“The Thin Red Line” is one of those great but under-rated movies which didn’t receive the actual praise they really deserved at the time of their release. Facing huge competition from Steven Spielberg’s “Saving Private Ryan”, which had already made its mark in the war genre in the year 1998, “The Thin Red Line” got a rough treatment both at the box office as well as at the Academy Awards that year. Nominated in 7 prestigious categories, the movie won none of them, whereas on the other hand Spielberg won 5 Oscars for his highly appreciated work on a similar theme.
No doubt, “Saving Private Ryan” was a brilliant flick, based on a novel plot, well conceived & directed by Steven himself. But at the same time, I also strongly believe that the two reputed names of Spielberg and Tom Hanks were in fact more responsible for those big wins at the OSCARs in 1999. And it was really strange and unexpected of “The Thin Red Line” not winning in even one of the categories of its nomination. It was surely not that kind of weak competitor from any angle. May be the precious message in Terrance Malick’s insightful masterpiece, got lost in the huge ensemble of stars in the movie. The star-cast took away the lime light and the viewers felt like misguided in the end since none of the big names had a full length role on the screen. But if you can move over these minor glitches, then here is a great movie on the subject of war, which has a unique viewpoint of its own, especially for the thinking viewer.
Actually, “The Thin Red Line” is not a movie showcasing the heroic elements involved in a war. On the contrary it’s a movie completely against the concept of War. Beautifully capturing both the winning and scary minutes of the warfront in some brilliantly shot scenes, it forcefully makes you think about the war, its reasons and its ugly consequences. Starting calmly with some quite scenes, the movie goes on to impress you majorly because of its three worth mentioning aces, the Direction, Cinematography and the Background Score.
Apart from the two most visible aces on the screen (Direction & Cinematography), just pay your attention towards the Background music composed intelligently, which is not aggressive as usually seen in the war movies. It’s one of the most impressive soundtracks in a motion picture I have ever heard till date. And the movie indeed deserved an OSCAR for this out of the world musical score if not for any other category in the nominations.
Equally supported by many thoughtful dialogues which leave you with no explanatory answers, “The Thin Red Line” is a must watch for every thinking person concerned about the world and it’s much needed peace. Just sample this invaluable quote (as I can recall) which still comes to my mind whenever there is a talk on war and its brave soldiers:
“In War, it doesn’t matter what training you have got or how well prepared you are for the fight, cause it’s only about being at the wrong place in the wrong time to get hit by a wandering bullet.”
The movie superbly reads the mindset of different soldiers on the front in a great philosophical style and that too without going into any uninteresting preachy format. It also achieves a difficult task of incorporating poetic expressions in a war movie, brilliantly canned by the camera. In few words it’s a film which truly deserves to be there among the most beautiful movies made on the theme of war and its soldiers. So, if you want to have a realistic experience of a battle front and also wish to study the inner psyche of the soldiers fearlessly fighting for their countries, then “The Thin Red Line” is the flick your should go for at once. Highly recommended for all serious lovers of the medium.
Directed By Terrence Malick
Starring : Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, Benjamin Green, John Cusack, Nick Nolte, John Travolta, George Clooney & more.
