Movies: Melancholia & The Hurt Locker

After the Oscars I'm going back to watching older movies that must be seen. During this past week I've seen Melancholia (2011) and The Hurt Locker (2008). I've seen The Hurt Locker before but I felt that I needed to see it again when they showed it on TV.


Melancholia


First of all, what a great movie! This movie was something very special and I think it really challenged the viewer. The movie was so full of symbolism and mysteries that you could write a book of it. 
I would so love to tell you what this movie is about but I'm afraid that I would spoil it for you. So I'll just offer you another imdb plot summary: "Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with the Earth." 
I would recommend everybody who don't mind watching a movie that is very sad and scary to watch this movie. It's an art movie but it is not difficult to watch it or to understand what's going on. When you get past the first seven or so minutes, it will enchant you.

The Hurt Locker


This movie won the Oscar for Best Picture couple years ago, which is no wonder. A very well-made movie with a current topic totally deserved all that attention. It was interesting to get inside the soldiers' heads and see the issues they have to face. The opening quote of the movie (by Chris Hedges) summed it up pretty well: "The rush of battle is often a potent and lethal addiction, for war is a drug." War, like drugs, destroys you and even gets you addicted.
The first time I saw the movie, I didn't really pay attention to the title. But now I found myself wondering: what does The Hurt Locker mean? So I had to investigate this thing and I found an answer. The name of the movie could be better because the majority of people don't understand the title but this title works well, too. 
If you want to see a good war movie, see this one. If you are tired of war movies about American soldiers, don't see this one. When I first heard about this movie, I thought: "Oh no, no more war movies about Americans, I need to see something new." I still feel that way, I wish somebody made a movie showing the other side of war. Somebody has actually done that already. Clint Eastwood made two movies about the same battle: Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers. I saw them both and I was satisfied :) More these movies, please.