In his review of the film “Saving Private Ryan”, N.Cull claims that the film presents… “a realistic depiction of the lives and deaths of G.I’s in the European theatre in world war II”. Do you agree with his assessment of the film? Argue your case.
Shane Ross Webster
N.Cull’s assessment of the film Saving Private Ryan in that it portrays “a realistic depiction of the lives and deaths of G.I’s in the European theatre in World War II” is an accurate one. Director Stephen Spielberg brings to the audience the “sheer madness of war” and the “search for decency” within it. That search ends for a group of soldiers whose mission it is too save Private Ryan. Although the film shows horrific and realistic battle scenes along with historically correct settings and situations with weapons and injuries true to their time, the film’s portrayal of war goes a lot deeper than that. The expressions and feelings of soldiers along with their morals and ideology are depicted unifyingly with the horror of war. The lives and deaths of American soldiers in the immediate part of the invasion of Normandy are illustrated more realistically than ever before. Saving Private Ryan captures the “harsh reality of war as authentically as possible” .
The films historical accuracy of the Omaha beach landing begins with the “angry sea” and the timing of the attack, taking place at dawn. The film starts with Ryan in old age remembering his fallen comrades and then the story goes back in time to the events from there. A group of armed soldiers aboard a transport vessel look almost discarnate as the boat is tossed around the ocean. The soldiers do not pay attention to the orders they are given. (Perhaps a cause of why there is so much confusion and disorganisation upon the beach later).
The Essay on Post-war Soldier And Civilian Expectations Of The British Government
British soldiers and civilians had high expectations of their government following World War 1, most of which did not eventuate. The soldiers needed understanding of their suffering and emotional pains of the war, while the British civilians felt that Germany’s reparations were highly important in the short-term. Employment was a significant issue to both groups, with the soldiers arriving ...
Soldiers are shaking, praying and throwing-up. Historically, seasickness pills were issued out to all troops and yet many were still sick. Having the landing shot at dawn and when the tide was out produced an invaluable sense of reality for the following graphical scenes. Soldiers were able to take cover behind the heavy timbers because the tide was out. Operation Overlord (D-Day) called for the invasion to take place “as close to low tide as possible so that most of the German obstacles and mines could be seen” . Saving Private Ryan represented both the feelings of U.S. soldiers and the beach landing realistically and accurately.
Devastating injuries caused by the “lights of perverted science” were perhaps one of the most horrific outcomes of World War II displayed on and off film. New and increasingly efficient ways of killing had been invented and tanks were used a lot more than in world war I. The use of tanks are seen throughout Saving Private Ryan. Snipers firing on individuals, Automatic weapons, Mortar and artillery shells, transportable guns and mines on beaches are all shown at one point or another as well. Due to the nature of the weapons, soldiers were severely injured, limbs were blown or shot off, people blinded, diseased, hearing impaired and suffered irreversible emotional scaring. The brave medics who deal with these situations found themselves in only increasingly dangerous situations, a lot of which were hopeless anyway. In one scene on the beach landing, wounded are lined along the ground and medics rush to save the life of one of the wounded, but while they patch him up a bullet hits him in the head. The methods that led to soldiers’ deaths along with the agonies they suffered within the European Theatre of World War II were extremely realistic in Saving Private Ryan.
The Essay on Saving Private Ryan World War
The movie "Saving Private Ryan" is not your typical World War II movie. It is about the triumph of the United ... emotions of the audience but the scenes of war and the interactions and dialogue of the soldiers involved. From this movie we get ... S.troops on Omaha beach. The images of war on the beach are horrific as soldier after soldier is mowed down at the hands ...
Allied conquests and aims were depicted accurately in Saving Private Ryan. The aims of the first wave of soldiers were to take the beachhead , which they did (although with a heavier resistance than expected) . As soldiers finally made it across the beach, soldiers then began attacking German strong points . Saving Private Ryan remains consistent even to the point of having the “soldiers throwing themselves to the ground, glad to be rid of their heavy packs” . Parachutists were landed just before the ground invasion so that they could secure vital positions behind the beach landings. “The dark sky was filled with clouds of commandos, and their white parachutes were fixed in the sights of enemy guns” . Ryan himself was a parachutist with similar instructions to hold a bridge necessary for the allies to cross. The accurately developed aims and conquests of the allied army portrayed in Saving Private Ryan, paint a realistic impression of the events throughout the invasion of Normandy.
Saving Private Ryan, presents “a realistic depiction of the lives and deaths of G.I’s in the European theatre in World War II”, Yet, it also has a fictional story line. A small squad of American soldiers with a common ethnic mixture are set on a dangerous mission to find and bring home Private James Ryan whose three brothers have been killed in combat. The films story line may not be true, yet the situations and moral dilemmas brought about from it are. In one scene a soldier takes a child from their family upon their request and is told to return it by his captain. In another scene, a mutiny almost occurs as they question wether or not to kill a German POW. The final scene brings with it a certain truth that some war veterans carry with them. Having the responsibility of living a ‘good’ life and “earning” what others did for them (in terms of sacrifice).
Saving Private Ryan may not be a complete representation of the invasion of Normandy because of its need to provide a storyline and make a profit at the cinemas. Yet its accurate historical detailing enables N. Culls assessment of the film to be “a realistic depiction of the lives and deaths of G.I’s in the European theatre in World War II”
Bibliography
Primary Sources
D. Breger. Private Breger in Britain. London, 1944
The Essay on Saving Private Ryan Squad Mission War
While fighting in a war many unexpected things can happen. In "Saving Private Ryan" Tom Hanks and his squad were givin an unexpected task to retrieve a certain private in the mass amounts of people fighting in the war. The men thought it was a assignment they should not have to do, because they were risking the lives of themselves to rescue one other man. Being forced to go out into this mission ...
J. Robert Slaughter. D-Day, 1944. Source analysis.
Sir W. Churchill. Words at War. June 15, 1940
Secondary Sources
American Historical Review. Vol 103 no 4. October 1998
R. Wolfson. Years of Change 1891-1995. Hudder and Slaughton. London, 1993.
S. Spielberg. Saving Private Ryan: The Men. The Mission. The Movie. http://www80.homepage.villanova.edu/james.dion/over.html 18/09/2001
T. Edwards. D-Day. Wayland Publishers. London, 1975.
