Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Saving Private Ryan is the second film I am going to study. It is a 1998 period film, focusing on the horrors of World War 2, falling under the Action/Drama Genre, screenplay by Robert Rodat, and directed by Steven Spielberg. It is classed as one of the most honest war films, showing exactly what it was like to be living in the conditions that the hundreds of thousands of men and boys lived in whilst fighting for their countries. It follows Captain John H. Miller, played incredibly by Tom Hanks, with 8 other soldiers under his command, on a quest to bring home Private First Class James Francis Ryan (Matt Damon). Alongside Tom Hanks stars Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Adam Goldberg and Jeremy Davis. The film was greatly received, and went on to be nominated for 11 Academy Awards. This is one of many of Spielberg's films to revolve around the theme of World War Two, such as the Indiana Jones series and Schindler's list.

Saving Private Ryan Film Poster, 1998
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The film is influenced by the true stories of soldiers that fought through World War 2. Rodat found inspiration after coming across a memorial for the fallen soldiers of the War in Putney Corners. He read through the list of names, and noticed 8 sibling's names. From this, he researched the war and started to write the storyline. The film's text had to be re-drafted 11 times before producer Mark Gordon shared with Hanks.

Tom Hanks starring as Captain Miller, Matt Damon as James Ryan.
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Throughout the film there are many themes, motifs and symbols, making this film more complex. The strongest theme that runs throughout is courage. Courage is seen by all of the characters, some maintaining their courage throughout, and some lack it at points. Hanks, during the opening seen, leads his battalion onto the shore, all 8 knowing exactly what is ahead of them. He epitomises selflessness, as he fights on to save the life of one man, Private James Ryan. We are allowed to see what makes up most of the characters, but Miller (Hanks) does not let us see him weak. His fear is hidden behind his trembling hands, he will not let on to his fellow troops he is scared, he carries on. Courage is a strong theme, not only in the soldiers, but is also shown in Private Ryan's Mother. She has lost her husband, and three of her sons, leaving only James. She continues to hope and pray for her son's return, and to me that is wholly courageous of her. The character of the Translator, shows both his weak and strong side. Initially, he sits back and lets the Jewish soldier die, scared for his life. His character is seen to grow, and after Hanks is shot by a German soldier, he then goes on to kill him, avenging the death of Miller. The film explores many aspects of courage, and how people act upon it.

Omaha Beach Scene, Saving Private Ryan
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Spielberg uses noise as a motif in the film. The noise in the film provokes emotions from the audience and the characters. Spielberg uses a range in terms of how loud the sounds are, which often puts emphasis on what is happening in the scene. He also uses a lack of noise, for instance in the opening scene, Hanks arrives on shore to the scene of blood and war, and the sound switches from ear-piercing gunshots and grenades to complete silence. This is portraying how Miller is almost mesmerised and confused with the ongoing fighting, but gives the audience an insight to the effects the booming gunshots had on the soldiers. In this part of time, we are Miller, and the noise deafens us to silence. This is a technique used throughout many films, but I have never experienced it work so well as it does in Saving Private Ryan, because we feel as in we are in the character's shoes.  Spielberg uses this motif as well as two others to show how Miller responds to what is going on around him. The noise, with addition of his trembling, and the lack of knowledge about Miller's background, leads the viewer to question whether Miller has been a soldier before, or if he had any experience in the field.
The opening scene sets the theme for the film, with men being killed left, right and centre. Men are being ripped apart by machine guns, dismembered by bombs, drowning in the blood-filled sea, and being set on fire by flame throwers. The audience are thrown into the panic, watching men desperately clutching body parts, or struggling to pull torso's into safety. This nightmare scene is filled with vomit, blood and dismembered body parts. The sense of reality here is mesmerising, everyone is drawn into the manic, and feel like they are experiencing the war first hand. Spielberg did not storyboard this scene, which I feel is how he managed to capture such reality, brutality and natural instinct of war. Spielberg uses a filming technique to enhance this experience of feeling as if we are in the movie, called a Bleach Bypass. It is a printing technique, which leaves the silver grains in the emulsion layer of the film, rather than bleaching them. Therefore, this leaves a desaturation effect as it is adding a layer of black and white to the negative film. The khaki uniforms and sand of the Omaha Beach combined with this desaturation of colour resembles historic photographs, and further puts an emphasis on memory, and bringing the audience closer to the action.

The main symbol in the film is Saving Private Ryan himself. He symbolises what every man is fighting for, each other. It seems bizarre to many of the battalion as to why they are risking their lives for one man, but they all do it anyway, in hope that he would return the favour if it were them. Using Private Ryan as a symbol in the film allows the audience to see the character's own thoughts and opinions as to how valuable James Ryan's life is in comparison to their own. As a result of fighting to find Private Ryan, then men in themselves become symbolic of the millions of men who fought in World War Two. A shot of a flag both opens and ends the film, which to me is another hidden symbol Spielberg to build complexity. It shows the freedom of the people, and how united people are, and what they would do to keep their freedom.

Miller's squadron.
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Captain John Miller

Captain John H. Miller, played by Tom Hanks.
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Captain John H. Miller, is the main protagonist in the film, 'Saving Private Ryan', played by Tom Hanks. The character himself keeps his background to himself, and does not let on to anybody about his past, even when his squadron question him. This implies that he has been in this environment before, and I believe the team cam sense that, as they have the utmost respect for him. In return, he keeps them as safe as he can, and is a true leader. We, as an audience, are not able to see his emotions, like we do with many of the other characters. This makes Miller more interesting for the viewer to watch, as we begin to analyse every move in order to understand his character a little more. The trembling of his hands is one of the only times we are able to see he is very emotionally affected by the war, and that he is finding is just as terrifying and nerve-racking as the millions of other men in the same environment. In the opening scene, he lets out a silent sob, trying to keep face so that the other men in the squad aren't scared. He hides his emotions, not only because he is courageous, but also because he wants to support the group, and does not want them to feel weak or scared. He manages to stay on task with bringing home Private James Ryan, and for that the viewers respect him tremendously. We see throughout the film that he would sacrifice his own life for the life of someone else, and that he is a very selfless man. He develops throughout the film, and although he doesn't say anything about himself, we learn a lot about him. His death is a difficult scene to watch, as much as we obviously don't want him to die, Spielberg is making the audience realise how it didn't matter if you were a hero, you still could die in war, there are no exceptions if you are fighting on the battlefield.

Captain Miller
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There was a huge team of 22 makeup artists and 13 special effects and prosthetic makeup artists used in the film, with Daniel C. Striepeke as Hank's personal makeup artist. Neill Gorton headed the special effects department of 'Saving Private Ryan' at the age of 26 years old. Stuart Conran was responsible for creating around 100 bodies the the infamous Omaha Beach Scene. During an interview he said he holds 'Saving Private Ryan' as one of his favourite film sets to have worked on. "That was really spectacular to see how that was made," he said. "We were working in an aerodrome full of military vehicles with loads of people wandering around in uniforms. It was like we were preparing for war,". ('Special effects star brings to life gory scenes for some of cinema's best horror movies', Brentwood Gazette, Billericay Gazette, 24th June 2011.http://www.brentwoodgazette.co.uk/Special-effects-star-brings-life-gory-scenes/story-12825834-detail/story.html)

Prosthetics and Special Effects Makeup in the film.
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Bibliography
(Pramaggiore, M. and Wallis, T. (2011) Film: A Critical Introduction. Maria Pramaggiore, Tom Wallis. United Kingdom: Laurence King Publishing)