SAVING PRIVATE RYAN
A Review By Robert Strong
Starring: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Matt Damon, Vin Diesel, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Jeremy Davies, Giovanni Ribisi, Ted Danson, Harve Presnell, Paul Giamatti
Directed by Steven Spielberg
Written by Robert Rodat
Music by John Williams
Cinematography by Janusz Kaminski
Length: 165 minutes
Rating: A+
Director Steven Spielberg is one of the most successful men in Hollywood. His name is one of the most recognizable and his films are some of the best known in history. Jurassic Park, E.T., Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jaws: all were done by him. However, while most of Spielbergs films are for mass entertainment, he also has shown the ablility to make dramatic, moving films that are extremely powerful. The two that spring immediately to mind are 1993s Schindlers List, a story of the Holocaust, and 1997s Amistad, a tale of the horrors of slavery. Now, to this list we must add his latest effort, the World War II epic, Saving Private Ryan.
I hesitate to use the word masterpiece when describing a film, because there are few movies that have been made that can deservedly wear the title. Saving Private Ryan is most definitely one of those. The film combines outstanding performances, excellent direction, smart dialogue, and wonderful photography, locations, and costumes and gives you an unforgettable two hours and forty-five minutes. When you emerge from the theater, you will be changed. This film hits you in the head, heart, and gut. Weeks after you see it, you will still be able to vividly recall scenes from the movie.
The opening shot of this film is an American flag, fluttering softly in the breeze. Then we learn where the flag is. It is flying over the cemetery above Omaha Beach in Normandy, France. For those of you who are woefully uneducated, Omaha Beach was the scene of terrible carnage on June 6, 1944 when Allied soldiers invaded in an attempt to get through Hitlers Atlantic Wall. We see an old man walking through the cemetery. Then, when he locates the grave hes looking for, he falls to his knees and begins weeping. From this point until the end, when the last five minutes comes back to the present day in the cemetery and we learn the old mans identity, the story takes place during World War II.
The next shots are of the beach and its foreboding defenses, just minutes before landing. Next, landing craft are seen, filled with soldiers, speeding through the rough waters toward the beach. Men become seasick and throw up. Then, a pair of shaking hands are seen as they screw the lid off a canteen. The owner of the hands takes a drink, and thus is introduced Captain John Miller, superbly played by Tom Hanks, who should win another Best Actor Oscar. (This film also deserves consideration for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Orginal Dramatic Score, Best Costumes, and Best Original Screenplay) Miller is the most intriguing character in the movie. As captain, he must put forth utmost confidence and never waver or falter. But, there are signs that he is slowly losing control. His hands shake uncontrolably at random, his eyes are those of a person who has seen too much, and in one scene, he looks around to make sure no one is watching and breaks down crying. Also, there is a very nice technique used by Spielberg, where all sound is reduced to a dull roar and men seem to move in slow motion as Miller looks bewilderedly around. Clearly, the war is getting to him.
He and his right hand man and best friend, Sergeant Michael Horvath (Tom Sizemore), issue last minute instructions to the troops. Then, as the saying goes, all hell breaks loose. The ramps on the landing craft go down and the men stumble forward into a barrage of German machine gun fire. The first five rows of men in the boats are killed before they can get more than a step or two. Soldiers dive over the side of the boat, but their luck is no better. Weighed down by sixty pounds of equipment, many drown or are shot underwater. Spielberg uses point of view shots in this scene to great effect. He lets you see from the German machine gunners point of view to let you know that they could see exactly who they were shooting at. The Americans, by contrast, could only see concrete bunkers and sandbag piles. Spielberg also lets us see the American point of view. These shots are nothing less than brilliant. The camera is used to make it feel like you are a soldier scrambling up the beach. It dips in the water and rises out, shakes and whirls to give the effect of a man stumbling and looking about. This scene, which is thiry minutes of pure carnage, has been called the most realistic battle scene ever filmed. While I cant say this if thats true, having never been in combat myself, I can say this: Id be greatly shocked if it wasnt. This isnt the battle scenes of the old John Wayne war movies. Spielberg pulls no punches in his depiction of combat in this, or any other battle scene. Men are blown in half, blown into bits, arms are shot off, legs are blown away, people burn alive, men are disemboweled and decapitated. They lie on the beach and scream and cry, and beg for their mothers. The incoming tide is turned deep red with blood. It must be noted that this isnt horror movie gore. Spielberg is never exploitive in his depiction; he is simply honest. Adjectives flow from my mind in an attempt to describe this scene, and indeed the rest of the movie. Brutal, savage, visceral, raw, powerful, unforgettable, amazing, and dramatic all come to mind. Finally, after what seems an eternity, Miller and the other men clear the beach and gain a foothold. The scene ends as it began, with Miller taking a drink from his canteen. Quite a view, Sgt. Horvath remarks. Yes, it is, replies Miller as he looks down at the beach with bodies strewn everywhere.
We are then taken to a Washington office where a legion of secretaries work at typing up the telegrams that will be used to notify the families of the men killed in action. Something is soon discovered. Three men, Pvts. Sean, Peter, and Daniel Ryan were all killed in action within a week of each other. That doesnt mean much until you realize that the men are brothers. To add to that, their mother will be receving all three telegrams on the same day. Also, there is a fourth brother, Private James Ryan. He was part of the paratrooper force that parachuted in behind German lines the night before D-Day. His status and location are unknown. He could be alive, he could be dead. All of this news quickly goes up through the ranks, until it reaches the ears of Chief of Staff George C. Marshall. General Marshall (Harve Presnell), has a letter written from Abraham Lincoln to a Mrs. Bixby in Boston. Mrs. Bixby lost all five of her sons in the service of the Union Army in the Civil War. When Marshall hears the news, there is no question in his mind as to what must be done. He orders a squad of men to go into enemy territory and track down Pvt. Ryan and bring him back home. Some of his advisors argue against this, saying that James is most likely dead, and anyone sent into enemy territory to find him, will probably die too. Marshall, remains adamant however. We gain a sense that he has a noble, detached view of war. The viewers, having just witnessed the hellish inferno that is war, know better. Incidentally, the scene where Mrs. Ryan receives the notification of her sons death is staged without a bit of dialogue, but still works brilliantly. We see her watch with trepidation as the Army car pulls up her driveway, and then, when a chaplin and an officer get out, she collapes in front of them on her porch.
Back to Normandy. Miller reports to his superior officer about a recent assignment he was given. We see him gaze enviously at the hot water for shaving, real food, and hot coffee the men behind the lines have. After taking his report, the superior officer hands Miller another assignment. It is, of course, to go save Private Ryan. In addition to Miller and Sergeant Horvath, the squad also consists of a cynical New Yorker, Pvt. Reiben (Edward Burns), the Jewish Private Mellish (Adam Goldberg), the Italian Pvt. Caparzo (Vin Diesel), the Bible quoting Southern sniper, Pvt. Jackson (Barry Pepper), and the medic, Wade (Giovanni Ribisi). Also along is an interpreter, who is the second most intriguing character in the film, Corporal Upham, wonderfully portrayed by Jeremy Davies. Upham has never seen combat, in fact, he hasnt even held a rifle since basic t raining. He is along because he speaks fluent French and German. He is a awkward man, somewhat nerdy, who is kept out of combat. All of these supporting cast members are fleshed out to some degree at least. Spielberg deserves a lot of credit for this. Never does he allow his characters to become the cardboard cutout squad members of the old fashioned war movies. Each in given at least one character development moment. Some of these are dramatic, such as when Mellish takes a Hilter Youth knife from a dead Nazi and weeps over it, or when Wade mournfully reminisces about his mother. Others are comedic, such as Reibens recounting of an experience while working in his mothers dress shop. That is a particular strentgh of Robert Rodats script. The battle scenes are so overwhelming and devastating, they could make the entire movie too much to watch. Rodat sprinkles in touches of humor to lighten up the mood, to keep it from becoming too dark. Something else Spielberg should be commended for, is that he resists the temptation to bludgeon you with Dramatic Moments--he lets scenes speak for themselves.
The men trek across the French countryside while debating how little sense the mission makes. It risks the eight of them, just to save one man. Particularly oustpoken against the mission is Private Reiben. When Jackson remarks about Ryans mother, Reiben replies, Hey, I got a mother. I mean, you got a mother, Sarge has a mother. Shoot, I bet even the Captain has a mother--okay, maybe not the captain, but the rest of us got mothers. This comment is significant. We learn that Miller is a highly secretive man, who doesnt tell anyone what he did or where he lived before the war. In fact, the men have a pool going on it. The first to find out wins 300 dollars.
Millers men journey from one dangerous situation to another in their quest. They travel from a devastated village, to a field hospital, to a German radar installation, and finally to a climactic defense of a strategic bridge. The unit slowly begins to be killed off. Each surviving man becomes more and more resentful of Ryan as their friends die. Theyre fighting and dying to save a man they know nothing at all about. At one point, Miller remarks, This Ryan better be worth it. He better go home and cure some disease or invent a longer lasting lightbulb. By the time Ryan is found, two hours into the movie, he has become a symbol to the men. As Rosebud was a symbol of innocence lost in Citizen Kane, Private Ryan is a symbol to the men of how little sense anything seems to make anymore, a symbol of the futility of war.
When Private Ryan (Matt Damon) is found, he is not eager to go home. Not at all. In fact, he refuses to. It doesnt make any sense.....why do I deserve to go? he wonders out loud. Damon does an effective job of conveying the confusion and bewilderment of a man who doesnt understand why he is so special; why men have fought and died just to rescue him.
When it comes down to it, Saving Private Ryan is simply awe inspiring. Its the little touches that make it all come together, though. John Williams outstanding score, which underscores without intruding, to Janusz Kaminskis wonderful, drained out cinematography that gives it a newsreel like quality, to Corporal Uphams terrified bewilderment at the conflict all around him, and Reibens wordless glance at Ryan in which he forgives all. There are scenes that uplift, and scenes that tear your heart out.
The best scene in the movie, I think, is when Miller elects to let a captured Nazi go, rather than execute him. Near mutiny breaks out, but Miller is able to diffuse the situation in the most surprising way possible. During his speech, which is the best in the film, he remarks I dont know anything about Ryan. But if finding him earns me the right to go home to my wife--then thats my mission.......just know that every man I kill, the farther away from home I feel. Later in the movie, Sergeant Horvath says, Maybe someday well look back and realize that saving Private Ryan was the one decent thing we were able to pull out of this whole godawful mess. Those are two of the key lines in the film. When you walk out of the theater, the realization hits you that it wasnt just Private Ryan that Captain Miller and his men were fighting to save. They were also fighting to save themselves.
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