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I Found It At the Movies: 1998—The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick)

01.01.70

Inspired by Dave Hicks’ excellent blog , I have decided to write about my favorite film for each year from 1926-2008.

1998: The Thin Red Line (Terrence Malick)

It’s amazing to think about the career of Terrence Malick. He made two critically acclaimed films— Badlands (1973) and Days of Heaven (1978)—then disappeared for twenty years. I’ll never forget when I first saw this one. It was at my single favorite theater in all of Los Angeles, the Mann Village Theatre, in the middle of the day. I was up in the balcony, and the film left me completely mesmerized. 

I’m in the camp (a small one, it seems) that considers The Thin Red Line their favorite of all of Malick’s films. Though his style always interests me, I like the way it works best here. It’s one of the most visually stunning films I’ve ever seen. Cinematographer John Toll’s colors and Malick’s unmatched relationship with nature combine to create an experience that had synapses firing that I never knew existed. 

Source: MovieMaker Magazine (blog)