Chivalry at the Oscars: "The Hurt Locker"

Chivalry in Cannes is a live Twitter-based and blog-based report from Cannes with Chivas, Official Partner of the Cannes Film Festival. Each episode gives you an exclusive, insider’s view of Chivalry in Cannes and the world of film. After much anticipation, Oscar time arrived last Sunday. And this year, with the heroic war movie "The Hurt Locker" taking Six Oscars including the Best Picture Award, Chivalry is a central value. Not only does the movie portray the courage of soldiers in the difficult war in Iraq, the film is also the victory of a small team which through true brotherhood and dedication made it to America's top honours in film.

A Soldier's Courage and Tenacity

"You don't have to be a hero to do this job. But it helps."

"The Hurt Locker" is the story of an elite Army bomb squad unit arriving in a city in Iraq where the enemy could be hidden anywhere and where anything could be a deadly bomb. It is a film that breaks traditional conventions of war as we know it and which depicts the courage soldiers need to face it.

Staff Sergeant William James is appointed as leader of an elite bomb disposal unit in the US army. As a bomb disarmament genius himself, the sergeant proves his adventurous side from his very first mission by refusing to send a bomb disposal robot but instead going first towards the danger himself. A true soldier, he is not afraid of risking his life to achieve the best in doing what he does. Throughout the movie we are discover how brave and audacious the hero soldier can be, and the movie pursues his unconditional thrive for going further in his path. As he joins a small elite team in the army which has just lost its previous leader to a deadly bomb and is trying to survive through its last phase in Iraq, the sergeant's courage will fundamentally change every man involved.

A Team's Brotherhood and Dedication

Best Picture, Director, Original Screenplay, Film Editing, Sound Editing, Sound Mixing

Director Kathryn Bigelow's goal was to immerse audiences "into something that was raw, immediate and visceral". Dedicated to her goals, she partnered up with Mark Boal, an American journalist, screenwriter and producer who was fully immersed with an American bomb squad in the war in Iraq. He said: "We wanted to show the kinds of things that soldiers go through that you can't see on CNN, and I don't mean that in a censorship-conspiracy way. I just mean the news doesn't actually put photographers in with units that are this elite."

It was a tough challenge for everyone and especially for the actors. Actor Anthony Mackie said: "It was so desperately hot, and we were so easily agitated. But that movie was like doing a play. We really looked out for each other, and it was a great experience. It made me believe in film." Without looking out for each other, making the Oscar winning film would not have been possible for its crew. With true camaraderie, they fought for their dedication to a greater goal. With a budget of $15 million, when compared to the $500 million Avatar, the film is of much smaller financial size, but through the team spirit and dedication of its crew, the film won all top U.S. awards: the Academy Awards, the Golden Globe Awards and the National Society of Film Critics Awards.

Director Kathryn Bigelow is also the first woman to win the Best Picture & Best Director awards, an inspiring record which happened at the dawn of Woman's day last Monday. The director dedicated her honour "to the women and men in the military who risk their lives on a daily basis..." She said, wishing that they "may all come home safe."

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