The Thin Red Line

I think the one of the essential parts of a film is the plot. Without that, there is really no point in wasting your time watching it. The Thin Red Line, although visually stunning, was a complete waste of time and money. There was no coherency throughout the film, either from scene to scene, between actors, or parallel story lines. This film does however have great cinematography, and many great actors.

The lack of any coherent plot is just too much to overcome in my opinion, because it shows a general lack of vision on the director's part. I found myself questioning why this movie was nominated for so many awards, and why were so many big named actors involved in the movie when they all played such minor roles? Movies like this generally piss me off because I feel like I wasted my time watching them. I can understand if there are parts left out of the story that are essential to the plot, but this film doesn't seem to bother or care about that. It's all about the general disarray and chaos that was involved in the Battle for Guadal Canal in the World World II Pacific area of operations.

This film did actually add to the realism, because it showed how crazy and confusing things can get in the heat of battle, but it leaves you feeling somewhat empty at the end (if you can actually make it that far) because it doesn't make even a feeble attempt at pulling all the parts together. The Voice Over is a good example of this, because it is meant to add to the story, but it actually becomes distracting and pointless after a while, because you can't even tell who is talking!

There were many parts that had stunning cinematography and some good acting, but it seemed like there was far too much post-production involved which eventually watered down the whole point of the movie, which seemed to be that there is no good or evil, right or wrong, that all people are pretty much the same, it just depends what your beliefs are.

I do believe that every film you watch needs to be approached on a case-by-case basis, with a completely open mind, because that will allow you to take it all in and make your own judgments on the movie based on what you have seen and heard, not someone else's interpretation of what they have seen and heard. I do not think it is the responsibility of the filmmaker to create those expectations for me, I think it is their responsibility to create something that fits their own vision, and leave it open to interpretation by the consumer.

I think that Malick was able to pull off his vision for the film (probably by accident) because although totally pointless and chaotic, it enables the viewer to see how war affects those around them and back home, and how war is in fact totally pointless and chaotic. If that was his underlying message, than I think he was successful in communicating that message.