The Thin Red Line (1998)

Directed by: Terrence Malick | 170 minutes | action, drama, war | Actors: Jim Caviezel, Ben Chaplin, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Adrien Brody, John Travolta, George Clooney, John C. Reilly, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson, John Cusack, Elias Koteas, Jared Leto, Dash Mihok, Tim Blake Nelson, Larry Romano, John Savage

A textbook example of unfortunate marketing: that’s what you could call ‘The Thin Red Line’. This war film was released in Dutch cinemas the same week as Steven Spielberg’s epic ‘Saving Private Ryan’ (1998). As a result, everyone started looking at Spielberg’s work and massively ignored Terrence Mallick’s film. And that’s a shame, because ‘The Thin Red Line’ is a beautiful film that has a lot to offer.

The film begins with the introduction of the soldier Witt (Caviezel), who is enjoying a short rest at that moment. That moment of relative freedom is suddenly over when he is again dragged into the war. This time he has to go to an Asian island to fight the Japanese. The destructive effects of a grueling war, both physically and mentally, are leaving deep wounds in the morale of American troops.

It is difficult to describe the story of ‘The Thin Red Line’, because the film does not tell your average war story. Director Terrence Malick has used a somewhat fragmentary way of telling, so that the plot has a slow start. The filmmaker focuses strongly on the thoughts and individual visions of the soldiers. The real protagonists are the emotions and motivations of humanity in a crisis situation, in this case the Second World War. In poetic monologues you hear the fears and doubts of the young soldier Witt, who finds himself in a hopeless situation. His country forces him to destroy another culture that he has slowly come to appreciate. In addition, the boy learns that his compatriots do not have equally pure motives. Witt’s superiors, for example, are often incompetent men who, although full of ambition, through their own hunger for power, unmercifully send countless frontline soldiers to their deaths.

‘The Thin Red Line’ is not a ‘normal’ war film, that should be clear. Mallick does show you some hard scenes of the battle that the Allies fought against the Japanese, but action is never the main focus of his work. In particular, the filmmaker gives the then completely unknown actor, Jim Caviezel, plenty of space to wonder aloud what the purpose of the war is. In beautiful philosophical sentences, accompanied by a somewhat dreamy score, Caviezel talks about his reservations about the battle. Through a flashback structure, the viewer is introduced to the beautiful nature of distant Asia, where Witt lived in happier times. The surreal flashbacks are interspersed with the chaotic images of a country at war. By spending a lot of time on the individual thoughts of the young soldiers, Malick hopes to involve you in the effects of war on an individual. The battle demotes an individual to an insignificant pawn on the great chessboard called ‘war’.

Malick’s motives are noble. As an anti-war film, ‘The Thin Red Line’ is certainly a success. But the rather strange set-up of the print makes the film inaccessible to a large audience. Putting a print in the box of a war film creates certain expectations. And unfortunately ‘The Thin Red Line’ cannot live up to those expectations. If you’re a fan of war movies, you might be sorely disappointed after snatching this movie off the shelves of your video store. In terms of action and story, Malick’s print is too fragmentary and too noncommittal to fascinate the right-minded war film fan. The difficult, often theatrical dialogues take the momentum out of the film. And the many famous names from Hollywood, who adorn the box of this film, cannot live up to all expectations. For example, fans of George Clooney will be very disappointed if they find that the best man is only in the picture for two minutes. That is very strange since his name is printed in large on the cover of this DVD. The same goes for John Travolta, who is mentioned in the credits, but can’t be seen for more than half a minute.

After all the criticism of the film, you’re probably thinking that the four and a half star rating above must be a bug. Nothing is less true. Although ‘The Thin Red Line’ is an inaccessible film, that does not detract from the many qualities that the print has in abundance. Terrence Malick has made a very special film that you should experience without too many expectations. ‘The Thin Red Line’ is not so much a war film, but a kind of surreal psychological sketch about humanity. The fact that Malick is very popular among actors thanks to his special approach is evident from the fact that so many famous heads can be seen in his film. It seems like half Hollywood really wanted to be in this production. And that is even more special, because Malick is not known for his work ethic. In fact, “The Thin Red Line” was his comeback movie as a director. The previous production of Malick, the film ‘Days of Heaven’, dated back to 1978(!).

Despite the willingness of big Hollywood stars to play in this film, Malick has chosen less big names to fill the lead roles. That works out surprisingly well. Caviezel is very strong as a young soldier who is sent to war. The actor’s dreamy, absent appearance evokes feelings of melancholy, which Malick exploits by often filming Caviezel in close-ups. The actor puts a lot of feeling into his voice and involves the viewer in his deepest emotions when he tells in beautiful sentences about the sense and nonsense of killing your fellow man. Besides Caviezel, Sean Penn also stands out. Penn also proves with this film that he is a not to be underestimated actor who can handle the heavier roles without difficulty. With understated play, Penn portrays a man who asks questions about the world he has ended up in. Without many words, the American knows how to portray a man who suffers from his existence through body language.

Lesser-known actors such as Adrien Brody, Elias Koteas and Jared Leto also deliver great performances. With their somewhat ‘softer’ appearance, these men are not exactly the most obvious people you would expect in a war film. It remains a genre in which you expect heroism and hard commands rather than sensitive, brittle figures who can barely carry a gun. It’s almost impossible to list all the names in this film. But it can be said without exaggeration that all the actors play very strong roles. Malick has gold in his hands with his cast and knows how to convey his message about the unpredictability of human actions well. Unfortunately, the less famous actors don’t get the credit they deserve, because their name won’t attract as many people to the cinema. So you can explain that George Clooney’s name is big on the poster of ‘The Thin Red Line’, while Caviezel’s part is only visible at the end credits.

‘The Thin Red Line’ is a beautiful film that will especially appeal to fans of arthouse cinema, because of its intellectual content. If you approach this film with an open mind and don’t expect a grandiose Hollywood action spectacle, ‘The Thin Red Line’ will immerse you in a melancholy viewing experience.