Plot
During WW2, one team of American soldiers land on the Solomon Island of Guadalcanal in order to secure Henderson Field from the Japanese to stop the enemy route to Australia.
Direction
Directed by Terence Malik, he is able to encapsulate the horrors of war, as well as the beauty of nature around it.
Cast/Characters
With more of an ‘ensemble cast’ there are several primary characters who we follow
Jim Caviezel as Pvt Witt, who we are introduced to in the start of the film, and follow most of the way through. He had gone AWOL, and is demoted after being returned to duty.
Ben Chaplin as Bell, who often thinks of home and his wife (Miranda Otto).
Nick Nolte as Col Tall – who is past his prime in war – with superiors younger than him. He has to make tough calls, leading men to their potential deaths.
Sean Penn as Welsh, who is Witt’s direct superior. He is tough as nails, but still holds on to his humanity.
Elias Koteas as Capt Staros, who refuses orders by Tall to send his men into certain death, eventually relieved of his command for being too soft.
Other significant names who walk in and out of the action are Adrian Brody, Larry Romano, Tim Blake Nelson, Nick Stahl, John C Reily, Mark Boone Jr, John Cusack, George Clooney, Woody Harrelson, and John Travolta.
Breakdown
At almost three hours, this is one of two 1998 war films that had similar themes/runtime and set at the same war. I felt this film was more about the ‘beauty’ of life, versus the horrors of war.
The opening moments of the film start with beauty and calm, as C’s Witt lives an almost idyllic existence -before he is taken back to Charlie Company to carry out the rest of his duty.
There is quite a lot of narration throughout, from Caviezel, Chaplin, Penn, and Nolte. Some of these worked for more well known actors like Nolte, and Penn, whose voice is instantly recognisable. but for others like Caviezel and Chaplin – it is harder to distinguish who is speaking- especially given some are using fake accents, like the native British Chaplin.
This is a film where I did not care for the narration. I found it to be intrusive, and somewhat pretentious. I didn’t buy that this was the inner thoughts of these men.
I enjoyed the ‘wartime’ moments and thought they were very well shot, and there was good dialogue between characters between them, how some characters have been broken by it, and others have not lost their empathy and humanity just yet. It is far less visceral than other war films, and more about the human side, as well as the fragility of war, how easy one can be killed (such as Harrelson’s character), and how madness can overcome you during battles.
The scene of the film is by far the taking of the bunker, which is the primary objective of the C company we are following. The attention to detail, and the brutality behind it was well shot, and choreographed.
Hans Zimmer’s score almost instantly recognisable, and is haunting throughout.
Overall
Slightly overlong, and I’m going to say it… a tad pretentious with the dialogue.
The battle scenes give it better marks, but if you’re looking for a straight war story – there are better ones.
Still a solid recommend.
4/5
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