Review of The Thin Red Line (1998) by Imus I — 13 Oct 2010

I don't quite know where to begin in describing my sentiment towards this film. I watched it for the first time in the cinema when I was 13 and I remember finding it bring. A few years later, I rented it out from the school library and remember being completely overwhelmed by it. Ever since, I watche this film repeatedly, and now I have lost count.

So much though is put into this film, and literally, not a moment is wasted. Scene by scene, this film is worth watching endlessly. Some scenes are strange but they are also wonderful for indescribable reasons. Without spoiling anything, one particular example of such scene is when James Caviezel visit Sean Penn's house (or cottage), and the camera moves up for no apparent reasons, showing the bits where the ceiling is missing and you can see the sky beyond. The 10 seconds of the camera showing the missing ceiling has no clear narrative purpose and some may consider these seconds to be "random" or "unnecessary". However, to me, these are precisely the moments that makes this film so unique, so special and so personal. In fact, the entire movie is a collection of these strange moments.

The editing is also pure magic. I think for many of the scenes, if the footage in one cut is even one second longer or shorter, they would have very different effects.

To be continued.