THE THIN RED LINE Cast: Sean Penn, James Caviezel, Ben Chaplin, Elias Koteas, Nick Nolte, Adrien Brody, Jared Leto, Dash Mihok Director: Terrence Malick Screenplay: Terrence Malick based on the novel by James Jones Australian theatrical release: January 18, 1999 Reviewed by Luke Buckmaster
On the Buckmaster scale of 0 stars (bomb), to 5 stars (a masterpiece): 3 and a half stars
If you could imagine Quentin Tarantino refusing to make another film after Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, you can understand why Hollywood is fussing over the return of Terrence Malick. Malick performed one of the industry's greatest disappearing acts; his last film was made in 1978 and he has since been absent from the directors chair. But now in the cinema, when the lights dim and The Thin Red Line reels through the projector, not much has changed. This visionary director has not lost any of his confidence or energy, but seems not to know exactly how to channel them. As much as Steven Spielberg told in Saving Private Ryan, some of the film's power came from the things he didn't tell. To Malick's credit, The Thin Red Line is one of the most poetic and extraordinary films likely to be released this year; but to his condemnation, it fails to maintain a steady pace and a consistently absorbing atmosphere. But on a visual level, this film is beautifully textured, and it has enough moving moments to make all of its frustrations bearable.
The Thin Red Line could certainly be described as "experimental." Ingeniously, Malick informs us that something is not quite right through powerful imagery. The film opens with a shot of a crocodile gliding beneath algae-covered water; later, that same crocodile is shown tied up and teased by a group of soldiers. Feral dogs feast on dead bodies. The face of a dead Japanese man is shown buried in mud; bringing to mind that perhaps the enemy is not a distant race of people, perhaps the enemy is ourselves. Soldiers contemplate what part of humanity could possibly create something as dreadful as war. Some find war as a test of bravery and courageousness; others just want to get out of it alive. When The Thin Red Line touches on these themes of mortality and human nature, it achieves something that Saving Private Ryan never really did: powerful metaphorical expressions. When a film is able to draw emotion from simply using representation, though, it usually will sacrifice something to get there. In the case of The Thin Red Line, a coherent story is nothing more than an afterthought.
The film is based on a novel of the same name written by James Jones, which tells the story of a group of men fighting during World War II in the Pacific. Brave troublemaker Witt (Jim Caviezel) fantasizes about a different world, a "paradise" where peace dominates. Bell (Ben Chaplin) finds energy to fight from his visions of his wife back home. Sergeant Edward Welsh (Sean Penn) is a focused and courageous hard-knocker whose views on war are as negative as they come. Lieutenant Colonel Gordon Tall (Nick Nolte) is intent on winning even if it means losing many lives to achieve it. These men and many others like them are forced to bond together, to overcome the many distressing and life-threatening scenarios they encounter.
I guess the major selling point for The Thin Red Line (apart from its seven Oscar nominations) is the star-studded cast, which features some of the world' s awesome talents. Sean Penn is particularly memorable, and plays his complex character with appropriate authority, and a subtle love for the lives of Welsh's men occasionally shines through. Jim Caviezel is fine, and Nick Nolte looked like he was going to burst a vein at any moment - his character is an arrogant authoritarian, and he plays the part well. I found it hard to accept that John Travolta and George Clooney were cast; they both have insignificant small roles that serve as distractions to the story. Travolta especially looks ridiculous wearing what looks like a Mr Potato Head moustache.
For all its faults, The Thin Red Line is much more than just another average World War II movie. Some occasions in the film feature voice-overs from the cast (this reminded me of Wim Wender's Wings of Desire), in which they philosophize about the nature of war. Often, Terrence Malick finds power and poignancy in these moments. The lush jungle environments in the background aid these scenes incredibly, making them not just powerful, but powerful and beautiful. Out of the norm and unpredictable, The Thin Red Line is often so gratifying that its many lesser moments become huge letdowns.
While watching this film, Malick intends viewers to search for meaning in war, but no doubt more people will be searching for meaning in Malick's direction. A picture can indeed tell a thousand words, but it often feels like The Thin Red Line has a thousand too many pictures (a 170 minute running time is just a little too hard to fathom, especially when the film often feels like it is going nowhere). This is definitely a hard movie to make a call on, but The Thin Red Line's absence of plot makes it an easy target. Malick ponders about his material and the plot meanders along, not knowing exactly where he wants to end up, but nonetheless carves some tragic and frightfully realistic images. The great thing is, his pondering is fascinating to watch, even if it is a little inconsistent.
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