THE THIN RED LINE

Victor Bloom MD

"The Thin Red Line" (the movie) has a number of disadvantages. As a result, some people will miss it who would have been profoundly influenced by it. The movie reviewers were quick to acknowledge moments of greatness, but judged that it was flawed as a motion picture.

As I saw it a few days ago, I was aware that this was not an ordinary movie, it was something above and beyond entertainment or education. Due to its proximity in time to "Saving Private Ryan", it was considered an 'also ran' and a similar war picture. One was about the battle of the Bulge, and the other was about Guadalcanal, the European theater, the Pacific theater.

"Saving Private Ryan" was beautifully filmed with extraordinarily powerful battle scenes, a coherent plot and character development. No doubt it will win many awards. "The Thin Red Line" requires more work from the audience. I realized this as I had to shift my focus from the actual film to the dreamy world it was evoking within me. It will probably get mentions or prizes for its amazing, mesmerizing nature photography. The camera shifting back and forth between grisly war scenes and idyllic scenes of unparalleled natural beauty is both poetically and philosophically evocative.

"The Thin Red Line" transcends reality and brings us into a mystical zone where we are forced to think about life and death, right and wrong, natural and unnatural, rational and irrational. It shows that we are part of nature, even as we strive to transcend it. People will die one way or another, for soldiers it is kill or be killed. All will be recycled into nature, everything from the crocodile to the butterfly, everyone whether he be American or Japanese or a native islander. And become a part of this natural beauty.

The war and death scenes are even more powerfully dramatized, with the contrast of the natural garden of Eden. We wonder where we went wrong. We wonder why we kill each other. We wonder why we hate. We wonder why young men go to war and risk their lives. We wonder how soldiers can march into certain death, when there is a hidden machine gun nest mowing down their buddies. We wonder how they can go forward, when one of them has just been blown in half by a landmine.

We see the psychology of war. Nick Nolte was a ferocious leader who confessed at the end, that he could not stand being passed over. This was his chance to go from colonel to general. His rationale was that this base had an airfield that controlled a thousand miles of ocean. It did not matter that the Japanese were dug in and would fight to the death. It did not matter how many men died; he was not really involved with them. Soldiers always risked death and died. So does everybody die, every living thing, one way or another, sooner or later.

History showed that the colonel was right. History would make of him a hero. But "The Thin Red Line" makes us wonder what personal issues are just under the surface from historical realities. In the case of Nick Nolte, it was a terrible ambition, a cruel and contradictory streak. Our leaders are only human, and therefore vastly fallible. And yet we follow them, sometimes into the jaws of death, and for what?

Every time I see a great war film, I think, naively, this is the end of war. Nobody who has seen this film can ever either go to war or send a son to war. There will be no more ground battles. From now on, war is surgical bombings. War is occasional terrorist acts, but soldiers are not about to walk or crawl into a hail of gunfire. Life is too precious. Nature is too beautiful. Love is too wonderful to leave behind.

There was a poignant scene of a young soldier, miraculously surviving the most horrific battles, warmed by the memories of his sweetheart at home, receiving a loving "Dear John" letter. She was lonely. She needed love. Please help me leave you. We will always be friends....

The scene was heartbreaking beyond any other from any other war movie. What we saw was the darkest and brightest sides of life. We are mesmerized into a poetic and philosophic trance that is the mark of a great director. The film does not merely tell a story or give any answers. It draws us into a state of mind of asking questions and feeling strong feelings, wondering where they came from and what they are all about.

Dr. Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and he welcomes comments and questions at his e-mail address: vbloom@comcast.net.