A taut thriller starring Jeremy Renner and Anthony Mackie as bomb squad soldiers stationed in Iraq, THE HURT LOCKER (2009) was directed by AFI Honorary Degree recipient Kathryn Bigelow – who also earned the distinction as the first woman ever to win the Academy Award® for Best Director. The film was also honored with an AFI Award in 2009, recognizing it as one of the most outstanding achievements in the art of the moving image during the year of its release. According to the official rationale, “THE HURT LOCKER is a cinematic explosion that drops audiences inside the chaos of the war in Iraq and into the minds of American soldiers who defuse bombs with equal parts anxiety and adrenaline. Marked by the bravura direction of Kathryn Bigelow and grounded in Mark Boal’s taut, unsentimental script, this grippingly real story detonates an emotional portrait of combat and camaraderie abroad, and alienation at home. An outstanding ensemble cast is led by Jeremy Renner, whose tour of duty is a tour de force.”
Visit the AFI Catalog to learn more about THE HURT LOCKER.
