Hurt Locker Sweeps Oscars, Director Bigelow Thanks the Troops
Robert W. Butler - Kansas City Star
Mar 08, 2010
David slew Goliath.
The tiny sapling split the boulder.
An irresistible force nudged aside an unmovable object.
In other words, the war drama "The Hurt Locker" (box office to date: less than $15 million) took top Oscar honors Sunday night over the 3-D science-fiction giant "Avatar" ($720 million).
In all, Kathryn Bigelow's film about a team of U.S. soldiers dismantling roadside bombs in Iraq won six of the nine categories in which it was nominated: best picture, director, original screenplay, film editing, sound editing and sound mixing.
"Avatar" -- the biggest moneymaker in Hollywood history -- also received nine nominations but walked away with but three -- for cinematography, art direction and visual effects.
The last time a best picture winner grossed less than $15 million was in 1942 with "Mrs. Miniver" -- but that translates to about $200 million in today's dollars.
Perhaps more significant than "Hurt Locker's" best picture win was the directing award that went to Bigelow, who is the first woman to ever win in that category (three others had been nominated previously).
Significantly, Bigelow did not mention that fact in her acceptance speech. Indeed, here is a woman whose films aren't particularly feminine, who repeatedly is drawn to issues of violence and machismo. Certainly there was nothing soft and cuddly in her evocation of war. Yet she showed insights into the human psyche that suggested a sensitivity often missing in her male peers.
"There's no other way to describe it. It's the moment of a lifetime," Bigelow said in her acceptance speech. "It's so extraordinary to be in the company of my fellow nominees, such powerful filmmakers, who have inspired me and I have admired, some of them for decades."
She praised screenwriter Mark Boal (another winner) who "risked his life for the words on the page." (Boal was a reporter embedded with U.S. troops in Iraq.)
Finally, she dedicated her award "to the women and men of the military who risk their lives on a daily basis ... may they come home safe."
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