At around two hours and forty five minutes, this is a long film. But it has much to say. The pace of the film itself alters throughout the narrative. This method suggesting something of the staccato and imprecise nature of war. They wait and they fight and they wait again.
Time is uneven and unpredictable.
It is an effective technique that strips the film of any glimmer of contrivance. Neither a celebration of war nor an acclamation of the human spirit, The Thin Red Line takes a complex view of the world. The characters, richly and evenly developed, voice conflicting views. It turns them into dogs. The truth of this statement is evident, yet alongside the degradation is evidence of integrity.