The battle is inside the enemy is ourselves...

Rating: 8/10 (4 March 2005)

Terrence Malick is not a famous director. Few things are known about this man and in 35 years he only has directed 5 movies. In Hollywood not directing a lot is generally not a good sign. But Mr. Malick is unlike any other director and his films are unlike any other films. When "Badlands" opens it was said to be the first film since Citizen Kane, where a director is so in control. Except maybe from Mr. Stanley Kubrick or Mr. Sergio Leone few directors control their creation as much as Mr. Malick. Basically what you see on screen is what he wants you to see. And with the "Thin Red Line" what we see and what we experience are beyond the pictureas the film takes place in our mind
War movies or anti-war movies for that matter have been a major genre in cinema and they all share a lot of similarities (battle scenes, sense of adventure, History and patriotism etc).
"The Thin Red Line" is not about battle scenes; it is not about adventure and or patriotism and is not an historical movie in the sense that Guadalcanal historical background is only used as a set, a stage. Still "The Thin Red Line" is about fight, the worse fight ever experienced the most horrible one and the most life changing one. The fight takes place inside and outside, in our soul and all around. In the "The Thin Red Line" Mr. Malick depicts a battle against the devil within and against events no longer in our control. This is the trial of Death, the fear of it or even the excitement from it. This trial is unfair in nature and physical battle is only a revealer that the trial has begun (e.g. the attack of the hill). During this trial our profound "animality" and humanity will be exposed to everybody but more importantly to ourselves. The events / elements are taking their revenge. Men lost in the center of a conflict that they (themselves) have created can't control the course of the rage. And why can't they? Just because the dogs of war can never be controlled once they have been unleashed. On one hand the soldiers are lost in the jungle; it seems that nature is not going to be an ally. On the other hand the Melanesians autochthons commune with their environment like they are part of it. This contrast is re-enforced by the music, the noise of hell is made of machine guns and mortars firing bullets (war) and the music of heaven is made of enchanting Melanesians songs (peace) Is Mr. Malick giving us a lesson? Not really. Since "All Quiet in the Western Front" we know that war is not glamorous. What Mr. Malick reminds us (in case we forget this wide spread truth) is that we are alone and in front of Death we are even more so. The wife of Ben Chaplin (Private Jack Bell) is a reminder of this fact. Through his camera, Mr. Malick succeeds in isolating the person. Death (given or taken) is no longer a collective faith but an individual one and the phrase of Private First Class Doll "I kill a man" echoes in our head like an alarm clock forever plugged to our brain.
Serves with an outstanding cinematography from John Toll and an impressive cast if not perfect, the "Thin Red Line" is one of the most thought provoking film I have seen in years. Some people might call it pretentious wellpretension is when perfection has not been achieved. I personally call it masterpiece