Saving Private Ryan: The Paradoxical Search for Humanity within the Brutal Inhumanity of War - Movie Review Example

Saving Private Ryan: The Paradoxical Search for Humanity within the Brutal Inhumanity of War Saving Private Ryan was the latest in a number of movies dealing with WWII which appeared about the time that the realization started to spread that in fact this generation was starting to pass away at a rapid rate. The idea of the movie was to commemorate this "greatest generation" (Brokaw, 2004)before it was too late. Steven Spielberg had previously produce what is generally regarded as a masterpiece of film-making, Schindler's List in 1993. This movie told the story of a paid up member of the Nazi Party who actually saved Jews rather than killing them. In Saving Private Ryan, Spielberg attempted a similarly 'positive' view of the war through asking the question of whether humanity could in fact survive in this, the most terrible of total wars. Is the search for one man among millions either rational or moral, considering the numbers of men who are risked in the operation Essentially this is a rhetorical question that is never answered, but along the way Spielberg examines many characteristics of WWII, especially of the D-day landings and the final year of the war which subsequently occurred. The theme of memory is essential to Saving Private Ryan: - the film starts with an elderly man walking along the now peaceful seashore of France, closely followed, but at a respectful distance, by his family. He is obviously remembering things that they cannot possibly understand, but which they will be a witness to. In many ways the dutiful family are representative of the movie's audience (the vast majority of whom did not fight on D-Day) as well as perhaps Steven Spielberg himself. One of the major differences between Saving Private Ryan and other movies which have attempted to show a more positive aspect to war (for example The Longest Day) is that Spielberg is not attempting to whitewash the full horrors of war. Rather, as the opening scene on the beach illustrates, he is attempting to give the audience as near as possible the actual experience of the American soldiers landing on the beach for D-Day. This was bloody, brutal, often involving futile and decidedly unheroic deaths; yet at the same time it was part of an overall effort that is seen as heroic (Gilbert, 2004). In the landing craft as it approaches the shoreline men are throwing up, some are visibly shaking with fear, all look utterly terrified. This is as far from the pleasant but absurdly unrealistic bravado of a John Wayne in many WWII films. One many fingers his crucifix, another the butt of his rifle. The character played by Tom Hanks attempts to be a leader "I'll meet you at the top", but soon languishes into what appears to be a near shocked state. The landing craft opens up and those men at the front are immediately killed by a spray of heavy machine gun fire. Spielberg made sure to make these deaths as visceral as possible - both in sight and sound. We hear the bullets pass straight through the soldiers' heads, see the pieces of brain spatter onto their comrades. Within seconds the audience also sees men drown from the weight of their equipment before they even reach the shore. So Spielberg announces that this will be a harrowingly realistic portrayal of warfare, and particularly the bloody advance of Americans on D-Day on Omaha Beach, as well as a more reflective consideration of the value of a single human life within war. The concentration upon a single human being is in many ways exemplified by the narrow focus of the experience of Cpt. John Miller (Portrayed by Tom Hanks) as he seems to fade in and out of a near catatonic state on the beach. Sound disappears at times and men are blown up in slow motion. The fat from a burning human body is sprayed across Miller's face, a man wanders past carrying his own arm which has just been blown off. This mixture of the deeply personal experience of one man (Miller) with the largest military operation in history (D-Day). The search for Private Ryan never actually occurred, but it was based, at least in part, upon an actual story. The US War Department did have a "Sole Survivor" policy, which was instituted after the death of all five Sullivan brothers aboard the USS Juneau when it sank (Brokaw, 2004). There was also a case in which an Army Catholic Priest told a Sgt. Niland (falsely as it turned out) that three of his brothers had been killed, leaving only him. The details of the story are interesting, but of greater importance to this analysis is the fact that the screenwriter, and Spielberg once he was on board the project, sought to essentially craft a memorable, positive story out of the remains of WWII memories. In a larger sense this can be regarded as an attempt by a generation that perhaps avoided wars (such as Vietnam) or were simply too young for any war, to commemorate those among their father's generation who had. Two perhaps contrasting motivations are at work: to show historical events as closely as possible to "how they were", and yet also to bring out the more 'heroic' elements of these men. Take the example of the moment just after the beach has actually been taken by the Americans. Hundreds are dead on both sides, two Germans come out of hiding with their hands up. They are obviously pleading for their lives, whether one understands the language or not, but the two American soldiers (some of Miller's subordinates) merely shoot them down. Thus Spielberg shows two American soldiers deliberately killing unarmed prisoners who are attempting to surrender. Under the rules of war, these soldiers have committed murder. But within the context of the moment, with hundreds of Americans littering the beach and the cliffs below, the killings are understandable if not excusable. At this moment Tom Hanks, who often portrays the simple but strong decency of American characters (somewhat similar to a latter-day Jimmy Stewart) embodies the audience watching these American soldiers murdering the Germans. It is difficult to look at, yet the soldiers are somehow made more human through the very frailty of their actions. They were not all honorable John Waynes, they were not two-dimensional cardboard cut-outs obeying the rules of war while feeling neither fear nor malice towards the enemy, defeated or otherwise. So cleverly, the movie actually valorizes the American soldiers through showing them at their worst. The question of whether a mission to a save a single man is worthwhile when it both risks the lives of many other men and also takes away some apparently uniquely talented soldiers appears regularly through the film. As the platoon travels further inland, they are essentially moving further and further into questioning their mission. One opinion is simply, but eloquently expressed by the sniper, Private Jackson. He states that "this entire mission is a serious misallocation of valuable military resources", and continues with, Well, what I mean by that, sir, is . . . if you was to put me and this here sniper rifle anywhere up to an including/ one mile of Adolf Hitler with a clear line of sight, sir . . . pack your bags, fellas, war's over. Amen. It is Jackson who adopts a religious rhetoric throughout the movie, and he is the character who may be regarded as an ironic commentary upon the tendency of all soldiers, and particularly their leaders to either claim (or at least hope) that "God" is on their side. At various times he quotes from scripture as he lines up a shot to kill another German, "be not that far from me, for trouble is near; haste Thee to help me", and then, "blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight". In the last moments of his life Jackson carries on quoting from the Bible:- "my strength, my high tower, and my deliverer . . . my shield, and he in whom I trust . . . here we go baby", and then he is blown apart by a single tank shell. Jackson represents the religious undercurrent in all wars, and also the idea of the individual versus the mass. He can be put in the same category as the Russian and German snipers who fought through the ruins of Berlin in Enemy at the Gates. He is an example of the fact that the individual, exceptionally skilled soldier can indeed make a difference in warfare, until he no longer does. Eventually, as was surely inevitable from the start of the movie, Jackson meets his match in the form of a tank. All the sniping skill in the world has no effect against this massive, anonymous symbol of the industrialization of warfare (Cross, 2004). Jackson's death is the mixture of the heroic and the futile that flows through the movie from paradoxical situation to another. Spielberg seems to be suggesting that while World War II was most certainly a war worth fighting (if any war is, this one was), there is still a tragic randomness to the nature of the deaths which occurred during it. The questioning of humanity within the film continues throughout. Captain Miller is eventually killed by the German, who they have nick-named Steamboat Willie, that he released earlier in the story rather than killing him. A sense of decency in the long run leads to Miller's death yet he has, through this action, preserved a sense of the humane and of being civilized. The saving of one life, whether it be the German's or of the object of their quest, Private Ryan, does seem worth the risk of all the others that occurred. The fact that the whole film was seen through the eyes of Captain Miller, but the camera draws back to reveal that in fact it was Private Ryan at the beginning of the film who was so deeply moved at Miller's grave is both an unexpected Hollywood ending, yet also a commentary upon the commonality of experience that the film attempts to convey. Ryan and Miller may have been very different types of men, yet they went through a common experience together. Miller (and many of his men) sacrificed their lives, and by a simple logical calculus it seems strange that they did, but because they did one man survived who would have a whole family. In many ways the ending of Saving Private Ryan is very similar to the ending of Schindler's List. The saving of one life in a war in which at least 60,000,000 people died (Cross, 2004) may seem futile, but in fact it is the most important thing of all. From this simple act of humanity whole generations of people have sprung. So to conclude, Saving Private Ryan presents World War II as a brutal conflict that was fought for the correct reasons. It starts with what is justifiably regarded as the greatest battle scene ever put onto film in which the true horror and near insane barbarism of warfare is presented starkly to the audience. The search for Private Ryan might be seen as a kind of reverse version of Conrad's Heart of Darkness. As Captain Miller and his men travel further into France, they seem to understand more what their task is actually concerned with. Yes, they are searching for one particular man, and on face value their search appears illogical and foolish, but it is what that search represents which makes it worthwhile. There is a need within many war films to condense the nature of warfare down to a few individuals to avoid the enormity of the brutality causing the audience to simply turn away. In this manner Spielberg has admirably contributed to the consideration of World War II that has been increasing in recent years. He neither glorifies this war, nor condemns it:- he seeks to present it as it was, contradictions, paradoxes, brutality and all. ________________________________ Works Cited Brokaw, Tom. The Greatest Generation. Random House, New York: 2004. Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Thrifty, London: 1988. Cross, Robin. World War II. DK Adult, New York: 2004. Gilbert, Martin. The Second World War: A Complete History. Holt Paperbacks, New York: 2004. Spielberg, Steven. Saving Private Ryan. DreamWorks Entertainment. 1998. -----------------. Schindler's List. Dreamworks Entertainment, 1993. Read More