Thin red line deconstruct
The filmmaker Terence Malick has created a profound and complex war film. The Thin Red Line is in essence about a group of men, an Army Rifle company called C-for-Charlie, who change, suffer and ultimately make essential discoveries about themselves during a fierce World War II battle of Guadalcanal. It follows their journey from landing, through the bloody and exhausting battles that follow, to the ultimate departure of those who survive.Malick has created more than just a war film as it explores the powerful ties that develop between men under terrible stress. The horrors of war make the soldiers lose their idea of self and of the world around them. As well as fighting for patriotic reasons, which had brought them there; they are fighting for survival and for the men next to them.The film presents a juxtaposition of a vicious mechanized battle-taking place in a perfect wilderness, where the forces of destruction colliding with ordinary people living in quiet harmony with their natural surroundings; these were the Melanesians of the Solomon Islands, whose way of life centres on family and tranquillity.There are many different representations in "The Thin Red Line". The representations include the
On another level there is a sub-layer of narrative elevated beyond typical norms, the use of soliloquy emphasises this. Malick himself purposely blurs the idea of having villains in a war film to convey this. Innocent victims like civilians are portrayed frequently so we realise that war actually kills people who are just like us going about there daily lives. Although it does appeal as a war film it is different from most other war films and this film proves that expectations are wrong at times. The digetic sound blends in with the non-digetic at times. The ordinary soldiers are represented as humans with feelings and fears. He portrays the Japanese in literal scenes so they are people we can identify with. The way in which war changes people is portrayed strongly in this film. The film establishes genericall conventions, as it is a literal war film. The issue of transformation is dealt with as the soldiers enter war as kids and leave as men. One technique that Malick conducts rather successfully is the ability to switch perspective and blur the mind. The light of God not getting through is a humanist statement on the nature of war conveying that war isn't what a God wants. The soundtrack is stunning in the sense that it works on two levels also.
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Acceptance Essays
