deaths that
Eldridge really experienced and he took it hard. It really narrows down to about how
these bombs are deathly and no one is safe. It takes real skill and patience, which we
see Will practice later.
The sound in this sequence plays a role in representing the intensity of the
situation. The non-diegetic sound in the sequence is the music. The music is
instrumental, with an emphasis on long, low, eerie sounds to intensify the situation. It
also guides our attention toward Eldridge, Thompson, and Sanborn and the actions
that they are performing and foreshadows events that are about to happen.
Diegetic sounds in the sequence were the dialogue and the sounds of the
environment. There was a lot of dialogue in this sequence between Eldridge and
Sanborn, but it soon turned into yelling, which was repeated several times. Eldridge
and Sanborn’s desperate demands to each other and the butcher man emphasized the
chaos. The sounds were overlapping in this sequence to emphasize the commotion
and confusion. They need to be quick on their feet, while many things are happening
around them. The sound blends well with the action. There are also diegetic sounds of
rocks and the explosion. We can hear Thompson’s heavy breathing during the shots of
Page 1 of 5
The Hurt Locker Opening Scene Analysis
The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, 2008) is an award-winning film that captured the
attention of many filmmakers and audiences. It’s a film about an Army bomb squad in Iraq
during the war that must find and disarm bombs in order to protect people. It’s a dangerous
job that the main character Sgt. William James takes on. The Hurt Locker focuses on their
struggles and victories in Iraq and portrays the life of the Army pretty well. The film not only
tells a good story, but also uses many techniques of film to make a wonderful and brilliant
movie. The very first sequence in the film portrays these elements of film technique and adds
to the meaning of the film as a whole.
The Hurt Locker has a very untraditional beginning; there are no credits and begins in medias
res. It jumps right into the characters in action. The story is told in linear form with some
flashbacks. Sgt. Sanborn, Sgt. Eldridge, and Sgt. Thompson are attempting to disassemble a
bomb. St. Thompson is wearing the protective bomb suit and advancing toward the bomb,
while Sgt. Sanborn and Eldridge are staying back and keeping a look out. The sequenced I
analyzed begins when Eldridge sees suspicious action coming from a butcher shop nearby.
Eldridge franticly yells and tries to get an aim on the butcher man, while Sanborn is yelling
and protecting the rest of the area and Thompson is running, unaware of what’s going on.
The scene ends with the butcher man dialing the cell phone to set off the bomb, which kills
Thompson.
As a set-up for the rest of the film, this sequence plays an important role in constructing
meaning of the film as a whole. There are many techniques that apply to the deeper
meaning of the film. First of all,
this film follows a narrative form. As a part of the narrative, this sequence
foreshadows the type of jobs that Will has to do when he replaces Thompson. The
explosion’s impact represents the reality of the job that they have to do. This sequence
serves as an obstacle that Will must overcome later on in the film; he needs to make
sure that nothing like this happens again.
Also, underlying this sequence is the fact that it was one of the first deaths that
Eldridge really experienced and he took it hard. It really narrows down to about how
these bombs are deathly and no one is safe. It takes real skill and patience, which we
see Will practice later.
The sound in this sequence plays a role in representing the intensity of the
situation. The non-diegetic sound in the sequence is the music. The music is
instrumental, with an emphasis on long, low, eerie sounds to intensify the situation. It
also guides our attention toward Eldridge, Thompson, and Sanborn and the actions
that they are performing and foreshadows events that are about to happen.
Diegetic sounds in the sequence were the dialogue and the sounds of the
environment. There was a lot of dialogue in this sequence between Eldridge and
Sanborn, but it soon turned into yelling, which was repeated several times. Eldridge
and Sanborn’s desperate demands to each other and the butcher man emphasized the
chaos. The sounds were overlapping in this sequence to emphasize the commotion
and confusion. They need to be quick on their feet, while many things are happening
around them. The sound blends well with the action. There are also diegetic sounds of
rocks and the explosion. We can hear Thompson’s heavy breathing during the shots of
Page 1 of 5
