War is cruel; it is a nightmare that becomes a reality for people who know about this terrible evil, not by hearsay. People who have faced it, who have felt it deathlike cold breath on their skin will never forget it, as Blunt (2001) says that “not a day goes by in [his] life that [his] thoughts don’t return to 1944-45” (p. vii). We can only hope that we will never face war ourselves. However, to hope is not enough, it is necessary to learn about the greatest mistakes committed by people blinded by the desire to get power, the people like Adolf Hitler, who sacrificed millions of human lives to satisfy his vain desires. Books devoted to the theme of war are perfect sources of priceless experience but war films can be even more impressive as they combine the feelings and visual presentation of the horrible past. Such is the award-winning war film “Saving Private Ryan” (1998), directed by Steven Spielberg. Saving Private Ryan” condemns war as an atrocity against humanity and shows complex feelings of soldiers that range from devotion to cowardice.
First, it is necessary to discuss the first thirty minutes of the film that present the Omaha beachhead assault in 1944 as the scene of the battlefield is a powerful means of the depiction of the nature of combat during World War II. A viewer is not warned either explained anything, he/she simply appears in the boat with Captain John Miller and other soldiers who are ready to start the assault. This detail shows the nature of war and its abruptness when soldiers are given an order and have no other choice than to carry it out. Also, the waves and the water that is red with bold instead of being blue show that losses in killed are so numerous that blood flows like water. One more horrific detail is when Captain Miller is pulling the body of his wounded fellow-soldier, there comes a bomb explosion and he is pulling only half the corpse further. Notwithstanding the literal horror of the situation, it may be interpreted philosophically too. War is tearing people’s lives just as it is tearing their bodies. A soldier should move forward even if the battle takes away everything that is dear to him.
There is a civilian whose role in the film is also very important as this person embodies the whole home front; it is Mrs. Ryan, the mother of three fallen brothers and the one whose rescue becomes a mission of eight other soldiers. A viewer never sees the woman’s face when she is told the news about the death of her three sons, but it is easy to imagine, when one sees that the woman almost faints when she sees the officials who bring the news about tragedies. War brings thousands of “killed in the battle” notices to desperate relatives hoping to hear at least one optimistic word about their sons, brothers, or husbands. Besides, the mother is mentioned in the film several times, when eight soldiers discuss that each of them has a mother and all want to come back home to them. Dying Wade says that he wants to go home, that he wants to see his mother. These are his last words and they show that war becomes an abyss between soldiers on the battlefield and their relatives on the home front.
The main advantage of “Saving Private Ryan” is that it reveals the feelings and emotions of soldiers on the battlefield. Loyalty, self-sacrifice, and fraternal friendship are the main features of American soldiers. Eight people are ready to give their lives for only one to come back home safe and sound. Captain Miller says that if a soldier is given an order, he should never question it but obey and sacrifice his life if it is necessary. The same goes with Ryan who refuses to return home as his “new brothers” will stay on the battlefield risking their lives. The idea of fraternal feelings is also expressed by Blunt, saying about a dead soldier that “this was no stranger; this was one of our own” (Blunt, 2001, p.66).
Though soldiers are depicted as real heroes, human feelings and weaknesses are not alien to them and the same idea was uttered by Blunt and Holmes. Holmes (1918) mentions “some kind of mascot or charm” (p. 4). The film also has several scenes when a soldier is praying or kissing a small crucifix on the chain in hopeless prayer to God. Strong and loyal soldiers also give way to tears as it was in the case with Ryan’s namesake who was told that his brothers had died. Even the leader, Captain Miller is crying when he loses his men, Wade. He also has mercy on “Steam Boat Willie”, a German who will wound him later. As for Upham, this character is shown in a different light: being merciful and just, defending the capitulating German, he shoots him at the end of the film and this is also perfect proof of the evil of war.
Drawing a conclusion, it is possible to state that “Saving Private Ryan” has much in common with the book by Blunt as both of them show contradictory feelings of soldiers, people who sacrifice their lives if the order is given. Though, the film condemns war and reveals its awful nature, just as the books by Holmes and Blunt do, it puts loyalty and self-sacrifice of American soldiers to the forefront.
Reference List
Blunt, R.C. (2001). Foot Soldier. USA: Da Capo Press.
Holmes, R.D. (1918). A Yankee in the Trenches. Boston: Little, Brown, and Company.