How Did We Lose The Good That Was Given To Us?

Rating: 9/10 (16 February 2012)

"So you shall come to look at the world with new eyes" Ralph Waldo Emerson
The above quote pretty much sums up my reaction to Terrance Malick's The Thin Red Line. Is this a war movie from the perspective of an Emersonian philosopher or a film exploring the duality of man in a war setting? Let's just say it's a thinking man's war film that also has some of the most barbaric scenes of battle I have seen in a film.
The film opens with Pvt. Witt (Caviezel) AWOL on a tropical Eden. He is among the native peoples, unconcerned about war while they frolic in the ocean and catch fish or sing songs as they pick up fallen fruit to eat. More philosopher than warrior Witt longs to escape from the madness of war and become one with his idyllic paradise. That is not to be as he is soon found out and returned to his ship for the assault on Guadalcanal.
The assault on Guadalcanal is going to be led by bombastic Lt. Col. Tall (Nolte). As we hear inside Talls stream of consciousness we learn he is a career soldier passed over for promotion and itching to prove himself in battle. Nolte is stellar in this role his, manic blood lusting turn as Lt. Col. Tall is amazing in its earnestness.
The storming of the beach is anti-climactic. It has the same run up and tension to the landing and assault as another great war film released that year Saving Private Ryan. However, where the pitched battle in Spielberg's film sets the table for the rest of the film, Malick's assault gives us little clue about the horror that is about to unfold.
As the troops move inland they come under machine gun fire from entrenched Japanese positions on the hills above. Capt. Staros (Koteas) is reluctant to lead his men in a frontal assault of the defended position after his troops suffer tremendous losses. His superior officer Lt. Col. Tall explodes in glorious fury as he orders a direct assault.
How this all plays out I will leave for you to find out for yourself. I will say that the footage of combat is amazing. The craziness of the combat, the heroism, banality and horror is laid out before the watcher in stunning fashion. At the same time Malick interjects stream of conciseness thoughts of a few of the men most notably Witt and Tall. Some may find these thoughts out of place in the picture. I found that they only enhanced the film in that we get to see the motivations and thoughts behind the actions.
The Thin Red Line is also a beautiful picture. The lush tropical jungle with its blades of grass gently blowing in the wind and drops of dew glittering on the leaves is juxtaposed with shots of Woody Harrelson jumping on a live grenade and a man screaming for mercy with his entrails hanging out.
"How did we lose the good that was given to us, let it slip away scattered and careless?" Pvt Witt
I can see why some war movie traditionalists might not care for this picture. We are all used to seeing the war is hell and we had to do our duty type of film that is a Hollywood standard. Malick does not take that approach with this film. Instead he presents us with a complex canvas where war is indeed hell, but we are left to confront our motivations for it.