Movie Monday: The Thin Red Line
Regarded as one of the greatest contemporary American war films of late, The Thin Red Line is a movie masterpiece directed by Terrence Malick. Shot in 1998 and based on the novel by James Jones with a title inspired by a line of from Rudyard Kipling's poem 'Tommy', the film tells a fictional tale of the Battle of Mount Austen during WWII. The stunning cinematography is matched by the movie's star studded ensemble cast of Hollywood glitterati including Sean Penn, Adrien Brody, George Clooney, John Cusack, Jared Leto, and John Travolta as soldiers of C Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. A Cockpit USA favorite, The Thin Red Line is not only an exploration of the actions and trials of battle, this film shifts focus onto the nature of man and the material of life giving it greater depth than the average war movie.