Every Man Fights His Own War

Rating: 9/10 (11 January 2013)

Released at about the same time of the patriotic flag-waving "Saving Private Ryan" Terence Mallick delivers a perfect opposite - the ultimate anti-war movie. Set in the II World War during the Pacific Campaign, particularly the Guadalcanal battles, "The Thin Red Line" (of Heroes) tells a story of courage and bravery of single people, soldiers, but still manages to deliver a poignant message on the pointless savagery of war.
The battles themselves, blood and death, is juxtaposed to the beauty of nature, its godly emanation. Nature's tranquillity is all-engulfing peace saturating the senses - dominant over the trivial faults of human kind and their pointless wars. The soldiers are invariably overpowered by its force, its dreamy tranquillity, speechless towards the captivating power, as if imbued by the touch of God. Conversely the bloody carnage seems trivial, detrimental and almost like a rot on the earth, which destroys the harmony, introduced a scourge. When the gunfire and blasts blast through the area god's creation is not left untouched and you can almost feel the jungle and wildlife bleeding due to the ongoing war, watching on as the devastation occurs leaving the surrounding innocence tainted.
This does not mean that heroism and valour is non-existent, but each man fights and wins by his own strengths. Honour is not found in victory - highlighted brilliantly when the American forces capture Japanese fortifications only to come across an undernourished and sickly opposing army, which surrenders without much quarrel. The enormous strategic victory rings hollow to the individual as Americans observe the protruding bones of captured enemy soldiers, finding little glory or honour in conquer. The decedents themselves - generals, politicians - come about in the form of Lt. Col. Gordon Tall (Nick Nolte), who is ruthless and goal-oriented, with little interest in the well-being of his pawns (American soldiers), instead focused on tactical and strategic aims. This is a brutal campaign, where both sides of the divide were lacking in supplies, thus giving way to dehumanisation.
War is exposed here as something truly banal. Heroism is present, irregardless of whether it is misconceived or pointless, glory is only found in actions of single men, when they conquer there own frailties and are capable to sacrifice their lives for fellow soldiers. Naturally the big picture of the II World War is that American were fighting for a just cause. But that still does not change the matter-of-fact reality for simple soldiers. Hence Terence Mallick walks away from exposition of the battle of Guadalcanal, instead introvertly pointing his camera towards the thin red line of heroes (the soldiers). Amongst the blood-shed we hear them speak of their fear, longings, doubts and perceptions. Thankfully avoiding over-narrating as in the abysmally prolonged "The New World", typical Terence Mallick touches are easily distinguished, such as spacious encapsulating shots by John Toll and whispered voice-overs. His typical whispering narrative is also present, but during fights a more sombre brutal reality overpowers the dreamy focus. The voice-over is aptly more suitable and thus more purposeful than in most Malick movies, functioning as something of a diary for soldiers who spill their emotions through the camera lens. This leads to diverting attention from the battle itself and focusing on the war which occurs within each human being, when they try to make sense of it all, combat the encapsulating insanity, fight their own fears and ultimately decide their fate.
Featuring a star-studded cast of James Cavaziel, Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, John Cusack, Elias Koteas, Nick Nolte, John C. Reilly, Woody Harrelson, Jared Leto, John Travolta, George Clooney, Nick Stahl, Thomas Jane... and a host of other big name actors, which role in the movie was cut during editing. Despite the latter the movie still clocks in at over three hours. With almost every minute of the experience worth the time and effort.
A brilliant movie by the beloved American director, which is in no way trivialised by the pretentious and oblivious ending.