tstone
07-08-2006, 12:03 PM
Saw The Thin Red Line. Billed as a war movie, it's very much a Terrence Malick film. Meaning if you are going for a wall to wall bombs and bullets war is hell movie, you are in for a disappointment. Yes, there are VERY intense combat scenes, and they pull no punches in the depiction of the Pacific Theater, specifically, the battle for Guadalcanal. But that's just the stage settings. The main theater of operations is the psyche of various characters in the film, what they say, what they think. They are seeing the full intensity of war all around them. The romance and adventure notions stripped away, and seeing it for what it is. Among other things, armies tearing each other apart across the world and lives snuffed out just like that. They ask the meaning of it, on their lives, and life in general. And is such a life possible, accessible, here or elsewhere? And that is mainly what this film is about. It's a very ponderous, philosophical treatise on these subjects. IMO, very well done. But those looking for a testosterone charged actioner will be put to sleep.
I loved it.
Also saw Million Dollar Baby. Now, with Thin Red Line, I had seen it once before, but I don't remember much about it the first time I saw it. MDB? First time. And I definitely grabbed onto it. Eastwood outdid himself with this movie and it deserved every bit of the acclaim it recieved. Thing is, even though it's a movie with boxing, it's not about boxing. I saw three main themes...
1. Family- And the answer seemed to be, family is where you find it.
2. Pursuing your dreams-It dealt with what it takes, and what it costs, to single mindedly pursue an ambition. Especially, when ambition, it seems, is all you've got.
3. Euthanasia-Or at least, that's what the conservative pundits try to say. And they try to say this film is an advocate for the issue. I ask, were you even paying attention, or did your preconcieved notion autopilot take over as soon as you sniffed out the issue? What you saw was someone put into a horrible situation, taking just about everything that meant anything to them. And the one remaining thing they had, they asked of them something truly terrible. But which alternative was worse? See, the film didn't offer a definitive answer, one way or another. It showed the decisions made by the characters, and the things they would have to live with from that point on. There was no neat, easy solution.
Much like real life often is.
A tough film. A good film.
I recommend.
I loved it.
Also saw Million Dollar Baby. Now, with Thin Red Line, I had seen it once before, but I don't remember much about it the first time I saw it. MDB? First time. And I definitely grabbed onto it. Eastwood outdid himself with this movie and it deserved every bit of the acclaim it recieved. Thing is, even though it's a movie with boxing, it's not about boxing. I saw three main themes...
1. Family- And the answer seemed to be, family is where you find it.
2. Pursuing your dreams-It dealt with what it takes, and what it costs, to single mindedly pursue an ambition. Especially, when ambition, it seems, is all you've got.
3. Euthanasia-Or at least, that's what the conservative pundits try to say. And they try to say this film is an advocate for the issue. I ask, were you even paying attention, or did your preconcieved notion autopilot take over as soon as you sniffed out the issue? What you saw was someone put into a horrible situation, taking just about everything that meant anything to them. And the one remaining thing they had, they asked of them something truly terrible. But which alternative was worse? See, the film didn't offer a definitive answer, one way or another. It showed the decisions made by the characters, and the things they would have to live with from that point on. There was no neat, easy solution.
Much like real life often is.
A tough film. A good film.
I recommend.