Journal # 1

Saving Private Ryan film Review

I chose the Movie Saving Private Ryan for numerous reasons;

first of all, I have seen the film numerous times and have a fairly strong knowledge of it. Also, the movie was directed by Steven Spielberg: one of the most respected directors of my lifetime. Furthermore I have an unimaginable amount of respect for the men who are just like the ones in the film, so i like to get the feeling of what they went through. The critic Janet Maslin, is one that I respect not only because she works for the New York Times, but also because i feel she writes with good voice and opinion.

Maslin starts off her review by slashing previous WWII films saying that;

the combat film has disintegrated into a showcase for swagger, cynicism,
obscenely overblown violence and hollow, self-serving victories.

By stating that the quality of other films is very poor, she helps establish a
theme that echoes througout the entire review: that Saving Private Ryan "is the finest war movie of our time"

Janet makes a very good point in noting how Spielberg creates characters that we sympathize with. In all of his movies, we join sides with characters that he creates in part to help add meaning to the film and overall effect.

Just like how Spielberg wanted, Maslin points out how the battle scenes are grusome, but not "numbing". They help portray the emotion that the young men felt but are not overwhelming to the viewer. Numerous shots, as pointed out in the critique, are filled with gorey war actions but at the same time represent something different than the blood itself, the men and what they fought for.

I can only agree with the review when it reads that

Artful, tumultuous warfare choreography heightens the intensity. So do editing
decisions that balance the ordeal of the individual with the mass attack under
way.

The intensity of the opening scenes are immense but indeed add to the realism that is the entire movie. The editing of the war scenes help us feel like we are there with each soldier, and America as one. I applaud her for noting the fact that the camera is placed in numerous locations to establish the setting, the characters, the action, the drama, the histiory, the feelings conveyed, the bullets, the fear and the men involved. She describes this in great detail.

So somehow we are everywhere: aboard landing craft in the throes of anticipatory
jitters; underwater where bullets kill near-silently and men drown under the
weight of heavy equipment; on the shore with the man who flies upward in an
explosion and then comes down minus a leg; moving inland with the Red Cross and
the priest and the sharpshooter; reaching a target with the savagely vengeful
troops who firebomb a German bunker and let the men burn. Most of all, we are
with Capt. John Miller (Tom Hanks)

Aside from the war, she describes another theme that the men are confronted with: sacrifice. the sacrifice of their time, family and life in order to defend their country.

I really like her thoughts on the moral part of the film. How she addresses that the movie was not created to make political stances for or against war. I agree with how she says the movie allows for all different types of P.O.V. to enjoy the film at hand.

This review helped open my eyes to the many levels of appeal that Saving Private Ryan is and also forced me to look at the movie through a different point of view.