Title/Year: The Thin Red Line (1998)
Director/Birth Country/Year Born: Terrence Malick, United States, b. 1943
Budget: 52,000,000 (estimated)
Gross: 81,600,000 (Worldwide)
Synopsis: During World War II, the battle of Guadalcanal is seen through the American soldiers eyes. The horror they face during battle and the traumatic aftermath they experience is vividly depicted through several of the soldiers point of views.
Political/Social Commentary: Reflects the army’s inequitable chain of command and their willingness to sacrifice lower ranked lives, despite the high likelihood of being unsuccessful in their battle. Shows the true side of war through the soldiers eyes and not the country’s eyes, and portrays the soldiers primarily as victims.
Narrative and Visual Keywords: WWII, battle of Guadalcanal, nature, jungle, rivers, the ocean, boats, Japan, bloodshed, hopelessness, unity, explosions, guns, death, accepting and facing death, narrative, voiceovers, multiple POVs, authority, hostility, trauma, depression, trapped, survival, poor living conditions, thirst, hunger, escape, conquer, AWOL, flashbacks, cigarettes, grief, remorse, fear, strategy, anger, resentment, and sacrifice.
Camera/Lighting/Editing Technique: Prolonged shots, pans, quick cuts in battle scenes, a few jump cuts, flashbacks, landscape establishing shots, close ups of nature, wide shots, POVs, over the shoulder, close ups on soldiers faces during battle.
Main Character/Arc: The main characters included, Private Witt (Jim Caviezel), Private Bell (Ben Chaplin), Sergeant Welsh (Sean Penn), and Captain Staros (Elias Koteas). As the story progressed the pressures of each character’s rank both high and low were shown. Private Witt started out as defiant especially towards Sergeant Welsh, however by the end seemed to have matured and instead of just thinking about himself became a team player. Private Bell went from being in love and motivated to go home to his wife, to heartbroken and hopeless. Sergeant Welsh learned to show compassion towards his men, even Private Witt, and felt the pressures of being in an authoritative position. Captain Staros had to make a tough decision to go against his orders and sacrificed his rank to save the lives of his men, he went from wanting to stick by them at all costs to being happy about his discharge.
Notable Collaboration: Many big name actors had roles, including Sean Penn, John Cusack, John C. Reilly, Woody Harrelson, George Clooney, Adrien Brody, Elias Koteas, and Jim Caviezel.
Historical Relevance/Recognition: Told the story of the battle of Guadalcanal, and the history of WWII.
Random Fact, Etc: In the script Adrien Brody was one of the characters with the most lines, although in the movie he hardly speaks at all. Also, the original cut of the film was just under six hours and over a million feet of film was shot.
Are they any evident elements of an evolving group integration?
Yes, many of the characters grew great compassion towards their fellows as they saw them vulnerable and dying. The soldiers that were dead or dying allowed them to take off their hard masks and as well compel the hardened characters watching them to do the same. The soldier facade was taken off and raw human empathy was brought out, which encouraged the soldiers to become more unified and not only fight for themselves but fight for each other.
Are there any scenes where self-sacrifice is apparent?
Yes, two scenes come to mind that display two different kinds of self-sacrifice. One is when Captain Staros chooses to go against his orders to save his men’s lives, which in turn costed him his rank. The other self-sacrifice was by Private Witt, when he volunteered to act as a distraction to the Japanese and lead them in the opposite direction of his men. As a result it allowed Fife to get back to their unit and alert them of where the Japanese were, Witt was surrounded and killed and saved his men from going under an unexpected attack.
Pick out bits of dialogue, visual images, or scenes which you consider especially effective in revealing character and tell why they are effective.
I think when Private Witt is shown swimming and playing with the Melanesian children it shows his personality in that he just wants to live. It displays that he is not a soldier at heart and does not want to fight, but rather wants to be relieved of his duty and be surrounded by life and not death. This is effective because he is shown being kind and gentle to these people, and he is shown truly enjoying himself being in a peaceful environment. It shows another side to him that is not shown with the other soldiers. Also when Captain Staros refuses to follow his orders shows that he is not one of those higher ranks that sees soldiers as just another number, but rather people just like him. It’s effective because the other captains that were told to go forward in dangerous circumstances did and didn’t stand up for themselves or their men.
Which minor characters function to bring out the personality traits of the major characters? What do they help reveal?
Private Bell’s wife shows his softer side and true love for her, which reveals that he is not just a hardened soldier. Lieutenant Colonel Tall brings out Captain Staros’ selflessness and dedication to his men when he denies his orders, which reveals his humanity and bravery. The soldier named Tella, who was injured and screaming loudly in the middle of the field brought out Sergeant Welsh’s bravery and selflessness. Welsh risked his life to bring Tella to safety and quiet his screaming, so that the noise wouldn’t give away their position. In doing so, it revealed that he is a true leader and didn’t selfishly sacrifice one of his men like many other sergeants would have.
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