The Thin Red Line

Writer: Terrence Malick
Director: Terrence Malick
Director of Photography: John Toll
Editor: Billy Weber, Leslie Jones
Composer: Hans Zimmer
Lead Actors: Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn, Elias Koteas
Year: 1998

Set in the Pacific during World War II, The Thin Red Line doesn’t as much deal with the tough issues of war, as it addresses them. Actually, it asks more questions than anything. It focuses primarily on the human struggle within himself on the meaning of conflict. There is a good deal of screen-time devoted to soldier’s reaction and expressions.

There’s also a lot of character narration. The narrations consisted of the soldiers views on the situation they were in. Some were bitter, some were reminiscing, but all knew something just wasn’t right; whether that was the warfare or whether it was the world. What is addressed in the dialog and narration is supported by the images.

When it says it’s R for “realistic war violence”, it means it. They’re not talking about explosions and splattering blood. It’s the dread and the low state of the human emotion in that situation. Some people are cold to it, and some still have a heart.

At first viewing, I thought there were sort of a lot of characters to keep track of. And as if that weren't enough, some of them look similar (to me). Of course Adrian Brody you can spot a mile away, so he wasn’t an issue. The performances were good; particularly Nick Nolte and Sean Penn.

There were a lot of steady cam shots as the soldiers journeyed and approached “the line”. The cameras would move through the tall grass or forest as if it were a soldier. These positions certainly gave a sense of sneaking around. The edit gave many of the clips plenty of elbow room.

I had listened to Hans Zimmer’s score before watching the film. So I was listening to somewhat familiar music in its context. The music is appropriate and well suited to the film. It’s certainly not combat music like you hear in some of Zimmer’s other work. It’s slow, brooding, and rarely epic. There’s a tribal chant that is sung by the Malaysians in the film. I think the islanders are somewhat a symbol of humanity as it should be. And the recognizable tune of the chant is used throughout the film in fitting places. The Malaysians were a people who were not affiliated with the war and yet their world got blown to pieces by it.

The Thin Red Line is quite a memorable work and has come to be my favorite war film. It is very character driven, which makes sense for a film about life and death and meaning.

The Last Samurai

Writer: John Logan, Edward Zwick, Marshall Herskovitz
Director: Edward Zwick
Composer: Hans Zimmer
Editor: Steven Rosenblum
Director of Photography: John Toll
Lead Actor: Tom Cruise

The Last Samurai has made it to my top 5. What a great story and a near perfect movie. It sort of shows the death of the Japanese culture, which could represent any pure way of life that is drowning. It seems like Japan is westernizing, not modernizing. The story is told in such a way that you sympathize with the Samurai, who, in the movie, are the symbol of the traditional ways. There is something sad about losing a tradition that has existed for 1000 years. So you sympathize with the samurai because they are the only ones still standing up for Japan’s unique culture. Such a small force they were. And so delicate up against the modern machines of war they were fighting against.

The samurai were really a very bloody people. I’m not sure I would have been routing for them in real life. The story may not be accurate in all its portrayals. It may be more Hollywood than history, but a lot of this can be looked at metaphorically.

John Toll’s photography is well done. The sets were beautiful. I especially like the snow scene with Katsumoto and Nathan in the temple’s courtyard. In a snow scene soon after that one, I found a little glitch that I may be able to call my own. As Nathan is carrying wood in his arm, one of the pieces begins to fall just as the scene cuts.

Before watching this film, I was slightly turned-off to find Tom Cruise in the main role. But have to say, it turned out ok. Not sure why I was turned off as I’ve never watched a movie with him. I think just because his appearance and seemingly boring face. The performances were all good. Especially Ken Watanabe playing Kastumoto, the samurai ‘rebel’ leader. He had an authoritative presence and his actions were quick and purposeful. I found out that this was his first film in English. For that, he did exceptionally well. Another performance of note is that of Sosuke Ikematsu playing Higen, the little boy. Good expressions and posture. He also had an emotional scene that he nailed.


Hans Zimmer composed very fitting and effective music for his 100th score. I listened to the score for several months before watching the movie. It definitely stands by itself. It is a rare case when you come to appreciate a piece ‘out of context’, and then wind up appreciating it more when you see it with the picture. That may sound odd but this is the reason for it. Music sometimes can create a mental image or emotion that pictures can’t really do justice too. Or, the image a piece creates may be broader than the musical application in the specific scene in a film.

The end of the battle scene at the end is amazing. It says more than just guns killing people. There’s an end of an era wrapped up in it all. Here are the samurai charging with nothing but blades against these deadly, rapid firing beasts. They did their job. They killed the last samurai. Zimmer’s score here does its part to fill the sequence with meaning. The music with the rapid firing of the guns is a tragic combination. One of the most powerful cinematic moments I’ve seen.

It comes to an end. Katsumoto dies. The enemy bows. Yes, the enemy bows. Perhaps the movie should have ended there. That way our ‘hero’ could have died or stayed alive, depending on what the viewer prefers.

This film is quite bloody when the weapons come out. The filmmakers could have very easily inserted a love scene (for the sake of having one), but they made conscious decision not to. That was a very good decision and one I applaud. Not having it did more to establish the cultural tradition that the whole film is about. It is obvious that Nathan and Taka had a love for each other, and yet there is a reserved distance that Taka maintains and Nathan respects.