Historically accurate - a rarity for Hollywood (The Thin Red Line (DVD))

Member Name: Pamsy

Product:	The Thin Red Line (DVD)
Date:	17/07/01 (84 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent battle scenes, Good cast, Seems to be accurate historically

Disadvantages: Last hour is all philosophical and unnecessary

"What is this war in the heart of nature?" asks Private Witt (James Caviezel) in the opening shots of Terence Malick's brilliant and confused Second World War film The Thin Red Line. Witt's voice-over narration is our frequent guide through the American soldiers' battle with the Japanese for possession of the Pacific'’s Edenic Guadalcanal, at first it is very helpful and necessary, but later on it becomes the death of the film. His foil is Sergeant Welsh (Sean Penn) whose weary cynicism sharply contrasts Witt's elegiac spirituality, and leaves us wondering if there may be more dangerous enemies among them than in front of them. This could have made for some more emotional scenes, though they never came to be.

The Thin Red Line, in its first 100 minutes is one of the best war films I've ever seen, and looks shaping up to be a classic. A 2001-like chord heralds the appearance of a crocodile, which slips silently into swampy verdant slime; subsequently, American soldiers are plopped down and shoved up the mountainside by their ambitious superiors. Waiting a full hour before engaging in battle, and a lot of ammunition to 'intimidate' the enemy, Malick superbly builds the tension, tracking the troops' fear as they march through the impressively photographed fields of grass. The battle scenes are impressive, with every camera angle explored, which increases the tension, but spoils the action somewhat. These effects do however enhance the sense of powerlessness, as the American troops fall dead left right and centre to an unseen enemy. At times the camera shots are a little overdone, which can make you very dizzy.

Ambitious and heartless, Lieutenant Colonel Tall (Nick Nolte) gets the film going. Calling it "his war", Tall knows this is his chance, after years of being passed over, to gain recognition and he's prepared to spend men to do it. Nolte's ragged, vicious Tall sees soldiers not
as men, but as a means to an end. Captain Staros (Elias Koteas) falls victim to Tall's aspirations and, when unwilling to sacrifice his men, is relieved of his duties, something a little too typical of Hollywood films. Tall's lack of conscience sends his men recklessly over the hill, which they remarkably take, at the cost of a lot of blood.

Exceptional at conveying the fears of the American soldiers, the film is even more admirable in its portrayal of the vanquished Japanese soldiers. In an attempt not to be bias, the film shows the emotiions of the Japanese, as they see their men fall and their land lost, this adds a lot to the impact of the film, though doesn't take away all of the bias. Once the Americans take the hilltop, we say goodbye to Tall and the film's dynamism, from here on the film dies. Consequently, cameo appearances by the likes of John Travolta and George Clooney prove distracting and fail to ressuscitate the film.

The last hour is reminiscent of the weak concluding reel of Francis Ford Coppola’s otherwise brilliant Apocalypse Now. The narrative wanders aimlessly, point of view is thrown in our faces, and the viewer feels forced into feeling sad with tortuous ongoing philosophy.

The last hour spoils an otherwise incredible film. One good point however is that, unlike mosy Hollywood films, it doesn't that I can see lie about history, or deliberately miss certain elements out to make the American military look good. Other films such as Saving Private Ryan have been guilty of this, showing the Normandy beach landings without even mentioning the Canadian and British troops who fought against the elite core of the German Army including the SS Panzer divisions or even showing the Royal Navy crew that drove many of the American's vehicles. Braveheart does the same thing, the Celts stopped wearing that blue paint on their faces a thousand years before, there is no evidence W.Wallace's wife was k
illed in real life, as she was at the beginning, and he was not a poor man as the film portrayed, he in fact had a good education and owned land. U-571 was another attempt to steal Britain's thunder as I'm sure everyone is aware, and the film Pearl Harbour lasts an hour longer than the actual attack did. High budget hollywood films are plaghued with this sort of thing, but The Thin Red Line seems to be a rare exception, historically accurate yet very entertaining (for the first hour anyway).

Definitely worth watching.

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