An original war movie

Rating: 8/10 (8 March 2015)

The Thin Red Line was written and directed by Terrence Malick in 1998. Its topic is the battle of Mount Austen during the World War II Guadalcanal Campaign.
The casting of this movie is exceptional. The Thin Red Line is also a very original war movie. The importance of the settings in which the characters progress is part of this originality. Indeed, the movie shows us an idyllic island, inhabited by some indigenous people. We have a real presence of Nature with Fauna (parrot) and Flora (jungle). However, the most surprising is the metaphor between soldiers and Nature. For example, all is peaceful at the beginning. Then, war gradually destroys men and Nature (the camera shows dead bird and pierced leaf).
Another original aspect of The Thin Red Line is the soldier's portrayal. Indeed, the plot presents the stereotypical of soldiers who are insane, or resigned for example. However, these various traits are shared by different characters : there is not just a main character embodying all these traits. Moreover, the soldiers seem more human. Indeed, the viewer watches the film as if he has soldier's eyes : he can identifies himself with soldiers. And the fact that enemies have the same behavior (fear, prayer for example) despite of different cultures participates to this atmosphere : they are not monsters.
In fact, the only parts of the movie which can be debatable are the battle scenes. There are some classics as when lieutenant refuses to sacrifice his men's life, or the achievement of a small group of soldiers in front of a regiment, but there are stereotyped and a bit not realistic. Moreover, this movie is not for people who like traditional war movies : it is not a bloody war movie, and the audience has to wait more than one hour before seeing the first battle scene.
In conclusion, the Thin Red Line gives us an original point of view about war and its consequences on human and Nature. Even if the film is quite long, Terrence Malick directed here a really beautiful movie, especially as far as images are concerned.