![]() ![]() Occasionally, though, the individual daydream sequences last too long, seeming to lack direction and sometimes coherence. But directors like Malik and Steven Spielberg show us scenes just as hellish as anything set during other wars. One is reminded again that World War II is often glorified, its purpose just. Just over the ridge of five-foot grass, or across the clearing in the bamboo forest, there lurks a painful death. When Malik juxtaposes the war atop these images from Eden, we get a quick idea of the destructiveness of humankind. The settings are beautifully shot, from the hills covered with high grass to the green glassiness of the sea. Malik has choreographed truly realistic and horrifying work here.Ī lot has been said about Malik's striking camera work, and it's clear why. It contains so many dimensions of the human condition - courage and cowardice, ethical dilemmas and accidents, terror and egotism - that a review cannot do justice to its accomplishment. The assault by Charlie Company on the hill will rank with the best and most realistic of filmed combat. Starting with the LCIs racing toward shore, their engines rumbling above the spirited shouts of the troops, Malik depicts energy and action very well. It's when they go on too long that they threaten the success of the film.Ī very strong aspect is the battle scenes. Because they are risky narrative devices, these mental flashbacks are to be admired. These sudden, almost expressionistic sequences serve to show the source of meaning in these men's lives they add a sense of home and comfort in the chaos of battle and the mortal boredom of waiting to attack. Images interrupt their voices, a wife swinging or a child in a field - remnants of real-world memories many of the men carry with them in the same way they carry lockets with photographs. First we hear Witt talking about the natives, followed by other characters ruminating on what's happening to their lives. As I stated before, his intention seems to be showing the grisly reality of modern combat, focusing on the devastation wreaked upon individual men.Ī fascinating element employed by Malik is the voice-over monologues. Anyhow, Malik is not after portraying what happened throughout the entire offensive on Guadalcanal and Tulagi between August, 1942 and February, 1943. But it would have been nice to see more than one soldier with a clipboard, and more than two scenes showing where these weary warriors slept or mended or spend their off hours. The history surrounding the battles around the Solomon Islands is non-existent perhaps Malik can justify the paucity of military planning in the name of character development or even in the service of portraying war in its allegorical sense. As much as it can be categorized, the plot consists of these men's exploits, triumphs and deaths in their attempts to capture this strategic strip of land from the occupying Japanese forces. ![]() The film follows this company throughout their campaign to take an important hill on the Pacific island of Guadalcanal in the Second World War. Ironic for a soldier, especially when Witt talks his way back into "C" Company, which is run by Welsh and captained by James Staros (Elias Koteas). It is here that Witt commences his role as Christ figure, a gentle soul sent along to teach others by kind acts and examples. Edward Welch (Sean Penn) takes a sort of philosophical pity on Witt, however, and instead of being court-martialed, the young man is sent to a disciplinary unit where he helps care for the wounded. Instantly we are forced to note the contrast between the lush rainforest, beaches leading down to sparkling water, and the troop ship on which Witt is held prisoner by his own army. After an American patrol boat passes, we learn that Witt and his friend have been AWOL, actually taking a break from the war and living with the villagers. Witt (James Caviezel) is obvious in the easy way he relates to a woman caring for her child. ![]() Malik's screenplay begins with two GIs walking about a scant village of native islanders, with whom they seem to be familiar. Terrence Malik's 'The Thin Red Line' is a diatribe against war, an anti-violence tone poem that highlights the senselessness and insanity that occurs when humans insist on fighting. ![]()
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