MovieChat Forums > The Thin Red Line (1999) Discussion > The famous massacre sequence : wouldn't ...

The famous massacre sequence : wouldn't it be better if ....

posted 10 years ago by Nikon_Rod
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... We didn't have the narrator's voice right after that ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2wL9AawlDA

This is one of the greatest scenes I've ever seen . It's truly effective ... but just as soon as I felt that Malick's point (showing the ugly face of war) got under my skin , the voice says : This is great Evil ... Doesn't it kinda UNDO the powerful emotional effect for a second ?

Also , is the soldier in the beginning Jared Leto's character chewing a gum ? I just realized him . Didn't he die before this scene ?

We think too much and feel too little .

[–] HarryPowell 10 years ago

Absolutely not.

Malick is aiming for somewhere greater and deeper than 'powerful emotion', and you just need to strive and learn to be open to it. In fact conjuring emotion, by itself, is relatively easy and in the grander scheme of things pretty pointless.. Curiously enough, the sequence and especially the narration you pick-on was recently quoted in this contemporary and horrific context:
http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/07/how-many-palestinians -been-kil-2014726131843576945.html

And by the way, thanks for the link. What an astonishing sequence to see again. Often, I find watching isolated sequences from Malick's films makes me appreciate them even more.

[–] Nikon_Rod 10 years ago

Curiously enough, the sequence and especially the narration you pick-on was recently quoted in this contemporary and horrific context

Well , Geez . That's interesting ...

And by the way, thanks for the link. What an astonishing sequence to see again. Often, I find watching isolated sequences from Malick's films makes me appreciate them even more.

You're welcome . Yes It's like part of the greatness of his movies are revealed after they're finished . When you think about them or you re-watch them . I just saw this movie a few days ago and I can't get it out of my head .

We think too much and feel too little .

[–] HarryPowell 10 years ago

You know what, in my slightly pompous reply to you yesterday, I'd forgotten my initial reaction to TTRL was actually similar to yours! And this is from someone who loved his first 2 films and never expected him to re-emerge 20 years later with another. Initially TTRL didn't seem 'Malicky' enough for me, and yes the narration sometimes seemed awkward or intrusive, to put it mildly. I gradually grew to love it though, and can't imagine the film without it, and the film is joint favourite with Badlands and Tree of Life for me.

[–] HZ-FcB-97 9 years ago

Yeah that scene is bloody brilliant, I get chills every time!