June 29, 2009 06:00PM EDT
The Hurt Locker: Screening Report
Kathryn Bigelow's The Hurt Locker opened this weekend to boffo box office. On just four screens in NY and LA, indieWIRE reports, the film grossed $144,000. Now that's nothing compared to Transformers' stunning, record-breaking weekend, but it's quite a feat for a small indie movie with no lead stars and a depressing synopsis.
At the 7:10 screening on Saturday night at Landmark Sunshine, Bigelow (who just emanates "cool") and screenwriter Mark Boal were on hand to take questions from an impressed crowd. When asked whether troops in Iraq had seen the film (which bowed last fall at Toronto) yet, Boal explained, "It was pirated about six months ago, so a lot of people [over there] have seen it. I still don't have a DVD yet, but on Baghdad streets, they are practically five for $1."
On the question of her skilled casting, Bigelow explained that her rationale for using unknown actors was to accentuate the unknowns of the film's situations—if the audience doesn't know the actors, the suspense is heightened since we also don't know know which characters are expendable and which are not. "Casting emerging talent was one of the parameters from the get-go."
Someone complimented Bigelow on her action movie prowess: "This was the first action movie I've seen in a long time where I could follow what's going on." Bigelow accepted the compliment, but shared it with Boal: "The script was so clear, so magnificently crafted. You have to be specific in bomb tech. The tension is inherent in the story—I didn't need to heighten it with frenetic cutting."
Bigelow had some fun with the audience, too. "Did you have fun making this movie?" "I had a blast," she twinkled. "Pun intended."
