Madi Van Reenen, Thin Red Line

In The Thin Red Line, war is portrayed in a way different than other films. It is raw and uncut and showcases the mental and physical stresses that occur on battlefields. This took me aback because I'm used to the filtered reality that's usually shown in movies like these. I found myself half way thinking, "is this fight ever going to end?" which I can only assume soldiers think a million times a day in actual battle. The film showed a juxtaposition almost every time a soldier was killed or was in their last moments. The camera would pan to a beautiful nature scene of something simple and calming. Such as a the many scenes where sunlight was peering through leaves, or the ending scene of a coconut tree. I personally took this as the director and filmmakers making a statement about nature not caring what we do/ how we choose to act towards one another. Hear me out, because that seems a bit contradicting considering I'm an Environmental Studies major.
An article posted on LittleWhiteLies.com by Taylor Burns about the film took the same position that I do. He wrote, "nature in The Thin Red Line is not cruel, but indifferent." Burns goes on to say that the conflicting beautiful scenes with some of the hardest realities that humans have to face shows that nature will carry on generations after we pass. This reminded me of the indigenous man that the soldiers passed when first entering Guadacanal. He was so nonchalant about both Japanese and American soldiers being on his island, probably because he already came to the conclusion that what they were fighting for is miniscule in the grand scheme of things. I thought this scene was an amazing representation because it showed the soldiers terrified to retreat into the forest and an elderly man walking as if it was a normal day. Another example would be the quote by Sergeant McCron when he cried out, "we're just dirt!" This heart wrenching reality that humans are so much smaller than the world around us is what inevitably broke the spirits of such brave men.

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