Thin Red Line Blog - Simon Robson

     In the film Thin Red Line, we follow the stories of many soldiers fighting on the island of Guadalcanal to try and take it back from the Japanese. As with any war film this movie features a lot of blood, gore, and death. With this though we are confronted with questions about life and death, and state of being. Throughout much of the film the viewer often sees heavy battle scenes with gunfire and explosions, and then they are presented with a clip of an animal that may be caught in the middle of the battlefield. This could symbolize multiple things. These animals could represent death and the idea of reincarnation. Through this it would be showing a circle of life, so to speak, by seeing a result of these dying soldiers. In another sense, this could be showing the state of existence that these animals live in, as opposed to the war-hungry, blood-thirsty men around them. It could be showing the idea that in nature, we are not violent beings, but this idea of war and fighting is something we have brought on ourselves. The film also features Private Witt, a soldier who cannot come to terms with the idea of death. He has seen his mom die and found no comfort or peace in it. While the film continues it portrays many deaths and shows the way many soldiers become desensitized to it. Eventually, Witt is forced to come to terms with his death through his heroic actions. As a result of this however he assigns meaning to his death and in doing so gains a certain sense of immortality. 

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