'Toxic Genre'

Over the last five years, a cycle of films has emerged addressing the ongoing Iraq conflict. Some became well-known and one of them, The Hurt Locker, won a string of Oscars. But many others disappeared into obscurity. What is it about these films that led Variety to dub them a ''toxic genre''?

Martin Barker analyses the production and reception of these recent Iraq war films. Among the issues he examines are the borrowing of soldiers'' YouTube styles of self-representation to generate an ''authentic'' Iraq experience, and how they take refuge in ''apolitical'' post-traumatic stress disorder. Barker also looks afresh at some classic issues in film theory: the problems of accounting for film ''failures'', the shaping role of production systems, the significance of genre-naming and the impact of that ''toxic'' label.

A ''Toxic Genre'' is fascinating reading for film studies students and anyone interested in cinema''s portrayal of modern warfare.