“Was The Hurt Locker a more distinctive success than Slumdog Millionare this year?”

No and Yes.

The argument for both sides.

No. Slumdog Millionaire was one of the most landmark victories since Titanic (no pun intended) keep reading below to see the intentional irony to this comment. By capturing 8 of 10 categories in its Oscar sweeps of 2009, Slumdog Millionaire became the Oscars for India that would surpass any “foreign film” best Oscar win for India since Mother India won the distinction in 1958.

It was definitely India’s Oscar victory and some may argue it was a political move to placate the stalwarts of investment and financing originating from India into Hollywood for the first time ever, with companies like UTV and Reliance Entertainment teaming up with Brand Ambassadors such as Fox Searchlight (who ironically co-distributed Slumdog Millionaire) and Dreamworks pictures which signed a record $600 million deal with Reliance Entertainment.

Lost in the shuffle slightly is the fact that this film is probably director Danny Boyle’s most polished work to date! Aside from that, however this was the Oscars that gave India global recognition or at the very least US recognition, to a mainstream audience.

Why then would any of this constitute a “no” well, for all its well deserved accolades, and this critic believe that most if not all of them are absolutely deserved, the biggest reason for the “no” is merely that it is a win for a country that upstaged the film. This is also confirmed by the hype surrounding the film, the press leading up to the awards and the overall presentation of the product, especially in the run up to the Oscars with the “kids” from Slumdog Millionaire getting front and center recognition, for that last “push” toward the awards ceremony. As we well know, it worked and India won in most of the categories ceremoniously. There are those who are its a British film, and not a true Indian film, however I would contend that the setting, themes and story is undeniably Indian.

As for the “Yes” argument for The Hurt Locker. I think much like Slumdog Millionaire, it has many similar and a few dissimilar things going for it as well. It is the first film to honor a Best Director award to a female director. It is the first film to win best picture over the largest grossing film of all time, in Avatar. Of course the connections go much farther than that as well, as James Cameron, the director of Avatar is the ex-husband of Kathryn Bigelow, and for Academy members, it exactly those type of “behind the scenes” details which weigh heavily in the favor of such a film.

As usual Bigelow, is a well-deserved candidate for this award who has lead a fascinating career paved in her own way with her own truth. Spinning Joseph Campbell worthy themes, and strength, featuring male dominated subject matter that most male directors have a hard time pulling off, let alone women. Films like POINT BREAK, BLUE STEEL, NEAR DARK, STRANGE DAYS are not only different from one film to the next of her illustrious career (much the same as James Cameron AND Danny Boyle by the way), they exhibit a true progression of maturity for the filmmaker moving from one film to the next in her illustrious career.

Perhaps, though the single most reason, in fact why The Hurt Locker was a more distinctive success than Slumdog Millionaire most probably resides in the fact that it was in fact a film not about the glorification of the current war in Afghanistan, but a film about the realities the soldiers face in this war on a daily basis. The underlying social commentary of the film is something that does justice for the subject matter of the film.

It is the right director, right time, and right message, right now, and that is a true rarity, which can only be written about in, well, Hollywood. Its amazing that two years in a row there are two different films, with vastly different subjects, but the same Cinderella underdog stories then have ended up being the Belles of the balls in their respective years.

Could it be scripted any better, not even by Hollywood standards. When you look at the both products with a magnifying glass, both films have great elements, parts, and themes, and one film, The Hurt Locker, just seems to wear the badges of its supremely talented director, Kathryn Bigelow just a little prouder than Slumdog Millionaire, and shine a little more brightly.

The bottom line however, in this writer’s opinion, the world is a slightly better place that both of these films have come out in 2009 and 2010, respectively.

The Spirited Critic