Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Directed by: Steven Spielberg | 170 minutes | action, drama, war | Actors: Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Adam Goldberg, Vin Diesel, Giovanni Ribisi, Jeremy Davies, Matt Damon, Ted Danson, Paul Giamatti, Dennis Farina, Joerg Stadler, Max Martini, Harve Presnell, Leland Orser

Director Steven Spielberg once again shows his mastery in this strong war film and once again underlines that he is one of the greatest directors of all time, who can hold his own in all kinds of disciplines. When three brothers of the Ryan family have died in the war phase that can be described – freely according to Churchill – as “the beginning of the end”, the top of the American army, through General George C. Marshall (Presnell) decides that the fourth brother is allowed to return home. The problem is that this soldier Ryan has been dropped somewhere in France with the 101st airborne division and they have no idea where he is. To find Ryan, Captain John Miller (Hanks) is assigned, who assembles an eight-man squad and heads into the country.

The film is structured in three parts: the first part is the landing of American troops on Omaha Beach on June 6, 1944: D-Day. The second part is the search for Private Ryan behind enemy lines, in which the eight-strong group ends up in different situations and is severely thinned. Finally, the third part is what the soldiers do when they actually find Ryan. Most of the emphasis in reviews of the film is on the violent, shocking first part of the film, which shows the Rangers landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day. Without compassion and in a documentary-like style, it portrays the sacrifices the Allies had to make to liberate Europe. Largely through the eyes of Hanks, we make the invasion of Hitler’s ‘Fortress Europe’ and the storming of the Atlantic Wall. The initial waves of attack are pretty much massacred and there are several horrific moments that stick with you, from the soldier picking up his severed arm, the flamethrower exploding, burning men alive, the soldier being gutted mother calls, it shows plainly how filthy and merciless war really is. And so there are some very disturbing and impressive scenes that sometimes make it difficult to keep watching.

Once the beachhead is consolidated by the Americans, there will be a quieter period in which we get to know Miller and his group of soldiers better. While the team members may appear templates at first glance: the trusty sergeant Horvath (Sizemore), the pacifist medic Wade (Ribisi), the tough guy from New York Reiben (Burns) or the ranch from outside Jackson (Pepper), the actors know it. characters of flesh and blood. The translator Uppham (Davies) is called in at the last minute. His complex role as a wimp who knows war only from books and poems makes it clear once again that the US military at the time was not a professional army of GI Joe’s, but an army of civilians forced by the megalomaniac ambitions of Japan and Nazi Germany. to take up arms. The soldiers’ reactions to the different situations they encounter are realistic and show a different side of the Second World War than we are used to. It does seem to be Spielberg’s motto here that no good deed goes unpunished, because some choices come back like a boomerang later in the film – and absolutely not for the better. In the end, despite their losses, the men manage to find Private Ryan (Damon). in a small French village. The only question is whether they’ll be able to save him too, as Ryan waits for a German attack and Miller decides to add his team to the village’s defenders. This results in a chaotic and bloody final battle.

As mentioned, ‘Saving Private Ryan’ mainly talks about the storming of Omaha Beach, but the strength of the film is not in the visual violence of the first twenty minutes. It’s a combination of factors that make this a masterpiece. Rodat’s intelligent screenplay, for example, that knows how to put all the cogs in exactly the right place, or Kaminksi’s unsurpassed camera work. The faded images and the “hand held” camera, which sometimes even splashes blood, give the feeling of being in the middle of the battle, and later in the film there are quite a few beautiful shots, which are only visible on a second look. striking how special they really are. The acting is also top notch across the board. In small roles, Farina, Diesel, Danson and Giamatti pop up, each making the most of the limited time they have in the film. Especially the interaction between Hanks and his men and later also with Damon is very strong and credible. Orser, who often plays a nerve, manages to portray the tragedy and absurdity of the war in his monologue as the pilot of a landing plane that has crashed.

The film deservedly won several Oscars, including best director for Spielberg and cinematography for Kaminski (who previously won for “Schnindler’s List”). Hanks made a mistake and lost to Roberto Benigni for best actor. It’s best not to mention this, even though Hanks already had two statues at home. It also ended with nominations for “Best Picture” and “Best Original Screenplay”, which were won by the light-hearted and funny ‘Shakespeare in Love’. Although that film was also very strong and the screenplay was full of clever references, there is still something to argue about. The fact remains, however, that ‘Saving Private Ryan’ is one of Spielberg’s best films (and the good man has made so many) and a career highlight for those who worked on it.