Analysis of The Thin Red Line - Witt's Immortality in Nature
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- Опубліковано 17 бер 2021
- Character analysis of The Thin Red Line, looking at the film's central theme of immortality, that Private Witt is searching for. Witt's first and second stay with the Melanesians is particularly illuminating for understanding Witt's sacrifice.
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I like the take, but I think people miss a key element of Witt's passing. Right as the gunshots are about to fire, and as they fire, you hear the crash of the ocean waves. He is then shot (and killed). Then it cuts to a scene of him swimming in the ocean with the Melanesian children, and after a few seconds you hear the gunshot and a flash, and he's gone, and the children are alone. Those two scenes actually happen at the same time. One is reality, and one is where Witt went in that moment. The realization that Witt found his calm by essentially completely disassociating himself from the situation and going to the last time he was truly happy, that always killed me. I don't think enough people put that scene together, when it clicked for me the whole movie took on a different meaning.
Witt died deceived by his delusion .
Yep dissociation is a powerful tool, used way way more often than people can imagine.
This is a great take. How did you interpret him raising his gun?
@@arifaristiana2525 you can interpret it in a few ways - one, you did not want to be a POW to Japan and die screaming. That was the fate for thousands of soldiers. Japan treated POW's horrifically.
I also think that after returning to the Melanesian camp and seeing how much it had changed, they didn't trust him, they were scared of him, etc... it changed him. Which would also explain why in his time of death he returned to the time before that when everything was great, when he and they were happy.
You could see it as defiance, you could see it as giving up. I think he realized there was no way out, so he raised his gun, probably with no intention to shoot, but knowing they would have to kill him.
On an acting note, Jim Caviezel absolutely crushed this scene. Whenever you see that much emotion portrayed and a director let's you really sit on the moment (Witt staring off into the distance / at the Japanese soldier) we can only guess at what was going through his mind. It's easily one of my top cinema scenes of all time.
I think this may be one of the greatest films I've ever seen.
I always feel weird when I say this is my favorite movie. It's not like I throw it on to have a fun movie night, or to take my mind of being sick, or cheer myself up after a bad day. But no movie has had as large an emotional impact on me as this one. It feels like more than a movie.
Great essay. Thanks.
I know what you mean :)
It feels like a scripture you want and can revisit whenever you need to.
yeah, it's larger than life. watching this movies feels like pouring the soul a fresh glass of cool Melanesian water.
Same thought, feeling and life impact of this movie
I think this film is going to keep on giving up insights. I realised on first viewing there was more going on philosophically and it's interesting to hear others' take. Favourite film ever, Master and Commander. This feels like another illuminating way of seeing the same human condition.
The film is existential more than a war movie. And one thing I love about Malick is that you get the sense that the person showing you these images isn’t trying to pull some pretentious act to make you go wow, but that they’re trying to get you to see what they see so clearly about existence.
This is the best explanation I’ve read in Malick’s story telling. Not pretentious is the perfect way to describe his work. He just shows you what he wants you to see. In the light. Realistically. As things are, it as they ought to be. There’s no agenda. He captures humanity as it is. Above all: he’s honest. And that leads toward Truth.
a profound movie and a very good analysis.
thanks! glad you enjoyed it.
I would pay almost anything for Malick's uncut original version of this film, with Bill Pullman and Mickey Rourke in it, and Adrien Brody, Travolta and Clooney having major roles.
Was agreeing til you said Clooney and IMHO the biggest improvement would be to edit out that seemingly jarring cameo but hey we can disagree.
No, just no.
Take Clooney and travotla out they were forced in movie
Take Clooney and travotla out they were forced in movie
Take Clooney and travotla out they were forced in movie
Brilliant video essay. The Thin Red Line is truly one of the most profound films ever made, and one could forever interpret it depending entirely upon themselves and their own spiritual development. When I was an angsty, egotistical teenager, I thought, 'this film is rubbish compared to Saving Private Ryan' - however, in my late 20's, after living through much and enduring a darkest night of the soul, I came to see it as vastly superior in many ways. Now, in my mid 30's, I think a 'which is better' kind of comparison is actually inappropriate beyond the setting. Both do different things very well, and communicate a different kind of valid experience of War. What I love about TTRL is that it represents what any war in which conscription would include - thoughtful men, peaceful men, philosophical and caring men who find themselves forced into the situation. Sure, in that sense, it's not so different to Private Ryan, but it's the internal monologue that articulates that so earnestly IN TTRL. With the 'inner reality' device allowing us to glean the great and profound duality of men at war with one another. Anyway, I digress - wonderful work my friend. I'm going to go watch The Thin Red Line again, and see what wisdom and insight it has for me now.
Thanks, Jon! Couldn't agree more with what you said.
Thanks for sharing. Love the shifts of perspective over time and the evocation of how one looks back at their interpretations fondly.
Thin Red Line is a much better movie far superior to Saving Private Ryan. I am willing to bet Speilberg saw Thin Red Line and would have said privately Thin Red Line should have won all the plaudits rather his movie in 1998. Because Thin Red Line is similar to another movie which had was not taking sides but had a philosiphical take on war itself one of Steven Spielbergs favourite movie The Bride on the River Kwai. Which touches on the same themes that Thin Red Line touches. But I would say Thin Red Line is in fact a much better movie than Even Bridge on the River Kwai which Spielberg loved so much. Thin Red Line actually dared asked the deep question what root this great evil that ends in war come from. Few war or anti war movies have ever asked that deep question. Saving Private Ryan was clearly taking sides in the war rather than asking the root of war itself. Nope few movies can compare with Thin Red Line which is a movie that never really got the full praise it deserved. Its unfortunate it was over shadowed by SPR which is a vastly inferior movie to TRL in my view.
For twenty years the museum where I work has run a WWII summer camp for kids. The staff are all trained historians that had initially not cared much for "The Thin Red Line." However, as we spent week after week in the hot summer sun, often wearing the same pattern HBTs, steel pots, and leggings seen in the movie, we began to realize how much we really liked the movie after all. Soon it became a yearly practice to watch the TRL before camp kicked off, we quoted from the movie constantly during the summer sessions (often with smiles of acknowledgement from the other staff). No other movie pumped us up about camp like this one. So many of our camp battles were in tall grass, just like in the movie (even though we did European theater and not Pacific). Although COVID cancelled camp the past two summers, I still watched TRL in June - just because.
alot of people don't get it. it's isn't just a war film like saving private ryan.
A vastly better film, IMO. I rank it with Kubrick's Paths of Glory.
Dumb people dont get it.
There’s so much to this film it makes my head spin. You can watch it one time and get a completely different story to the last time you watched it.
@@Conn30Mtenor Totally agree. SPR is not bad exactly, but it pales next to TRL.
@@Conn30Mtenor yes finally someone i completely agree with. While other war movies are good The thin red line and Paths of glory are on a different level
I felt such a serenity watching this film. I felt my heart bursting at Witt’s union with reality - how he’s seen another world, the Truth. The impact of the movie didn’t fully hit me until a few minutes after the movie, by that time I was nearly weeping. Thank God I watched it alone 👏
❤
Thank you for the video. Fantastic analysis. The Thin Red Line has been one of my favourite films since I was a kid. I would watch it without truly understanding it but somehow it had a lasting effect on me growing up. It digs deep and hits home.
thanks! It's one of my favourite films too, and I never get tired of watching it.
@@CinemaAutopsy i enjoy it and I can wait to have it dvd blue ray Dane yutube not show me the full movie only parts or clip :(
I had the exact same experience with this film. I've seen it almost every year for the last 22 years and I'm still shaken and moved by the end of it. Definitely my favourite film of all time.
The Thin Red Line is my favourite movie since I watched it when I was 13. I've never heard an analysis this profund, right and concise at the same time of the movie and this character in particular. You really nailed it man and I'm forever grateful to you.
wow, thanks! glad you liked it.
jim caviezel perfomance is my favourite in cinema, there is that confidance in his eyes than i have never seen in any other performance
Well put
He’s also very good in Sound of Freedom, a much more recent movie. It’s not as transcendent a piece of filmmaking as TTHRL but is still very powerful and compelling.
Beautiful......
You can't outsmart nature,
You can't outstrenght nature,
You can't outwit nature,
You can't comprise with nature.......
Uncertainty (death) how will one handle it when it arrives,and it will.....
I love you all❤️
Superb. This movie doesn’t get enough attention, really liked your take on it
Thank you for this analysis. One of my favourite films ever. Witt’s death scene is my favourite scene in all of cinema: perfect composition, the subtle way the soundtrack eases into the moment, the way Caviezel look into the camera with those eyes of his, beyond the camera, into the furthest recesses of our souls.
He was tortured man simply searching for peace in any way; he was haunted by his mom's death and the pain of war. He was at that moment, and allowed it to come into him. It's more simple that viewers think.
I remember the first time I stumbled upon TTRL. I was blown away by the experience. Simply put, just the best war film ever made.
I always think of that scene when the Japanese are being overrun and you see one of them meditation when I think of this movie.great movie very profound
As an ex-GI who fought guerrillas in the jungles of Vietnam, i found this analysis of a deep movie interesting. Soldiering is a cold-blooded affair but sometimes you have warm feelings for your comrades.
What a great discussion! I wish more people understood this movie.
Amazing analysis..especially the last part about feeling a deep connection to the natural world and having a sense of calm in the face of death when you know you'll be absorbed by an immortal force. Nature.
I would have like Jim Caviezel to be the main character that i believe he is in this movie. Not Sean Penn. But need it to focus more on him than the other actors. His character is what i call a true MAN.
This great evil, where does it come from ?
Well its the same evil that surrounds us every day. Once you open your eyes to it, you begin to understand the true scope of it.
Excellent analysis. I see what you are driving at here. I already had a high opinion of this film and your review has only enhanced it.
Much appreciated!
This is the best video essay about the Thin Red Line. Very well done. Thank you!
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.
The best explanation I have seen of The Thin Red Line, especially on the topic of Nature & Evil
Great work mate looking forward for more
Watched it last night, and it always hurts when Witt dies.
Excellent analysis & review🙏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Good work!
You helped me to appreciate this movie a lot more than I did otherwise. Thank you.
EXCELLENT analysis!
Wonderful and insighful video. Loved the philosophical tone of it. ❤️
Nice to hear!
Awesomely done!
Very helpful,I always wondered about Witts death, now I understand it a bit clearer 😊
glad you found it enlightening!
Keep Making movie Analysis, I'm just here to support your channel.. I like your humors.
thanks for your support, mister!
Wonderful analysis. Thank you.
“Fife, where’s Witt? Fife, where’s Witt?”
Superbly written.
Most underrated war movie of all time
Thankyou for this- you should be very proud of yourself-excellent analysis
Thankyou. Further insights into this brilliant film for me.
Great essay!
"I love Charlie Company. They're my people." -- Whit
I understand his comment. I would have given my life for Alpha Company.
Witt's acceptance of his own being, as a soldier who is part of the killing and destruction, is how he resolves his existential crisis and becomes "immortal." His story is a retelling of the Bhagavad Gita.
Thank you for explaining to his movie to us! The thin red line is a movie with a hidden message about life, and spiritual too. Unlike like Saving Pvt Ryan that is just all action. I remember seeing this film back in 2002 in the theater
Great essay! Great movie.
Love the vid
Amazing analysis to one of my favorite films! Keep up the good work. If you are interested in profound anti war films, I suggest the movie „Come and See“ by Elem Klimov. Probably the greatest movie I‘ve ever seen.
Thanks a lot - it's a good film! My favourites are TTRL and Apocalypse Now :)
you cannot watch this film enough ,, a masterpiece
With "Come and See" arguably the best war film ever.
Masterpiece
Thanks for the unpacking. When i Saw this Premier at the Cornet Theater a third of the way into the film about a Doz. folks got up and walked out. I suspect It was a direct assault on their idea of "Glory".
I thought it was a game changer much like 2001 is to anyone who thinks Space Ships will have lots head room.
i think this is a truly underrated war movie.
Very well articulated. Thank you.
At this level, there is also a parallel between Witt's journey and Bell's character and the contrast between grounded and idealized love. What do you think?
Thanks!
I'm not sure exactly what this contrast you refer to is, but to me, Bell seems to be one who brings up of the concept of love as a kind of counterweight, a force of good, that makes it worthwhile to endure the evil inherent in nature (the suffering caused by "the war in the heart of nature").
You might remember how Malick makes Bell speak of love through the same framework (similar choice of words) that he uses when the character Train reflects on The Problem of Evil.
Even if I dislike Witt's point of view. your analysis is AMAZING.
Thanks for watching !
Nice vid
Witt's mom is spared the agony of seeing her son off to war, and her welcoming angel is absent at his death.
One of the greatest war movies ever made.
Because he lives in the realm of the supernatural - where no bullet or assault can harm his eternal goodness...
Have yall looked up the Japanese soldiers words to Witt? Very interesting
He is saying in Japanese you're the guy who killed my friends please surrender I don't want to kill you I don't want to kill you
Does anyone know if the soldiers in the movie are based on the US Marines or US Army? I know the Marines did fight in Guadalcanal, but not sure if the US Army did. And there's a line in the movie from John Travolta's character where he says "The Marines have done their job and now its our turn" Indicating they could be army
Watching The Thin Red Line feels for me like going to church does for some people. Once a year, at most, and only on a nice, quiet day when I can fully absorb it. It's such a serene and fulfilling experience. It reminds me of the person I want and ought to be.
Reminds me of what captain price said .
He didnt meantion immortality
But he sais in one of the final missions in mw2 :
"Theres a sort of calmness being this close to death ...knowing the end is near..."
(Something to that extent)
Edit:
scratch that
"He said to be this close to the end theres a kind of freedom.. A time to take inventory "
Not really the same :/
Nevermind ...
I still dont think i quoted this right
Lol
Witt is immortal because he fulfills the Messiah archetype. The movie shows us why he is the Messiah.
the best film ever
the sublime
What is the last voice over the Sean Penn does? Something about...Let your life be lacking because of our not meeting, but a glance from you and I will be yours? Something like that?
"If I never meet you in this life, let me feel the lack. A glance from your eyes, and my life will be yours."
Maybe it is all connected. I woke up this morning wondering why the character Abraham in the Bible lied about his wife Sarah being his sister. That led to me finding a link to a Terrence Malick movie call "Days of Heaven," that I'd heard about. That led to me reading a Wikipedia article about Terrence Malick which discussed his 20 year absence from film after "Days of Heaven" and this film called "The Thin Red Line."
That led to me looking up this movie and who was in it. (It might help to know that I got rid of my TV in 1984 and I don't really know a lot about movies or TV since that time.)
That led to me looking up to see if I could find a movie for free on UA-cam. And that led to me looking at your clip.
Afterwards, I am left reflecting on some thing Alan Watts said, which is similar to what this character says, that perhaps all of us are connected somehow. And maybe the connection is how all mens faces are just reflections of one.
Previously, all I knew about Terrence Malick was that some stars said he was extremely difficult to work with, because he took seemingly forever to do anything, and stared off into space.
But if you only make a few movies that all turn out to be considered works of art, that's not bad for one lifetime.
Maybe, a kind of Vincent van Gogh of film.
This film is genius.
By this point of the war the Imperial Japanese army troops were cutoff from supplies qnd reinforcements. More soldiers died from malaria and environmental exposure than guns and bombs. You could see it in the acting of the wounded and defeated Japanese on the last charge where the US troops take the IJA encampment. They had little or no fight left in them.
In retrospect the US would have retaken the island chain just waiting.
A humanitarian sympathy for the Japanese soldier? Hard to see after all their atrocities.
For me this is the top movie out there.
Great movie
After reading Finnegans Wake my buddy told me “Hey you know it’s all bullshit, right?” Meaning. There’s nothing there there. Even if there was it’s not worth crawling through all that shit like Andy from Shawshank
SPOILER FROM THE BOOK:
He actually doesnt die in the book!
Based of off Jim‘s age during the filming Witt’s birth would have been around 1912.
#TheRevenant + #ApocalypseNow = #TheThinRedLine... a true #motherearth #cinema #masterpiece by #TerrenceMalick!
The difference between this an SPR is very simple. The Thin Red Line was written to convey a message. What message? The “message” people can discuss that. SPR was a story. It had more to do with a story rooted in something that actually happened. You can read whatever you want into it!
Why no audio?
Being-toward-death
9:02 He is killed by humans who are not everlasting, so how is this comforting for him?
I liked your overall take though but didn't get this point..
not sure how who or what kills him is relevant?
Do you enjoy war movies? Then check out my essay on madness in Apocalypse Now: ua-cam.com/video/mfjw1cZh8aA/v-deo.html
I hope that bird wasn't hurt for the making of the film.
I may be reading too much into this but aren't the names "Witt" & "Welsh" potentially significant as indicators of what the writer intended to convey? Wit means intelligence & keen understanding. It means humour and a kind of ironic detatchment but also understanding of the world. Whereas "Welsh" derives from the anglo-saxon word Wealas meaning foreigner. So perhaps Witt is the one who is 'at home' in a world he understands. Whereas the cynicism of Welsh alienates him from the world. Again i may be reading into this lol
Deforestation going strong.
I personally think Witt turned into orange Tang when he died.
Witt never realized when he faced a psychopath or a narcissist; no common spirit
What a wonderful film. They don't make them like that anymore.
by cinema autopsy you mean that cinema is already dead? cinema analysis, dissection maybe?
dissection yes :)
Could you change the name of this? I’m part way through this film and now a key part of the story is ruined for me :( Best not to have spoilers in your tittle as not everyone has seen the film or in my case finished it :(
Ps I’m sure your videos great as I’ll watch once I’ve seen the film
You're right! sorry, I'll try to adress this.
"Deus sive natura"
actually a shame that the film doesnt correspond with the book
He didn't he was kept held hostage while people were robbing his money
Malick makes this same movie over and over. Strange.
Both TTRL and SPR are excellent Movies. One of My maternal Grandmother’s cousins was killed in action on Leyte and a old Friend was a 15 year old Marine when He fought the Japanese and was in the Bataan Death March a few of My Uncles were in heavy and close quarters combat in Europe and remarked that for a movie it was probably as good as they come minus the smell of death and burned men standing bolt upright in tanks and being mite infested and at times crapping Your pants for want of a opportunity to go . My Uncles had a special appreciation for simple comforts we take for Granted. One told Me about having to change a overheated barrel of a 30 cal. Water cooled Machine Gun while flat on His back and enemy bullets snapping like a whip very close. One of My Dads Brothers graduated from Tamalpais High in June of 1944 and was a combat engineer with the 289th RCT 75th Infantry Div . From its first battle at Grandmenil Belgium to the end of the War. He often recounted the names of the many towns they went through. When Witt talks about this Great Evil think about the Things My Uncle saw that they don’t put in Hollywood movies like Dead American’s with bound hands and feet with bayoneted rifles jammed up their rectums as far as possible . Then dwell on the words of Earl Robinson’s Waiting that is part of the Ballad of The Texas Division. Then think about the senseless school shootings and stabbing and other violent crimes committed by Youth right Here in this land of education and religious values . Where Did We as parents fail or was Our parental authority and the asswhipping consequences to recalcitrant youth undermined by the Toxic Savior Syndrome that permeates the Villages Social Services who facilitate , enable and even promote and encourage harmful alternative moral values that are in contempt of established Judeo Christian teachings. This most recently exemplified in the case of Skylar Neese who was brutally murdered by Two Girls who She thought were Her Friends. Yes SPR is based on a true story and it is a fact that TTRL is also based on the lesser known but no less important battles for control of dominating terrain features and strongholds with Names like The Galloping Horse, Sea Horse and Gifu that were Army operations to eliminate still viable threats to the effectiveness of air operations based at Henderson field and Fighter Strip number 2. The seeming disregard for casualties sustained during this campaign can be put into a better perspective when considering the concurrent burdens of supply and demand relevant to the forces in that theatre of operations that necessitated securing Guadalcanal as a base of long range airpower, logistics of supply, training , R&R and other supporting arms in the drive up the island chain that had the simultaneous effect of imparting imbalance and uncertainty of direction in the allocation of assets and troops that effectively dispersed the Japanese forces and thereby facilitated their piecemeal destruction or bypassing of small garrisons that were rendered ineffective and useless by inability to supply them. Just as hi tech can have many benefits making life easier it is a double edged sword in that it can also attract and facilitate those who wish to make what You thought was Yours become subjugated to the benefit of spies and thieves . James Jones the Author of TTRL and From Here to Eternity wrote from His own experiences as a young Man joining the US Army that was gearing Up for a War they Knew was coming but were ill prepared for . My maternal Grandfather was about 30 years old when He was Drafted before Pearl Harbor to serve in a anti - Tank company in the 84th Infantry Division The Railsplitters. My first Wife and I sold a German Shepard to a Man who was a 15 year old soldier at Schofield Barracks and later island fighting. He said that From Here To Eternity was sold as fiction to protect the anonymity of the real characters portrayed. He said even the car driven by the commander’s wife ( Deborah Kerr ) was accurate. Hollywood or much less anyone else will be reluctant to expose the depravity of the Japanese soldiers who not only brutally tortured captive soldiers and beheaded them but routinely gang raped them . To a far lesser extent because all Armies comprise cross sections of their societies there were also Americans guilty of sex crimes . The only ones I can honestly vouch for are those that one of My Uncles who was a Paratrooper in The 11th Airborne Division occupying Japan related to Me. He said that although there were establishments where legal prostitution of adult sex workers occurred there were many instances of child molestation and Rape by White American Servicemen. Because He was somewhat fluent in Japanese, He assisted the Girls in Identifying their attackers. The movie A Town Without Pity is based on the 1960 Rape of a 16 year old German Girl by Nine Black American Soldiers near Bamburg Germany. Evidently the three actors who substituted as the rapists enjoyed a peculiar white Privilege in attaining the parts.
Over analysing the movie is why a lot of people don't want to watch. I love the film, my take it's not any more 'profound' than any well written story. The film is honestly just about humanity and our place (individually and as a whole) in the world. Which sounds profound but is very basic in what we think about everyday.
So when I show mates this film I don't tell them "this movie is SO deep be ready" I just put it on and say it's a good film.
might not be too unthinkable that a man, who spent a major part of his life as a philosophy teacher, would also consider his characters in relation to philosophy though, would it?
All this movie was missing was a plastic bag blowing around in the wind.
Unless a man is born-again of God through the Holy Spirit.. He will wish one day he was never born at all.
Jesus said to see and enter heaven we must be born-again.
Cause he’s Jesus. Duh
Because he`s Jesus