Malick is truly a poet; celluloid his canvas, images his language.

Rating: Null/10 (21 December 2000)

Terrance Malick won the filmmaker's achievement award at the Taos Talking Pictures Film Festival in April of 2000. His third film, 'The Thin Red Line', was vigorously discussed-and inevitably compared- to Spielberg's 'Saving Private Ryan'. Malick was robbed on Oscar night. Contentions fall where they may, that matters little. (Scorsese and Kubrick were never favored at the Academy either.)
The existential philosophy presented in 'Line' places it far above the likes of 'Ryan'. Think of Spielberg's war film as pyrite, and Malick's as a cultured pearl. Therefore, I will not devote another word to comparing that hack (Reese's Pieces, anyone?) to a traveled thinker like Malick.
Fade in on men wandering in the depths of the Japanese jungle, trembling, armed, ready. Cut to a bird, watching over the men. There's a war going on all right, and it's much bigger than Guadocanal. Malick underscores man's purpose and place in life, showing war as an evil deviation from nature that "poisons the soul." Malick's work here, a meditative study on man's essence to wage war on opposition, reverberates to truly great directors of the past. Such films as Kurosawa's 'Throne of Blood' or Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now' lend their contemplative breath to this film. Beneath the layers of bloodshed and gun smoke rests a callous and withdrawn observation on humanity-- almost as if this film was made by an extraterrestrial documentarian.
It is this level of callous thought and impersonal narrative that defines this film and defies the rigid company it is placed with. Unlike any war film before it- with the possible exception of 'Apocalypse Now', 'Line' delivers a stunning journey into the collective spirit of the human race. Profound cinematography, brilliant and truthful acting, and a broad palette of emotional paint weave a tapestry of storytelling that should be studied for decades to come.
Tolka's Bottom Line: Take a really deep breath, hit 'play', and don't look away until you've redefined your understanding of spiritual conflict.