the thin red line

I just finished watching the movie. It was a long movie, about 3 hours. A very gorgeous film, visually. The movie was filled with a strong philosophical undertone. It is an anti-war movie. It reminds me of a Japanese anti-war movie, The Human Condition, especially James Caviezel's character.

The movie focused more on the C Company's collective thoughts than on the historical progress of the war. It was narrated by various soldiers from the C Company. Their points of views did not necessarily correspondent with each other. Many of the dialogues were very down to earth, which was mostly about personal life, dream, wanting, but none of them talked about wanting to protect their country. Upon facing the reality of war, most of them were confused. Or, at least that's how I remembered the narratives. The narratives would sometimes give way to the conversation on the battlefield. That was how the movie progressed. Philosophical undertone was the constant, battlefield conversation pushed the plot forward.

If simple soldiers talked plainly about their human need, it was not very surprising. But what surprised me a bit was how the Lt. Colonel talked about war. For the war became Lt. Colonel's dream somehow, although it was a hell to both himself and his men. It was like he was waiting for it to come, and it was a chance of a life time to him. Mind you, the Lt. Colonel was not a stupid, but selfish and hot headed. Granted that professional soldiers of course would looked at this as a chance of a life time. But to spill out like that in front of his men was was very stupid of the Lt. Colonel. But a necessity for any anti-war movie. That's right, a stupid boss, for every anti-war movie.

The cinematography was incredible in the movie. There were few scenes that I really liked it. Some of the dialogues and narrative were fantastic as well. But overall, I don't think it comparable to platoon and black hawk down. The philosophical narrative throughout was mostly redundant. It did give the film an melancholy feeling. The dread of the war was clearly showed. But it was a glass looking back. The message was good and clear. But for the narrative, I felt it was too clear, almost to the point of being tacky. I did like the actors, but they were not able to influence pass beyond the movie as a whole. It is a director's film, not actors'.