The Thin Red Line
Director Terrence Malick’s adaptation of James Jones’ autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.
- Director:Terrence Malick
- Genre:Action / Drama / War
- Runtime:171 minutes
Cast
Kirk Acevedo : Pvt. Tella
Sean Penn : 1st Sgt. Welsh
Penelope Allen : Witt’s Mother (as Penny Allen)
Adrien Brody : Cpl. Fife
James Caviezel : Pvt. Witt (as Jim Caviezel)
Official Site:-
When the film opens, U.S. Army Private Witt (James Caviezel), is AWOL from his unit and living with Melanesian natives in the South Pacific. He is found and imprisoned on a troop carrier by his company First Sergeant, Welsh (Sean Penn). In Welsh’s conversation with Witt, it is clear that the private is unenthusiastic about serving in the army.
The men of C Company have been brought to Guadalcanal as reinforcements in the campaign to seize the island from the Japanese. As they wait in the holds of a Navy transport, they contemplate their lives and the impending invasion. On deck, Lieutenant Colonel Tall (Nick Nolte) talks with his commanding officer, Brigadier General Quintard (John Travolta), about the invasion and its importance. Tall’s voice over reveals that he has been passed over for promotion and this battle may be his last chance to command a victorious operation.
C Company lands on Guadalcanal unopposed and hikes to the interior of the island, encountering little evidence of a Japanese presence at all. At one point they find the mutilated bodies of two G.I.s. They arrive near Hill 210, a key Japanese position. The Japanese have placed a bunker housing several machine guns at the top of the hill, giving them full view of the valley below. Any force attempting to climb the hill can be easily cut down by machine-gun fire and mortar rounds.
A brief shelling of the hill begins the next day at dawn. Shortly after, C Company attempts to take the hill and are repulsed by gunfire from the bunker. Among the first killed in the battle is the leader of the attacking platoon, Second Lieutenant Whyte (Jared Leto). During the battle, Colonel Tall fiercely orders his field officer, Captain Staros (Elias Koteas) to take the bunker by frontal assault, whatever the cost. Staros refuses, not wanting his men to be cannon fodder. When the two reach a stalemate, Tall decides to join Staros on the front line to see the situation for himself. By the time he arrives, the Japanese resistance seems to have lessened, and Tall’s opinion of Staros seems to have been sealed. Also, during the battle, Pvt. Witt, having been assigned punitively as a stretcher bearer, asks to rejoin the company, and is permitted to do so. Read more
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