Thin Red Line

The Thin Red Line effectively conveys the sublime, the Holy, and a transcendent reality through the stylistic choices that Malick uses with the camera as well as the focus on nature within the film. Witt’s story arc was interesting to watch because although he is the first point of view character that the audience meets, the film is not centered entirely on his experience. There are other arcs that go on with other characters that overlap with his story, but they all have their own significance. Although the story is focuses on the characters, Malick makes an effort to put even more emphasis on the setting and camera shots to show the kinds of difficulties they are dealing with.

The film utilizes filtering light and upwards camera angles often to represent death or people who are close to death. When one of the younger soldiers is dying in his friend’s arms, the shot changes immediately after he dies to a tilted shot, straight up to the light flickering through the trees above him. This shot is used often in the film after battles or after people die. Light from above could easily represent the sublime, an awe inspiring but also simple aspect of the nature they traverse through in the film. Another aspect of nature that is sublime in the film but also is deceiving, is the grassy hills where most of the battle takes place. At one point, all the men are lying in wait because the firing stopped for a second and they don’t know if it’s safe or not to get up. Then the sun comes out and absolutely changes the grassy hills into something sublime and seemingly peaceful, but as soon as the first man stands up he gets shot down. The battle only gets worse from there with many other men falling in battle, although the sun is still shining. This effective use of lighting creates a dissonance between the setting and what’s actually happening.

Another comparison that is often made by a character in the film is actually between the soldiers and nature. He is one of the more cynical characters, but survives all of the film. He survives his company being slaughtered and a lot of his scenes after are about how futile the battles are. He takes a handful of grass and as it slips through his fingers he says that that’s what they’re like. Later, he does the same thing with dirt in his hand and says “we’re all dirt.” He has no belief anymore in the Holy as a protector, but still believes in some higher power, because later he yells to the sky, “how come everyone has to die but I stand and no one gets me.” All these themes connect nature to the sublime and the Holy and can be seen throughout the film.