The Thin Red Line (1964) Review

• 2nd Feb 2011

The Thin Red Line follows a group of Marines as they get set to storm an island in the Pacific in the war against Japan.  The troops land on the island and then thanks to a superior officer desperate for advancement are forced to take on a suicide mission to overwhelm the incumbent Japanese within 72 hours of their arrival. The narrative focuses on the two platoon leaders played by Keir Dullea and Jack Warden as they both try to stay alive. Warden is a survivor pure and simple and will do anything to ensure that no harm comes to him. Dullea is burdened by leadership and cannot separate his rank from the lives of his men. Ultimately, Dullea storms the mountain position single handedly as he cannot face any more of his men being killed needlessly.

The immediate history of World War II movies post 1945 is mostly about extreme patriotism in the face of utter evil. Objective Burma depicts a perfectly groomed Errol Flynn taking on the entire Burmese guerillas single handedly whilst never ruffling his pencil thin moustache. By the early 60s the mood of the world had shifted to one of a growing anger at war and a growing call for peace and understanding.

The source material for The Thin Red Line is a brutal study of war and the utter pointlessness of endless death which finally damages those involved for life.  The film captures the futile nature of war and recalls Paths of Glory depicting the need for advancement in some commanding officers at any cost.  The army depicted is one of two separate classes from the grunts on the front line to the West Point educated generals behind.  This view is a departure from those films that followed the war. Here we see a return to the world depicted in All Quiet on the Western Front after the shock and horror of the First World War

Keir Dullea delivers a fascinating performance that seems as removed as that he gives in the classic 2001 A Space Odyssey. The far more animated Jack Warden is set to die from the outset as we always need the emotional pay-off.  The film also bypasses the usual view of the enemy as either savages or cowards. It simply portrays them as nameless people simply killing and being killed over the course of ninety minutes.

The fascinating aspect of this adaptation of The Thin Red Line is its shift away from the standard war picture that audiences had been devouring for over a decade. Five years on from The Thin Red Line the Duke (John Wayne) himself made the The Green Berets, which is the last ever blind patriotic American war film.  From the final disaster that was Vietnam, the landscape of war and death on film has changed forever.  The Thin Red Line stands up as a film that captures a change of direction for war films from pro to anti.

Aled Jones