Thin Red Line - Ryan Jaekle

 

The film Thin Red Line follows American soldiers who are fighting the Japanese and trying to take back the Guadalcanal. The American camp was starting to get very restless and uncertain of their future in this grueling war. The American soldiers were afraid of death and I believe this is because they felt they weren't right with God and they needed time after the war to get right. The film follows Private Witt, an uncertain soldier who is particularly afraid of dying in the war. Private Witt will constantly have flashbacks of watching his mother die and because of this he is very hesitant is engage in the ongoing battle. As the film progresses and Witt is exposed to his soldiers suffering injuries and dying; this leads to a realization or transcendence that he shouldn't fear death anymore. Witt was able to realize that there is life after death and man can be immortalized after they are gone. Once Witt had this realization, the smile he gave when he saw other dead people, the Americans were finally able to turn the tide on the battle. 

The film uses images of nature intertwined with the war and death throughout. The camera will briefly pan to images of animals or tress in between scenes of war and gunfire to show the peace that can be achieved instead of war. The film briefly pans to long grass and trees blowing in the breeze while there are American soldiers crawling in the grass before a battle is about to break out. I think these pans to beautiful nature is a holy presence with the Americans watching over them. This presence is shown by the shots of animals living their lives around the war meaning there can be peace in the darkest of times if you have faith and believe. It's not only the soldiers who have to survive the war, the nature and environment around the war needs to survive and prosper. My question is: how can you find a drive to keep fighting in a war like this? With all the horrors that come with war, what can keep a soldier going?