A Masterpiece of Examination of Man's Inner Dialog

Rating: 10/10 (16 February 2006)

This is one of the most powerfully introspective large budget films I've seen, largely due to the masterful artistic direction and screen writing of Terrence Malick and the incredibly cinematography of John Toll who has worked on many of the more beautifully scenic large budget films in the past two decades.
Undeniably, the film was cast with great attention to how each actor would bring strength to the film, particularly the two main protagonists, Witt and Welsh.
There are many who dismiss the film as less than Saving Private Ryan which was released at the same time, but it seems odd to compare the two as films as each has a significant, yet different story to tell. Weaving together this tale of voices from the perspective of several points of view must not have been an easy process, yet as we balance the whole of the film, it's an incredible accomplishment for such complexity.
While juxtaposed against the backdrop of a particular scope of time of war, the film reaches inward to examine the human psyche and the duality of man's nature. While some critique as an inward spiral that does little justice to war films, this is much more than a film about the war of good and evil, it is the complex examination of war within the soul of man.
One of the reason I'm intrinsically drawn to this film is my own struggle with search for self and good in humanity, and the indelible moment that I recognize myself in these words...
Private Witt: Do you ever feel lonely? Sgt. Welsh: Only around people.