The great power of Saving Private Ryan is how it simply presents war and the effect of war on the men who must bear it. Spielberg restrains from editorializing or preaching a "message" to the audience; instead, he impresses on the audience, most purely, what war really is. The intimate moments of recollection of home are just as heart-wrenching as the large scale war scenes. The simple capture of a petrified prisoner speaks just as loudly as any fighting or explosions. We see what war really means to the men who fight it, not to the politicians who order it, or to the people who critique it, but to the men who live, and often die, by it.
This is the genius of Steven Spielberg. His passion and his vision are so great that they make facts and figures and pictures come alive with arresting emotion. He is telling his story, and how he tells it is why we must hear it. This is great filmmaking at every level.
This Memorial Day, remember the soldiers who make war on behalf of those who can only watch. Through Spielberg's great Saving Private Ryan, let us watch a little more closely.
Article comments
1 - Harry Forbes
I agree completely with you regarding the film's excellence as cinema. What you neglect to mention is that besides its asthetics, the film is also a tribute by Spielberg to the American soldiers who made these sacrifices in order to destroy Nazi Germany.
2 - reggie von woic
Spielberg never disappoints with his movies. I rented both Munich and Schindler's list two weeks ago and though both were a bit too long, they together with Saving Private Ryan will forever remain in my memory.
Ya.