The other of the two war movie masterpieces in 1998

Rating: 10/10 (7 July 2013)

I'll start with a confess about the director. I couldn't like every Terrence Malick film as a moviegoer. I've seen all of those. Does this make me a fan of the director? I don't know. Let me start with his debut Badlands. I couldn't like that movie, may be my expectations were different or above. I had expected a stunning, devastating film with a powerful social background, but I couldn't find it. I know it may sound too personal for you, but I believe that art itself is subjective. I couldn't like Days of Heaven either unfortunately. I decided to watch that film because of its interesting and original story, but unfortunately it was a style over substance film. The cinematography was beautiful may be yes, the atmosphere, the story telling were poetic, yes, but there was not a powerful story, even a story. The New World is one of my all time favorite adventure movies, because it was different. Tree of Life was the same, I was mesmerized by that movie, it was quintessential cinema, pure art, but with a powerful father and son or family story as the background of the work. I was stunned by the story. As for his last film so far, To The Wonder, I didn't like it unfortunately, because I believed that the master was repeating himself in terms of themes and the way of story telling. Again, there was no story, in addition, this time no emotion, nothing but peace, nothing but beautiful images, nothing but a narrator. Sometimes, it feels like empty. The Thin Red Line is personally Terrence Malick's greatest film by far, it is his masterpiece. Yes, there is a narrator, too in the film, yes the style is the same style, yes, the way of story telling is poetic like the director's other movies, but there is something else in this movie, something magical which I don't know. As a war movie, there is a powerful and importantly dramatic story. The movie doesn't turn war into a pretentious, pseudo intellectual slide show, No, No, it gives us one of the most powerful portrait about war! It was also realistic and deep. The cast is incredible and it was a real joy for me to see those great actors one after another even if their screen time are mostly short. The dramatic structure of the film is not very different from Saving Private Ryan, I mean, there is no style over substance problem in The Thin Red Line. Visually, the movie was mesmerizing, technically it was astonishing. The cinematography, the technical craft were just award worthy. However, the film doesn't show war something beautiful or poetic, it is the way of story telling of the director, two things are different. If the movie looks beautiful, that doesn't mean that the movie says war is an art. Saving Private Ryan was criticized for similar reasons. Saving Private Ryan was real a stylish film, a director's film, also it was a blockbuster, an entertainment film, an action film, but for me both films are masterpieces. Both movies are the zenith of the cinema. I didn't find The Thin Red Line dull as I didn't find Saving Private Ryan too action packed or entertaining in a bad way. Briefly it is like Scarface. De Palma's Scarface was a masterpiece, but that doesn't mean that 1932 Scarface wasn't a masterpiece. The Thin Red Line is also a humanist film which is another good point. If I don't talk about the editing of the film, I will be unfair to it. The editing of the film is genius, brilliant, it was an unique experience for me cinematically and it one more time proves how a genius filmmaker Terrence Malick is. This is not images with a narrator accompany you throughout which I don't like particularly. Thus, The Thin Red Line is a cinematically very powerful film with a powerful story, powerful humanist messages and powerful acting by the dream team-like cast, also a heart-wrenching human drama.