Another movie (like The Piano and The English Patient) too much in love with itself

Rating: 1/10 (1 February 1999)

The 1964 version told a simple war story in stark black and white, and stayed pretty faithful to the book. The 1998 version seems to have been made with the idea that if "The Piano" and "The English Patient" can win an Oscar then so can we. The mystical flashbacks and dying dreams and idyllic scenes of native life leave me wondering what the message is supposed to be. If this is what four-star movies are made of, Terrence Malick should wait a bare minimum of another twenty years before he makes one