Not exactly a war movie

Rating: 10/10 (28 July 2005)

The Red Thin Line is one of my favourite movies of all time. It seems a war movie (it talks about a group of soldiers during the Guadalcanal battle, one of the most terrible in the Second World War) but when you watch it you realise that is much more. I firmly believe that there is no other film which reflects, with such reality, the psychology of the soldiers: its fears, its hopes, its dreams, etc. The action and how the battle is going on, lose importance with the wonderful dialogues between characters. In this way, it becomes a reflexion of the non-sense of war and violence, of how we can become heroes (even if we are not)or crazy (even if we weren't), of the meaning of loyalty and friendship, of the real meaning of killing another human being. The photography is simply amazing and reflects the paradox of the situation: enormous dosis of violence in a paradisiac island where every site is beautiful (I love the scenes where the soldiers are walking and they encounter the natives from the islands acting if nothing was happening, as if there were no war). The acting is brilliant (specially Nick Nolte, as always) and the direction is so personal (I think no director actually has a style similar to Malick one) that makes the film unique. I must also mention the beautiful music. The whole film is pure poetry and I can't understand how he didn't win an Oscar. Even if I must admit it's not an easy film to see I highly recommend it.