Terrence Malick is a great filmmaker not because he knows how to tell a good story, but rather how he puts together a stunning set of visuals. I have been mildly obsessed with his work over the years, seeing all of his films – Badlands, Days of Heaven, The Thin Red Line, The New World, Tree of Life & In the Wonder – multiple times at various screenings. The Thin Red Line is the most striking piece of his career not only because of the images… but more so the thematic nature of how these visuals are ordered, offering a trail of creatures – man included – from beginning to end, an unnamed narrator speaking in questions and poetry: Who are you who live in so many forms?

Your death encaptures all. Where is that we lived together. Who were you that I lived with?Darkness and light, strife and love…are they the working of one mind? The features of the same face? Oh my soul, let me be in you now. Look out through my eyes. Look out at the things you made…all things shining. I saw the film just last night…and already want to see it again.