Directed by Steven Spielberg - 1998 poster
I have now watched my 38th Great War Films movie out of a possible 40. I haven't been able to find a DVD of The Steel Helmet (1951) which is Region 2 compatible and not too expensive; and I have bypassed Schindler's List (1993) simply because I baulked at viewing the film. I taught the Holocaust over many years and I simply couldn't face it. Maybe I will watch it after I have viewed the other 49 on the List. It was directed by Steven Spielberg, who only took on the job after noticing that Holocaust deniers were being given serious consideration by the Media.
Of course, Saving Private Ryan is another Spielberg film - and what an epic it turns out to be. When the scene of the solitary veteran standing amongst the hundreds of white war graves, looking down on one particular white cross, falling to his knees with a tear trickling down his face, suddenly changes to the D-Day landing craft approaching Omaha Beach, it catapults the viewer from the serenity of the cemetery into the violent maelstrom of conflict.
Struggling ashore at Omaha Beach
That first half-hour of film depicting the landings on Omaha Beach is terrific - it was shot on Ballinesker Beach, County Wexford and the sequence cost $12 million, with up to 1,500 extras. The latter included members of the Irish Defence Forces and local reenactment groups. The use of hand-held cameras and a montage of close-ups graphically portrayed the terror experienced by the soldiers - some are praying, holding their crosses or beads, others simply vomit. One scoops up earth once he has landed and places it in a tin, to be put next to similar ones marked 'Africa' and 'Italy'. Then there are the deaths and dying - a severed hand or leg; blood pumping from torsos; bullet holes in heads and helmets; the bodies lying next to dead fish in blood-soaked sand. Tom Hanks ((Capt. John Miller, sent to rescue Private Ryan) recalled: the first day of shooting the D-Day sequences, I was in the back of the landing craft, and that ramp went down and I saw the first 1-2-3-4 rows of guys just getting blown to bits. In my head, of course, I knew it was special effects, but I still wasn't prepared for how tactile it was.
On the beach.
No wonder other directors - Robert Altman, Quentin Tarentino, Christopher Nolan - praised the film and admitted they were influenced by it. English actor Richard Todd (The Dam Busters, The Longest Day, etc.) said the film was Rubbish. Overdone. Hmm! That from one of the most wooden of all actors. A more pertinent criticism is that the movie ignored the contributions of several other countries (at Omaha Beach, the 2nd Rangers disembarked from British ships and were ferried ashore by Royal Navy landing craft (LCAs)).
The problem is, how do you 'follow that'; such a powerful opening then descends into a small group searching for a single man. One critic argued that it degenerated into a harmless, uncritical patriotic performance apparently designed to thrill 12-year-old boys...its genre was pure cowboys and Indians, with the virtuous cowboys of course victorious. A trifle unfair. I did smirk a little, though, at one scene: Hanks and his men were making their way cagily across a field and it reminded me of the start of the Dad's Army credits That one soldier was named Upham (they don't like it up 'em Mr. Mannering!) didn't help. I did learn the meaning of FUBAR (fucked up beyond all recognition); I did find the scene of the 'wrong' Ryan being found amusing; I didn't like like the reference to our Field Marshal Montgomery: Monty - that guy's overrated. Hanks replies, No argument here. Whenever Ted Danson appears, I'm afraid it's just Sam in 'Cheers' dressing up.
The final scenes, when Hanks and his men find the real Private Ryan and join up with some paratroopers to defend a key bridge against an imminent attack is well staged The 2nd SS Panzer Division arrive with two Tiger tanks and two Marder tank destroyers with 50 or so supporting infantry. Once again, Spielberg's direction is first-rate and gripping in its intensity.
The last Stand
The fact that it is actually an American P-51 Mustang flying overhead which destroys the bridge, and that it is new American armoured units arriving which routs the Germans, doesn't detract from the outnumbered bravery of Hanks and the others. Moreover, (unlike Tom Cruise) Hanks actually dies, not before telling Ryan to 'earn it'. No wonder the elderly Ryan behaves as he does at Miller's grave in the last scene, which returns to the opening shot. At least half the men of the squad, including Miller, lost their lives to find and protect Ryan. Was it worth it? Not an easy answer to give.
The movie did well at the Box Office, becoming the highest grossing film of 1998 in the USA with $216.8 million. Nominated for 11 Oscars, it won five: Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Sound, and Best Sound Effects Editing. I also thought John Williams' music was spot on. The critics were fulsome in their praise. Roger Ebert called it a powerful experience; James Maslin (New York Times) called it the finest war movie of our time. Many WWII veterans stated that the movie was the most realistic depiction of combat they had ever seen. Spielberg said the paradox that first attracted him to the project was the question, How do you find decency in the hell of warfare?
2016 DVD
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