“I want to stay changeless for you. I want to come back to you the man I was before. How do we get to those other shores? To those blue hills? Love… where does it come from? Who lit this flame in us? No war can put it out conquer it. I was a prisoner. You set me free.”
SPOILERS
The Thin Red Line is probably the most spiritual poetic war film that has ever been made. Most people’s favorite war film is Saving Private Ryan and rightfully so. That film was made for the eyes while the Thin Red Line was made for the soul. Spielberg showed the carnage that takes place during war, which showed the viewer how war is hell visually. The Thin Red Line takes on a different approach of showing how war is hell through the reflections of soldiers who have to experience it. Terence Malick’s earlier films, also including Tree of Life, are so thoughtful and abstract.
Much like Malick’s Badlands and Days of Heaven it starts off in a sort of Garden of Eden for Private Witt and his friend who are staying with natives in a small village. They are most happy there because they are far away from the death and destruction that is caused by war. Their paradise is soon taken away suddenly when their fellow American soldiers find them and sent straight to battle. Just like Private Witt, many of the soldiers have been taken away from their Edens and in search for the answers to why they are at war amid all the chaos.
The soldiers aren’t portrayed like how most of Hollywood portrays them in many films. Most of them are not courageous, patriotic, or selflessly brave who are willing to risk their life for their country. It’s actually quite the opposite. They are almost all terrified and some even incapable to fight in battle. The soldiers want to be able to live through battle so that they could eventually grow old and tell war stories to their grandchildren. In the film’s tag it says, “Every man fights his own war” it’s quite appropriate because each of the soldiers who have screen time act like the protagonist.
There is Lieutenant Colonel Tall who is stubborn due to his shortage of sense. First he decides to bomb a random space in hopes that it will make the soldiers excited to go to battle, but it only terrifies them even more. Second he acts like he has good news and it only confuses the soldiers. Third to get his point across to the captain he asks how many men have to be killed in order to succeed their mission. Captain Staros is the opposite he wants as few casualties to his men as possible. He’s not concerned with appearances like Tall is.
Out of all the characters Private Witt is my favorite. He’s almost Christ-like in a way. There are two things that Witt truly wants. The first thing is to return to that place where everything is once again okay. He still believes that he can go back there if he endures the war, which is possibly poisoning his inner being. Second is to the find that calm his mother had as she was dying. He is discovering this calm every time he confronts death. He discovers the key to the calm in his own death. He is the only character to sacrifice his own life in order to save the men. Before his death he hears the sound of water and it reminds him of the time he spent in the village. So in the end he is fulfilled because he essentially gets the two things that he wants.
Nature is a key character in a way. These soldiers are essentially dying over nothing when they could have approached the Japanese differently. They are just like the useless bombs that Tall ordered. Didn’t strike much of an impact on the enemy only shook leaves off the trees. There’s a scene during the charge up hill of a baby bird wounded horribly by the shots being fired. It’s crawling and trying to flap its wings in a pointless attempt to escape the destruction that’s happening. Showing the innocence of nature that is ultimately destroyed by man. Yet as we witness many of the men on both sides losing their lives we slowly realize that the vines and the trees will outlive these characters. While every character is facing their internal war, nature will still live on without them.
The music composed by Hans Zimmer is really one his best scores. The music enriches the characters and their narratives very successfully.
This is Terrence Malick’s masterpiece. It’s the most stunningly shot war film. It explores the human condition and provides the many differences every soldier faces during war. Sadly people say it’s too “intellectual” for a war film and I have to disagree.
5 out of 5
No comments:
Post a Comment