Review of The Thin Red Line (1998) by Paul — 09 Mar 2002
Poetic, cerebral, and ultimately optimistic, The Thin Red Line is a challenging watch. Almost the perfect opposite of the visceral and gritty "Saving Private Ryan" (comparisons are inevitable), The Thin Red Line is presented via a complex narrative style.
The narration and action switch from character to character, creating a textured mosaic. Following the strands is difficult and has no doubt put many viewers off the film, but it does have the benefit of giving the soldiers an unprecedented level of depth and emotion, and, as such, dignity.
Indeed, this is an oft-overlooked area in the war genre (case point: the cardboard character-types in "Saving Private Ryan"...). By shunning a more conventional method of presentation, Malick has created hauntingly hypnotic impression of war.
I have little doubt this will go down as a classic.
This review of The Thin Red Line (1998) was written by Paul on 09 Mar 2002.
The Thin Red Line has generally received very positive reviews.
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