A movie with an extremely ambitious goal, which it more than achieves!!

Rating: 10/10 (31 July 2002)

Since the release of the excellent 'The Big Red 1', every war movie has tried to do the same thing. That is, to convey the horror of war, and the loss of innocence caused by war. This is indeed a very powerful message, which has to be expressed. However, most film makers, at this stage, see this as 'shooting fish in a barrel'. Even master Spielberg could not stretch beyond the 'horror of war' theme in the brilliantly shot Saving Private Ryan.
But, not until Terence Malick, has anyone tried to reach deeper and darker into the effects of war. 'The Thin Red Line' showed us how (through the murder of another human being, and the fighting for a cause you really, deep down, don't understand), your soul can be lost.
From the opening scene, where Private Witt (James Caviezel, in a star making role), plays with the doe-eyed innocent children of a village he has deserted to... through to the final scene where, upon leaving the Island of Guadalcanal, we see (heart-wrenchingly) the change that has happened to these innocent boys, we are shown how the effects of the past events can never be left behind, but will always be with them. But if you watch this movie with an open and alert mind, you will notice that, there has also been a change in you. You become fully aware of how lucky you are, to have not experienced war in your lifetime.
Acting wise, this movie was unbelievably overlooked. Ben Chaplin's scene where he reads a letter from his wife (who occupies his every thought), just to read that she has left him for an Air Force officer, always makes my heart sink with pity, and fill with anger at the same time. What excellent directing, but even better acting!!! And why the performance of Nick Nolte was overlooked by the academy is also a mystery.
Much was made of Steven Spielberg's directing of Saving Private Ryan (Indeed he picked up another gong), but all he did wad use a hand held camera and on over-exposed colour film...... mix that with the gory, panic-filled opening scene, and you've got some super stylish visuals. However, Malick was ingenious enough to use the effect of the battles on the surrounding wildlife (a confused & scared snake in the long grass, a bird dying at the feet of the fighting soldiers..... ), to show us the destructive horror of war, not just simple blood and guts, but the irredeemable damage caused by such senseless carnage.
An outstanding achievement of a movie, which could be analyzed for an eternity, and which requires numerous viewings, to gather the full impact of it's message.
10/10