Passing of 2-D, coming of 3-D

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AFTER THE SHOW
Movies, TV, Culture and Society

Number 490, March 14, 2010

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THE PASSING OF 2-D FILMS
AND THE COMING OF 3-D

This year's Oscars have gone to 'The Hurt
Locker,' but the future belongs to 'Avatar'

By John Greenwald

A generation from now how will "The Hurt Locker" and "Avatar," the two top contenders for the 2010 best picture Oscar, be remembered.

"The Hurt Locker" will be known for two things: It's the first film directed by a woman to receive the best director Academy Award; and it's the lowest grossing movie ever named best picture.

Hollywood's big studios have ignored women as directors, even those studios run by women. With so few women directing, Academy members had equally few chances to name one best director.

When women do direct, they helm independent films. The money for them comes from small studios or independent financiers. That's why they have small budgets: no fancy sets, no big casts, no expensive computer special effects, and no big-name stars to draw in audiences (the biggest names in "Hurt Locker" are Ralph Fiennes, David Morse and Guy Pearce, who all play small roles).

Independent films aren't necessarily crowd pleasers, which means the studios that market and distribute them may not see even a small profit. "Hurt Locker" was made without a distributor. Its investors took a gamble they'd find one, if only to cover their investment.

There's an even bigger reason for "Hurt Locker's" small take at the box office: its content.

Few people have seen it or will want to -- despite its Oscar-winning qualities (awards for best picture, best director, best film editor, best sound and sound editing, best original screenplay; and nominations for best actor, best cinematography and best original score).

The point of "Hurt Locker" is to put audiences into the Iraq war, to experience where nothing is safe for American soldiers or Iraqis. It intensely focuses on an Army three-man bomb disposal unit in 2004. The GIs have to delicately defuse bombs the enemy buried under a street; or inside garbage on a street; or in the trunk of a car; or implanted in the torso of a recently killed boy; or locked around an Iraqi man.

Each bomb or array of bombs has a trigger. Some are on the bomb, others many feet away, often connected to the explosives by wires buried under the street. Or the trigger is in a cell phone held by a nearby Iraqi. The bomb disposal soldiers have to defuse bombs often not knowing how or when it'll go off. Failing in their mission means these GIs face maiming and death.

"The Hurt Locker" is among the most tense, most anxiety ridden films I have ever seen, especially as I got to know the bomb disposal soldiers. Watching, I felt as if a hand had thrust its way into my stomach and was violently twisting my viscera, again and again. Not a pleasant experience, but one director Kathryn Bigelow wanted audiences to know. Her intent wasn't to gross out audiences but to have them feel what it's like to be in this war of Improvised Explosive Devices.

And how it affects the soldiers. The film opens with a quote from war correspondent and author Chris Hedges: "The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug."

All this makes for a movie, however unpleasant, that deserves all its Oscars. But will "The Hurt Locker" be much remembered in a generation by movie lovers and filmmakers? I think not, except perhaps as the last great 2-D motion picture.

Yes, there will be other great 2-D movies. But appearing in the year of "Avatar," the other main contender for the best-picture Oscar, "The Hurt Locker" marks the passing of the torch between two different kinds of film, 2-D and 3-D.

In "Avatar," writer-director-producer James Cameron, and his armies of collaborators, bring 3-D filmmaking, story telling and character development to new levels. They also mastered the integration of computer graphics to create believable humanoids and an entire world of imagined, surreal animals, flowers, mountains, grass and ground. Plus, gigantic military gear and mercenary troops from Earth.

When the movie industry first began using sound, spoken dialogue, color and computer graphics, it took some years before filmmakers fully mastered those innovations. In time, those new technologies changed films' content as filmmakers discovered new ways to tell stories and create evocative and unique worlds for them.

That's what Cameron has done in "Avatar." His overarching theme is the unity of all creatures in this far away moon called Pandora. His visionary use of 3-D brings us far closer into this alien and wondrous world than the "Hurt Locker" does in its 2-D world.

From the beginning, Cameron created "Avatar" with 3-D in mind. His story, characters and theme wouldn't work without 3-D. He had to put us in the middle of Pandora, in all its dimensions.

A generation from now, filmmakers and film historians will be studying "Avatar" to examine how Cameron used 3-D to advance the art of the film. Equally, a new generation will be seeing "Avatar" on wall-sized 3-D TV screens just to enjoy its imagination, visual beauty, love story and thrilling action. They'll be amazed, even for such an old movie.

"The Hurt Locker" is like a train from the past; "Avatar" like a rocket rushing to the future. In 2010, they passed in the night.

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Readers can e-mail John Greenwald at johnedit@comcast.net. Copyright 2010 by John Greenwald. All rights reserved.