Saving Private Ryan - anti war movie?
The film begins with a short sequence in modern-day France that shows one man visiting a particular grave in the sea of white crosses that marks the memorial to those who died liberating the country. From there, the film slips more than five decades back in time, to the second world war and June the 6th - 1944. The D-Day invasion at “Bloody Omaha” beach forms a prologue to the main story. Following this half-hour opening sequence, we learn that two of the four Ryan brothers died in this action, while a third perished elsewhere. Now when the U.S. army chief of staff, General George C. Marshall hears of this and that the mother is receiving all three telegrams on the same day, he decides to send a group of men into the Frensh countryside to find and rescue the fourth son, paratrooper Private James Ryan.For Spielberg, war isn't about heroic action, although Saving Private Ryan arguably contains several war heroes. Foremost, it's a movie about regular men and what they are capable of accomplishing in extraordinary times. Instead of giving us larger-than-life characters, Spielberg gives us characters who are disturbed by what they've seen on the battlefield. They're tired, wet, and confused. Most of them haven't been able to s
This film is almost unique in its matter-of-fact approach, its desire to present itself as nothing more than a document of what war really, and simply, is. Yes, it contains a framing story, as it must in order to engage its audience and continue moving forward. However, it's handled in a refreshingly straightforward manner, its potential metaphorical implications largely left to the viewers instead of being sledgehammered into them. Story parallels are echoed in subplots, to point to the film's more thought-provoking questions, but they aren't dwelled on; they're simply brought up, and the film moves on. In making this film work, Spielberg seems to have realized that he had to recreate the reality of war to make us experience it for what it really is. Therefore, the language is tough, as are the images we see. There is blood and gore. None of it foundationless. It’s so realistic, in fact, that the VA (veteran association) has set up a hot line for veterans dealing with flashbacks. Spielberg doesn't actually question the necessity of war. This is after all the war that freed Europe from Nazism. Spielberg's real interest lay elsewhere: he wants us to understand the effect that war had upon the psyches of the men who endured its battles, he wants us to appreciate the great sacrifice that the soldiers made for their country, and he wants us to experience
Some topics in this essay:
Private Ryan,
Nazism Spielberg's,
,
George Marshall,
World War,
Ryan Spielberg,
private ryan,
Saving Private,
saving private ryan,
saving private,
movie it’s,
world war,
instead giving,
facing death,
spielberg war,
anti-war movie,
representation war,
pro-war movie,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 920
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
CUSTOMER SERVICES
| |
|
Example Essays Home
