The Hurt Locker

Iraq, post-9/11. For the bomb disposal team led by William James, any battery lying on the ground could be a bomb, any wire a detonator, and any child a potential carrier of explosives. While his comrades strive to follow protocol, James’s penchant for taking risks pushes them—and himself—to their absolute limits. Director Kathryn Bigelow—who became the first woman to win an Oscar for Best Director for this masterful, nerve-shredding film—portrays her protagonist as a highly unpredictable man, whose composure in the face of death grows increasingly unsettling. She frames war as an extreme, visceral state of being: "The rush of battle is a potent and often lethal addiction, for war is a drug." What initially appears to be a detached, cynical observation ultimately reveals itself as an almost unbearable Möbius strip—a cycle with no end. (Otto Römisch)