MY WEEKLY DOSE OF MALIK: "THE THIN RED LINE"

I hesitated, for like 5 minutes before I decided to put this one in this week. I do get it, it’s beginning to look a tad ridiculous. There’s almost a “weekly Terrance Malik” now in the blog. I know, I know… Well the good thing is, there is just one more to go – and you can revel in the fact that I haven’t actually found the film yet – and then that’s it until Mr. Malik makes another film. For, as some of you know, the great director goes for quality over quantity. Thus, once I get my grubby paws on Tree of Life, that will, for all intents and purposes be all for a while. As you may or may not know Mr Malik has directed a total of 5 films to date, his sixth film, the internet informs us, is finished and due to be released end of 2012 – beginning of 2013 (insert howl of anguish – how will I wait that long?). The fact that, with a total of five films, he has been nominated, among other things, for 3 Oscars ® should tell us something though… Anyhoo, moving on to specifics – although I’m pretty sure Mr. Malik is in no way averse to a little meandering here and there – but seriously. Let’s get back to the Thin Red Line. “What was the film about?” is rarely as complicated a question as when we are talking about a Malik film. The Thin Red Line is no exception to this. Set in the Pacific during WWII, we follow a company of American Soldiers making their way through the jungle. Through them we explore not only the horrors of war but the various different facets of war, the tragedies, the difficulties and all the sides of war we probably never really considered in depth. We ponder what makes men fight, the place of love for your fellow man on the battlefield, all the different things that motivate men to fight, make decisions and sometimes, in this case, die. We wonder if another world, another kind of life where everything is simpler, more peaceful and beautiful is possible. Or maybe all that is just a fanciful dream that cannot survive in what we call the real world. I get why people may criticise the film. It is deeply poetic and philosophical; you might say this has no place on the battlefield, or maybe that this is not a realistic depiction of battle. As the film progresses, and by the way Malik by no means shies away from gory deaths and realities of the battlefield, the film is interspersed with Malik’s hallmark breath-taking photography that presents a truly beautiful background to the inner ponderings of various characters. It is very true, it is not a “typical” depiction of a battlefield, but I don’t think it’s any less realistic. It is just that, through sheer cinematic genius, Malik has found and magnified facets and snapshots others would have overlooked. Yes, war is truly horrific, and like I said the film portrays that, but this horror also leads to deeper thought. Platoon famously asked the question “WHY?”, Malik, I feel, attempts to answer. Or maybe just to set out a train of thought for the viewer to follow. And besides, personally never having been on the battlefield I could not swear to the fact that the men on the ground do not stop for more philosophical thoughts brought on by the very out of the ordinary circumstances they are living in, if only for a couple of moments… This multiple Oscar® nominee (seven to be precise)is hard to watch on many levels, not least because it is three hours long, but I felt I truly learnt something from it. You’ll know what I mean once you watch it…