OUR RECOMMENDATION: *****
8th March 1999
The Thin Red Line *****
Due to the fact that I was born in 1976, two years before Terrence Malick’s last film, Days of Heaven, was released, I have never been aware of the stigma surrounding this acclaimed director. That was until early 1998 when word started to emerge about a new adaptation of the James Jones novel The Thin Red Line – previously filmed in 1964 by Andrew Marton, one of the directors responsible for The Longest Day two years previously. Details remained very sketchy for some time with rumours of who was to star in the film changing on a weekly basis in the British film press. Given that he had made two original and self-written films before it seemed strange that he should choose to make an adaptation of someone else’s work. The fact that it serves as a sequel to From Here To Eternity suggests that the source material would be hard to fault.
I was in the Netherlands last week and as such was able to see the film a week before its British nationwide release. The fact that it had Dutch subtitles did not detract from the effect the film had on myself and the rest of the audience. Unlike many war films which take place under grey clouded skies or are shot in washed out brown colours (see $teven $pielberg’s Saving Private Ryan) Malick chooses to film in bright sunlight which helps to make the brutal assaults which follow even more shocking. Three-hour films can often lead to me looking at my watch but in this case I must admit that I was unaware of the time which had passed. This is probably due to the strange format the film follows, in that the major action climax comes an hour before the film finally ends which allows you to unwind in the closing third. This marks a significant departure from the standard film structure and makes his achievement even more satisfying to watch, and I just hope the Academy realise this when they come to hand out the best director award on March 21s
Ed