World War II Films and Philosophy
I finally watched Saving Private Ryan today. What a powerful movie. I’m actually kind of glad that I didn’t see it in the theater – it was very moving to see, but I think it would have been even more overwhelming if I had seen it ten feet high in the dark with no distractions. I almost had the opportunity to see it when it came out – my dad picked me up one weekend when I came home from school in Milwaukee, and it was playing at a second run theater. I was the only person in the family who would go see it with him, but when we got to theater, it had stopped showing, despite what the sign outside said. So, six years later, I finally saw it.
I had heard about the first twenty minutes and the graphic carnage it showed of the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach. It lived up to its reputation. The senselessness of war became obvious as I watched the men try to get on the beach and just die, creating piles of bodies. I had heard about the beaches being washed with blood, but the movie made it real. The moments of silence – as I later learned were supposed to be Tom Hank’s character’s moments of deafness – seemed poignant and almost worse than hearing the whiz of bullets and explosions. What I imagined was going on was almost worse – and it seemed to point out the hopelessness of war, how it doesn’t make any sense.
The second act – when Hanks and company go off in search of Private Ryan – proved to be the typical narrative of a WWII movie. Although, I might say, it was rather refreshing to have average, normal, what I would think are representative soldiers, instead of a cast of characters like many of my other favorite WWII movies (The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, etc.). I read Ebert’s review of the movie afterwards, and I thought his observation that the translator (who I totally thought was Henry Thomas – he and Jeremy Davies could be twins!) was the point of entry for him into the movie. I agreed – I felt that if I were in a war, I would be the civilian unprepared for the realities of actual fighting. His confusion with the war – and especially his expectations for the company to accept him – gave me a way to understand how to come to terms with the rest of the film.
The third act – after Ryan is found and the company defends the bridge was probably the most interesting. After recently seen The Bridge of the River Kwai, I found this part of protecting a bridge fairly interesting. And I began to identify the characters more strongly – they had actually bonded before the Germans came. I understood the fighting in vague terms – what they were trying to defend and how their movements affected one another. Although I was slightly disturbed by my reaction to the translator’s inability to fight with the Germans – I kept urging him to go upstairs and save his comrades. Well, this wasn’t a Hollywood movie, and he couldn’t manage to pull himself together until it was too late.
Saving Private Ryan was a great movie – one that I don’t think I will soon forget. It makes me think about war differently, although I still believe that WWII is the main touchstone of the 20th century for Americans. It is hard to watch a movie about a war right now and not think about the differences between back then and the war we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Things seemed so much clearer back then – the enemies were more black and white – you were either Axis or Allies, German or American. WWII seems to be a war that we as Americans keep going back to, perhaps because it has an ending that is easily understood. Good triumphed over evil. WWII was also so well documented, even as the war was going on, Hollywood made films to inspire those on the homefront. I’m always a fan of watching the Memorial Day marathons on various cable channels, and the amount of WWII movies always outnumbers WWI and all the other various wars or conflicts that the US has fought in. Perhaps going back to WWII and creating fiction out of the facts makes us hope that we can create some understanding out of the wars fought afterwards – that understanding reasons for a war that is clearer can help us understand why the more confusing wars were fought afterwards.
But enough philosophy for now -- I loved the use of color in the movie. It was washed out and felt real. The use of handheld cameras for the beach scenes and most of the combat scenes made it feel less like a Hollywood movie made in the 1990s harkening back to 1944, but as if it could have been a documentary, that a camera crew followed the search for Private Ryan. The opening and closing shots of the transluscent American flag was just right. Seeing Saving Private Ryan makes me question how Shakespeare in Love managed to win the Best Picture Oscar over this film. I have no doubt which one will be more talked about fifty years in the future -- and it will not have Ben Affleck in it.
I had heard about the first twenty minutes and the graphic carnage it showed of the D-Day landing at Omaha Beach. It lived up to its reputation. The senselessness of war became obvious as I watched the men try to get on the beach and just die, creating piles of bodies. I had heard about the beaches being washed with blood, but the movie made it real. The moments of silence – as I later learned were supposed to be Tom Hank’s character’s moments of deafness – seemed poignant and almost worse than hearing the whiz of bullets and explosions. What I imagined was going on was almost worse – and it seemed to point out the hopelessness of war, how it doesn’t make any sense.
The second act – when Hanks and company go off in search of Private Ryan – proved to be the typical narrative of a WWII movie. Although, I might say, it was rather refreshing to have average, normal, what I would think are representative soldiers, instead of a cast of characters like many of my other favorite WWII movies (The Dirty Dozen, The Great Escape, etc.). I read Ebert’s review of the movie afterwards, and I thought his observation that the translator (who I totally thought was Henry Thomas – he and Jeremy Davies could be twins!) was the point of entry for him into the movie. I agreed – I felt that if I were in a war, I would be the civilian unprepared for the realities of actual fighting. His confusion with the war – and especially his expectations for the company to accept him – gave me a way to understand how to come to terms with the rest of the film.
The third act – after Ryan is found and the company defends the bridge was probably the most interesting. After recently seen The Bridge of the River Kwai, I found this part of protecting a bridge fairly interesting. And I began to identify the characters more strongly – they had actually bonded before the Germans came. I understood the fighting in vague terms – what they were trying to defend and how their movements affected one another. Although I was slightly disturbed by my reaction to the translator’s inability to fight with the Germans – I kept urging him to go upstairs and save his comrades. Well, this wasn’t a Hollywood movie, and he couldn’t manage to pull himself together until it was too late.
Saving Private Ryan was a great movie – one that I don’t think I will soon forget. It makes me think about war differently, although I still believe that WWII is the main touchstone of the 20th century for Americans. It is hard to watch a movie about a war right now and not think about the differences between back then and the war we are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. Things seemed so much clearer back then – the enemies were more black and white – you were either Axis or Allies, German or American. WWII seems to be a war that we as Americans keep going back to, perhaps because it has an ending that is easily understood. Good triumphed over evil. WWII was also so well documented, even as the war was going on, Hollywood made films to inspire those on the homefront. I’m always a fan of watching the Memorial Day marathons on various cable channels, and the amount of WWII movies always outnumbers WWI and all the other various wars or conflicts that the US has fought in. Perhaps going back to WWII and creating fiction out of the facts makes us hope that we can create some understanding out of the wars fought afterwards – that understanding reasons for a war that is clearer can help us understand why the more confusing wars were fought afterwards.
But enough philosophy for now -- I loved the use of color in the movie. It was washed out and felt real. The use of handheld cameras for the beach scenes and most of the combat scenes made it feel less like a Hollywood movie made in the 1990s harkening back to 1944, but as if it could have been a documentary, that a camera crew followed the search for Private Ryan. The opening and closing shots of the transluscent American flag was just right. Seeing Saving Private Ryan makes me question how Shakespeare in Love managed to win the Best Picture Oscar over this film. I have no doubt which one will be more talked about fifty years in the future -- and it will not have Ben Affleck in it.
posted by Rebecca at 9:35 PM
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