With the violent, sexy biker-flick The Loveless (1982), vampire-western Near Dark (1987), and the pure macho adrenaline rush of Point Break (1991), it was often suggested that Kathryn Bigelow was trying to beat the Hollywood boys at their own game. Following a five-year hiatus, she delivered her most ambitious and perhaps most artistically interesting film to date – The Weight of Water, itself standing as an anomaly in her oeuvre – and then K-19: The Widowmaker, her worthy entry into the submarine genre. The Hurt Locker continues the general trajectory, albeit with a fresh emphasis: though firmly back in the world of men, here Bigelow is far more interested in the minds and motivations of the protagonists than in the violent action films that made her name, and at which she undoubtedly excels. That’s not to say The Hurt Locker – which follows a crack US Army bomb disposal squad on a tour of duty in post-conflict Iraq – doesn’t deliver its fair share of visceral, ear-splitting explosions and violence, (not to mention edge-of-your-seat drama) because it most certainly does; but the focus here is very much on what makes these professionals tick. No politics, no bigger picture – just these men, at work. The film centres on Staff Sergeant James (EIFF 2006 guest Jeremy Renner in a breakout performance) as the replacement unit chief – his predecessor having been blown to pieces while performing his duties in a nerve-shredding opening reel. The two men closest to him in the field, Sergeant Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Eldridge (Brian Geraghty, also appearing in Easier With Practice, p52) are affected by this adrenaline-junkie cowboy’s apparent deathwish and completely reckless behaviour. It’s this behaviour – and his colleagues' varying responses to it – that propels the narrative. Scripted by journalist Mark Boal, himself once embedded within a US Army bomb disposal squad, The Hurt Locker bears a fearsome authenticity. Barry Ackroyd’s street-level, hand-held cinematography takes the viewer to the very heart of the action, and Bigelow’s trademark, expert handling of the action keeps us ever alert to the potential threat around each corner.