1998 was an interesting year for dueling movies. We had the asteroid movies Armageddon vs. Deep Impact, the animated bug movies Antz vs. A Bug's Life and two films about World War Two. Both of the latter films were directed by respected auteurs, featured ridiculously long lists of talented actors, were both almost 3 hours long and got lots of Academy Award nominations. The big difference: One movie was Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan, won 5 Oscars and was hugely successful. The other one was Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line which did poorly at the box office and didn't win a single Oscar. But who cares about awards and profits?
I'm not sure how well remembered this one is but after just viewing it I really hope that people will give it a second shot, especially now that Malick's The Tree Of Life is another serious Oscar contender. Let's get down to the plot: The whole movie is basically just focusing on the battle of Guadalcanal, an island in the Pacific Ocean, where the USA battled the Japanese. So you might think, what's so special about that? Look again!
Malick who is a philosopher-turned-filmmaker doesn't really care about the actual fight that is going on but instead focuses on many individual characters and their internal struggle using inner monologues. He contradicts the gruesomeness of war with beautiful nature shots and an orchestral score. The fight scenes are mostly there to support the main theme of the movie: the loss of innocence.
Malick who is a philosopher-turned-filmmaker doesn't really care about the actual fight that is going on but instead focuses on many individual characters and their internal struggle using inner monologues. He contradicts the gruesomeness of war with beautiful nature shots and an orchestral score. The fight scenes are mostly there to support the main theme of the movie: the loss of innocence.
If you think that sounds like pretentious rubbish then this won't be your movie. Malick has always split the audience. His followers admire his amazingly beautiful camerawork and thoughtfulness combined with strong performances while his opponents complain his movies are just plain boring.
Fact is that Malick's films remain unique in Hollywood and true to their own narrative rules. You rarely find a filmmaker that so determinedly and without compromise realizes his vision on screen. I love his movies and if you don't then you should at least acknowledge his poetic artistry. Or forget about it and go watch some CGI crap with talking animals.
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