“I think of films in the same parameters as a work of art”

Why did it take you so long after K-19 to come up with The Hurt Locker?
I was working on a television series [The Inside,Fox in the meanwhile,based on my knowledge of journalism. That took a fair amount of time. Around that time — it was 2004 — so two years after K-19 — I was going off to do an embed in Baghdad with a bomb squad. I was fairly unaware of what was going on there,much like the general public. I think it’s a war that has been under-reported in many respects,so I was extremely curious,and I kind of suspected that,providing I survived,I might come back with some really rich material that would be worthy of a cinematic translation. That’s what happened. We started working on the script in 2005,raised the money in 2006,shot in 2007,and here we are. I think what people don’t realise is how long these things can take in development. I’ve always developed all my own pieces,and they are time-consuming.

The Iraq war has been explored before in Hollywood productions. What made you work on a similar theme?
In 2004,journalist and screenwriter Mark Boal (also the co-producer and script-writer of the movie) spent several weeks embedded with a U.S. Army bomb squad operating in Baghdad,following its movements and getting inside the heads of the men whose skills rival those of surgeons — except in their case one false move means they lose their own lives rather than the life of a patient. His first-hand observations of their days and nights disarming bombs became the inspiration for The Hurt Locker. It’s a script that simultaneously strips down the classic American war epic and broadens its concerns to encompass themes as universal as the price of heroism and the limits of bravery in 21st century combat. James also motivated me to make it.

Considering the passionate,often polar,opinions in America on the Iraq war,was it difficult to make a movie on the subject?
I realised that the real responsibility was to keep the film as honest and authentic as possible. You describe the psychologies of these men who arguably have the most dangerous job in the world and yet they are there volunatarily. So there is a kind of interesting psychology at work. Are you familiar with Chris Hedges’ book War Is A Force That Gives Us Meaning? It’s an incredible study of that particular psychology,and I’m not making a generalisation here,but certainly there’s a kind of allure that combat can provide for some individuals. It is easy to get distracted when there are too many opinions,but it also depends on how you handle it. I am very passionate about this movie so I tried my best to overcome all of that. We did not intend to hurt anybody’s emotions,we were just showing the harsh reality.

A strong criticism has been voiced by the actual Explosives Ordinance Disposal (EOD) technicians on the reckless portrayal of their work in the film. How do you respond to that?
Coalition bomb squads have played a pivotal,but mostly under-reported part in the war,and bringing their work to light was part of Boal’s motivation for writing the script. The Army relies on its bomb squads as the first and last line of defence against the IEDs that have become the insurgency’s weapon of choice. The opening scene in the movie depicts the kind of situation that US soldiers in Baghdad encountered on a daily basis — sometimes 10 or 20 times a day. The fact that these men live in mortal danger every day make their lives inherently tense and on a metaphorical level,they seemed to suggest both the heroism and the futility of the war.

From someone who wanted to paint to directing hard-hitting movies,how has the journey been so far? Do you still fancy painting?
I don’t,but I think of films in the same parameters I did when I was in the art world — the sense of trying to use the work to justify the work. So I think of tonal balances — of accessibility and substance. There’s a wonderful tension between the two,and if you can strike the right balance,there is the art.

What were some of the difficulties you faced during the making of this film?
The most intense occasion was when we filmed one sequence in a Palestinian refugee camp in Jordan. As soon as we started,a crowd of young guys gathered around. Some rocks were thrown,and a few fights broke out. We filmed through it all. They soon realised that we were just doing the same shot over and over. They started to applaud at the end of each take.

Each of the three characters in the EOD unit has distinct personalities. How did the unusual mix come about?
I wanted to make a film with relatively lesser-known characters because when you see a star on screen,you presume that he will be alive till the movie ends. The atmosphere was very real and we were capturing every single bit from many camera units simultaneously.

You beat Quentin Tarantino and your ex-husband James Cameron to the Oscar…
It is an honour to be in the company of such extraordinary filmmakers like James and Quentin. It’s really gratifying. James was happy for me. It’s just extremely ironic. It took him 12 years to make his new film and I took seven for mine; we could not have scripted it.