SAVING PRIVATE RYAN (1998)
A Film Review
Copyright Dragan Antulov 2004
In late 1990s most Americans (and, thanks to Hollywood, most of the
people in industrialised countries) had rather distorted perception of
the war as social and historical phenomenon. That was especially
true for younger generations, unfamiliar with bitter experiences of
two world wars, Korea and Vietnam. For them the only point of
reference to war were images of laser-guided bombs hitting distant
and blurred targets with surgical precision or columns of terrified
men waving white flags in the desert. In Clinton's years wars were
fought or were supposed to be fought briefly, cheaply, painlessly and
bloodlessly. Those wars - especially military interventions ending the
wars in Bosnia and Kosovo - were as PG-13 as majority of Hollywood
films. This explains why any high-profile film dealing with
phenomenon of war in marginally more realistic manner was earth-
shattering shock. Steven Spielberg started this trend with his 1998
war drama SAVING PRIVATE RYAN.
The plot of the film is set during the war which is often referenced as
the last "good" war - WW2. The film begins with the battle which
wasn't the most decisive, but definitely was the most spectacular and
most remembered in American's collective psyche. On June 6th 1944
British, American, Canadian and other Allied armies landed on the
beaches of Normandy and thus began the liberation of Europe from
Nazis. Like in all such endeavours in history, things weren't always
going smoothly for the attackers. American V Corps experienced that
in the worst possible way on the section of the coast code-named
"Omaha". Bad weather, undetected minefields and surprisingly
spirited and effective defence by German 352nd Division conspired to
turn the landing into bloody fiasco. Only small section of the beach
was taken, most of the equipment was lost and new waves of soldiers
were clogging the tiny piece of beach only to be mercilessly mowed
down by German machineguns, mortars and artillery. After couple of
hours, American forces, supported by Allied naval and air bombing,
managed to break out of their tiny beachhead. In the grand scheme of
things, events on the Omaha Beach were nothing more than bump in
the road - tiny tactical setback in what turned out to be huge strategic
success - but the horrendous number of casualties suffered that day
become the symbol of the terrible price USA had to pay for its victory
in WW2.
After brief prologue with unnamed US WW2 veteran (played by
Harrison Young) visiting graves of his fallen comrades in present-day
Normandy, the film starts with landings on Omaha Beach. Captain
John Miller (played by Tom Hanks) of US Army Rangers is just one
of many officers who would have most of his men killed that day.
After the landing Miller gathers the remains of his unit and leads the
successful charge towards German bunkers. At the end of the day it
turns out that among thousands of American soldiers lost that day is
Sean Ryan, whose two brothers also died at the same day. When
General Marshall (played by Herve Pressnell) learns of this, he is
worried that the devastating loss of Mrs. Ryan could have profound
effect on American morale. He decides that the only remaining
brother must be brought from the frontlines. Unfortunately, Private
James Ryan (played by Matt Damon) of 101st Airborne Division is
among thousands of paratroopers chaotically roaming the
Normandy's interior - no man's land between counter-attacking
German forces and Allies trying to establish continuous frontline.
Miller and seven and his men are ordered to go there and bring Ryan
to safety of Allied beachhead.
Critics, especially those in USA, almost immediately called SAVING
PRIVATE RYAN the best war film of all times. The explanations
ranged from "emotionally most compelling" to "most realistic" and
"groundbreaking in its depiction of war". Such reactions are easy to
explain with the film's opening scene that depicts the landing at
Omaha Beach. The scene lasts for about 20 minutes and indeed
represents something which was rarely seen in Hollywood films -
brutally realistic and uncompromising portrayal of war. Equipped
with army of extras, special effects and, last but not least, his huge
talent, Spielberg shows all the horror of the modern battle, starting
with anxious soldiers unaware that they are going to experience
something beyond their worst nightmares. Instead of heroic combat
audience sees horrific slaughter of helpless men, being torn to pieces
by distant, faceless enemy. Spielberg shows in most graphic detail the
ways in which human body could be hurt by modern weaponry -
people drown, get burned beyond recognition, get disembowelled,
lose their limbs or simply lie in absolute agony. But the most
terrifying thing about death in battle is its absolute randomness -
soldiers die whether they are good or bad; intelligent or stupid;
religious or atheist; brave or cowardly; well-trained or inexperienced;
being well-armed and well-equipped or not. The war is a violent
event, and its violence is irrational and, as such, can never be
completely chained by the rational concepts of planning, drill and
orders. First twenty minutes of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN capture
those unpleasant and disturbing truths about war perfectly. If an
"Oscar" could be given for first twenty minutes of film, SAVING
PRIVATE RYAN would deserve golden statue not for a year, but for
a decade.
Unfortunately, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN is much longer than
twenty minutes. Intense, harrowing and hyperrealistic opening is
followed by disappointing two and half hours of movie. The story
about group of soldiers risking their lives in order to save a single life
is burdened with too much pathos, sentimentality and cliches
borrowed from classic Hollywood films about WW2. Even the music
score by John Williams, one of the most important ingredients of
Spielberg's magic formula, is hardly memorable. The acting, on the
other hand, is very good. Tom Hanks is very believable in the role of
a capable and efficient officer who gradually starts to feel emotional
aftermath of the war. Tom Sizemore is also effective as his trusted
sergeant. Jeremy Davies, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Edward Burns,
Barry Pepper and Giovanni Ribisi are also good, although at times
they can't overcome the obvious ethnic cliches of their respective
roles. In the last segment of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, when the
protagonists had to fight a pitched battle with counter-attacking
Germans, the story is getting a little bit better. During it Spielberg
shows ability to portray combat in realistic, exciting manner without
confusing the audience.
Outside USA and especially in past few years, SAVING PRIVATE
RYAN became the object of intense criticism, at times as intense as
the praises received after the premiere. Some, especially those more
familiar with complicated and sad history of WW2, accuse film of
perpetuating the American chauvinist myth about US forces being
the only reason why Hitler didn't win. This criticism is partially
justified. All Allied soldiers that appear in film are Americans; French
are shown as pathetic cowards while British are barely mentioned in
negative context. What was the effort of many nations is reduced to
exclusively American affair. Spielberg also got a little bit creative
with history - a mistake that won't be repeated in A BAND OF
BROTHERS, excellent mini-series inspired by this movie.
"Anti-war" credentials of the film, based on Spielberg's interviews,
were also put in question. Spielberg stance towards war as a social
phenomenon, as presented in SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, is indeed
far from pacifism. Following the bloody opening, which is the most
"anti-war" segment of the film, SAVING PRIVATE RYAN uses many
opportunities to show that World War 2 was just and noble crusade
rather than pointless waste of American lives; the audience is
reminded of Nazi evilness and that the crushing of Hitler's empire
required not only blood, sweat and tears but also some morally
questionable actions that could look repugnant to squeamish and
self-righteous audiences at the end of 20th Century. At the end film
almost explicitly states that the Clinton's prosperous, hedonist,
carefree America owes its unprecedented freedom and prosperity to
those who made the ultimate sacrifice sixty years ago. It implicitly
argues that similar sacrifices could be made in the future. Sadly, the
events in past few years showed that Spielberg might not be wrong
in justifying war. The foundations of modern liberal democratic
civilisation are much weaker than the people in 1990s liked to
believe. The world is much darker, complicated and scarier place and
democratic societies can't survive without at least symbolic
willingness to resort to violent, unpleasant forms of defence,
including wars. And wars in our times, unlike Hollywood films, are
going to be R-rated.
RATING: 7/10 (+++)
Review written on April 10th 2004
Dragan Antulov a.k.a. Drax
http://film.purger.com - Filmske recenzije na hrvatskom/Movie Reviews in
Croatian
http://www.ofcs.org - Online Films Critics Society
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