Suiting Up

Rating: 8/10 (27 September 2010)

This fascinating and formless film has no story line. It is a film which is wholly uncontaminated by plot. It is a 'fly on the bomb' documentary-style ramble through a year in the lives and deaths of Bravo Company in Iraq, an American Army specialist unit who dismantle and disable bombs. Strangely, the film is directed by a woman, Kathryn Bigelow, though it could not be more of a 'male film', as battle-ready testosterone positively oozes from every sprocket hole. The soldiers in the film, who face being blown to bits every day, get so keyed up that all they can think to do in their time off is to punch each other in the stomach as hard as they can. The performances are very good, and verisimilitude is maintained at all times. Anthony Mackie is probably the best, as he has the widest range. This is what is called 'a war movie'. I can't believe that I actually liked war movies when I was young. Now I look upon them with horror, as there is too much war really going on all over the globe every day for it to be a suitable subject for entertainment. When one is young, one views war as 'us and them', but when one gets a bit older, one suddenly realizes with a great shock that war is really 'everybody'. This film is not meant to be entertainment, however, it is meant to be an insight. If your life isn't tense enough, this will make up for it. It is guaranteed to dissipate and dispel the most tenacious cases of ennui. The bomb disposal member of the team suits up in something resembling a space suit and walks towards what may be his death. At one point he admits to having defused 873 bombs. Each time we wonder: 'Will he make it?' People who are given to chewing their fingernails won't have any left after seeing this.