Battle For Haditha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv3LIXzv9lc&list=SL&has_verified=1

Embedding was disabled but the section starts at 52 minutes.

This section is very contradictory to the section from 'Hurt Locker' in that it represents the soldiers as everything that the 'breakdown' doesnt, patriotic killing machines.

Hurt Locker: Breakdown Scene

I think that this segment from Bigelow's, Hurt Locker, is a great way to show modern day troops in a much more realistic form. It explores what I am sure are many soldiers' prime concerns over war and represents them as 'real' people, not just stylised, patriotic killing machines. I think that it makes the audience think subliminally about the topic which could be argued is on the lips of many people, why are they there and are they helping?

Small Scale Research Project

I have begun to ponder some ideas for my small scale research project and here's what I have come up with;

I think I will be looking at the way American/Western troops/soldiers are represented in more realistic, documentary-style war films such as Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" and Nick Broomfield's "Battle For Haditha".

Exploring the way that soldiers are often portrayed in modern war films and looking at the way representations of the U.S. Army has shifted from a glamorised and stylised view to a more realistic portrayal that shows soldiers and their actions in a more 'neutral' light, where there is no clear cut protagonist or antagonist in terms of wars such as Vietnam and Iraq.

J