The Thin Red Line

UK Release Date. 28 February 1999
Certification. 15
Running Time. 2 hours 50 mins
Director. Terrence Malick
Cast. Adrien Brody, Jim Caviezel, Ben Chaplin, George Clooney, John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, Thomas Jane, Elias Koteas, Tim Blake Nelson, Nick Nolte, Sean Penn, John C. Reilly, John Travolta.
Rating. 82%

Review.

Despite a career that has spanned more than half a century, Terrence Malick has only directed nine feature films. But through this filmography, the American auteur has developed a truly singular style, one in which he often emphasises emotion over storyline, plot or character arc. A Terrence Malick film for some can prove deeply meditative, but for others, it can prove too conceptual, impenetrable or pretentious.

After an inordinate hiatus of 20 years, following the release of Badlands and Days Of Heaven, Malick returned to the fore with The Thin Red Line. A film centred on a group of American soldiers fighting in the Battle of Guadalcanal in the Pacific. But The Thin Red Line is a war film like no other.

The Thin Red Line is an unrelenting and unforgiving depiction of the chaos of war. Loosely adapted from an autobiographical novel by James Jones (the author of From Here To Eternity) the film serves as one of the most realistic (and complex) portrayals of World War II ever produced, both visually and psychologically. A deeply mysterious film, interested in so many themes above and beyond war, and so breathtakingly beautiful that the sudden sight of dismembered bodies often comes as a horrific surprise.

I believe The Thin Red Line was the film that perhaps defined the aforementioned singular 'Malick' style. Less traditionally presented than other war films, Malick abandoned conventional editing and pacing, instead embracing ruminative rapture and ethereal narration. With bold artistic imagery, much of the film functions as a beautifully shot, and easy-to-appreciate, war film with each soldier finding themselves challenged by the horror of conflict.

The film was met with widespread acclaim at the time of release and was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including the Academy Award for Best Picture. Released in the same year as Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan it is often suggested the two vividly contrasting depictions of World War II split the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science members' vote. How neither film won, allowing the unashamedly ruthlessly marketed Shakespeare In Love to garner the premier award, is beyond comprehension.

Nonetheless, The Thin Red Line remains one of the most visually stunning and philosophically daring war films ever made. In the hallowed company of Apocalypse Now, Full Metal Jacket, Saving Private Ryan, 1917 and All Quiet On The Western Front, perhaps The Thin Red Line is simply one of the greatest war films of all time.