The Thin Red Line – (1998) Director Terrance Malick’s adaptation of James Jones’s 1962 novel of Charlie Company at Guadalcanal in 1942, the second of his trilogy, following From Here to Eternity and preceding Whistle (1998), about a similar group of soldiers during World War II. Nominated for seven Academy Awards. A cinema of contrasts: natural beauty (actually filmed in the Solomon Islands) and the ugliness of manufactured violence, quiet vs concussion, ambition and apathy, rare instances of cowardice and courage, fear and fellowship among a group of disillusioned soldiers, who try to cope with the insanity surrounding them, hoping not to be damaged or horribly changed by the ordeal, their reminiscences of the past and realization of the miserable present – “War doesn’t ennoble men; it turns them into dogs.”

A shell-shocked soldier survives the madness of battle only to receive a letter from his wife requesting a divorce because she’s lonely. Finally there’s finality: the lies of life (patriotism, duty, honor, glory, etc.) and the truth of death. No one plays John Wayne. An exceptional cast includes Sean Penn, John Cusack, Adrien Brody, Woody Harrelson, John Savage, John Travolta, Nick Nolte, John C. Reilly, George Clooney, and James Caviezel. As Private Witt, “a character loosely based on [Montgomery] Cliff’s Private Prewitt in From Here to Eternity” (from Videodetective.com), Caviezel’s character provides the singular vision of another world, a paradise like the island where he’d gone AWOL at the outset of the movie, apart from the one he’s caught within, contrasted with Sean Penn’s 1^st Sgt Welsh’s bleak belief that here and now is the only existence.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in video and/or DVD format, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2007 Patrick Ivers. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

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