The Longer Film

Rating: 7/10 (18 April 1999)

I would be stretching a point to describe Terrence Malick's third film as long awaited. I know nothing about "Badlands", or, er..., the other one. I'm happy with long though.
The Thin Red Line is a remarkable film and will stay with me. The gently blowing strands of long grass on a seemingly insignificant hillside rank alongside bleeding heads on "Apocalypse Now" bamboo poles as harbingers of doom. And the repeated sudden switch to the strikingly beautiful fauna of otherwise pacific islands was a trip all by itself. Surreal. Not quite real.
Now then. Stanley Kubrick's long awaited next, and sadly final picture...