Two films. Both about the Iraqi War (the latest Iraqi War), both made around the same time, entirely different in every other possible way.

The Hurt Locker

Budget: $11,000,000.

Director: Kathryn Bigelow.

As well as not knowing how to spell her own name correctly, Catherine’s previous directing duties have fallen onto the well loved classics, Point Break (19 years ago) and K-19: The Widowmaker, a film with more historical inaccuracies than a Labour Party Expenses Accountant’s in-tray.

Cast: Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie, Brian Geraghty.

Full of largely unknowns, and the occasional ‘Isn’t that the guy from that thing?’

Opening US Screens: 4.

Green Zone:

Budget: $100,000,000.

Director: Paul Greengrass

Paul’s only 4 previous films as Director are: Bourne 2&3, United 93, and Bloody Sunday. Credibility follows this man like a smelly shadow.

Cast: Matt Damon, Greg Kinnear, Brendan Gleeson.

It’s hard to argue Damon isn’t the biggest and most credible film star in Hollywood at the moment. If him, Kinnear, and Gleeson are on board. You know the film is carrying weight like a Fort Knox forklift.

Opening US Screens: 3,003.

But what do these stats matter. Just because a film has a bigger budget, a bigger and better Director and actors, and wider distribution, it doesn’t mean it’s better. Of course not. And neither do Oscar wins.

The Hurt Locker has won 6 Oscars. Those coming for (as if it matters): Directing, Editing, Sound, Sound Editing Original Screenplay, and Overall Film. I suggest it doesn’t matter because it never does. No one ever chooses the film with the best sound to win the best sound Oscar (apart from Black Hawk Down in 2002). They just think what the best film was, and work their way back. Did The Hurt Locker have sound? Yes, Oscar. Was that sound edited together with other sound? It was? Oh, another Oscar please. Was the film edited together in some way? Right, well then give it a goddamn Oscar!

I’m not saying all this out of spite that Green Zone hasn’t won any. I don’t have any blood ties to Paul Greengrass despite being English. I didn’t make the film myself. Truth is, it’s only just been released (in the US) and so was not eligible this year. However, it won’t be winning any Oscars next year either. It’s a shame because Green Zone is such a great film. Not only is it good. It’s 20 times better than Hurt Locker. Why? Because it’s not bullshit. Let’s break it down.

The Hurt Locker is about roadside bomb disposal. Got to be one of, if not the biggest threat / killer to U.S. / U.K. forces in Iraq. The film seems to attempt to take that subject matter, and self-gratifyingly claim, that it’s the crux of the situation in Iraq. People (Iraqis) make and leave roadside bombs, and the U.S. army have incredibly brave soldiers whose job it is to disarm them (at times in the middle of a fire-fight – as if the pressure isn’t enough with just the bomb). Yes, they’re brave. Yes, they’re heroes. But let’s not kid ourselves. This isn’t an explanation of the War itself. This is just one way (amongst many) that heroic soldiers are going out there every day, and putting their lives at risk.

What Green Zone does differently, is it asks why? Why are soldiers out here risking their lives every day? What for? It’s a question the American Government do not want to hear (in the film). When you think about the question yourself, it’s easy to understand why they want people to stop asking. Green Zone depicts Iraq directly after the fall of Saddam Hussein, when it was very quickly realised, the Weapons of Mass Destruction everyone had been searching for, and were told without uncertainty were there, were in fact a myth.

Despite Green Zone being much more the ‘Hollywood Baby’, with big money investment, big stars and a big Director, it is The Hurt Locker, which has sold its soul for a Hollywood story. American G.I. Joe, takes on the entire Middle East by himself, to save America, one car bomb at a time? But what story is there in it? None. Throughout the whole thing, you’re wondering when the point will come. Who’s the bad guy? What are the main character’s problems to overcome, what is their goal? There aren’t any. There’s a bit of fisticuffs half way through, but that’s it. It’s boring. How am I supposed to get behind this, when I don’t have a clue what it is these guys are trying to do. These guys are in a War. They have to take it one day at a time, dismantling the next bomb and not thinking about it. But I’m not at War, I’m watching a film. Why should I care? I want to know why?

Green Zone starts off without you knowing who the enemy is either. After the first scene however, you get a very clear ‘that’s a bit weird’ question of ‘what’s going on here?’ That turns into a fight to find the truth, which turns into an enemy, which turns into a final battle. Very clear, very easy to care about.

Green Zone is in part a true story (inspired by non-fiction book Imperial Life in the Emerald City by Rajiv Chandrasekaran). Dealing with uncovered facts as truthful as they are depressing. For this reason it resonates much more with its intellectual audience, and does an eternally better job of ‘summing it up’. Knowing all I know (and everyone knows) about the corruption of Government (especially American), about war crimes, and about the War already, It’s of no surprise that The Hurt Locker has received more critical acclaim, and been released just before Green Zone. It feels like real life has continued the lies, the deception, and the cover-ups Green Zone depicts. Chilling viewing.