The epic nature of Saving Private Ryan

Every year, important blockbuster films hit theatres. These blockbusters have a profound effect on audiences, and many – like the recent Avatar – go down in history as being unique. But gradually, many blockbusters are forgotten when newer and more advanced films are released. This is a natural process, as people always want more, but I think some very important, epic films become lost in the shift.

Saving Private Ryan is a film that I haven’t watched since its release in 1998, and I hate to admit that I had forgotten about it. I dug it up yesterday when I needed to watch something about D-Day. After I was about 30 minutes in, and had just passed the Omaha Beach scene, I remembered why this film won the Academy Award for Best Director. It’s fantastic in every way. Even though it was filmed roughly 12 years ago, I still felt like I was there, on the beach, in France, witnessing everything along with Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, and Giovanni Ribisi.

The book I’m writing has taken me on a wild carpet ride, and I never imagined that I would be watching and blogging about films as part of the process. It’s incredible how something as simple as a film about war can change my whole attitude and get me in the mood to write. I was both sobered and moved after watching Saving Private Ryan. I sat down at my computer after shutting off the television and promptly wrote 5,000 words. There’s a big difference between reading about D-Day and watching a re-creation of it, and I don’t think the section I wrote would have been as effective if I hadn’t watched a film before writing it.

Steven Spielberg was meticulous with details, and I think he got pretty much everything right. There were a few details that bothered me (like the fact Tom Sizemore labelled his jars of earth with a Sharpie marker, which hadn’t been invented yet), and there were a few instances where equipment was visible and extras were noticeable. But hey, it was a hard film to make.

Spielberg also had the challenge of making a beach in Ireland look like Omaha Beach in Normandy, and I think the end result was very effective. There was absolutely no way that they could film at the actual location. Besides being sacrilegious, seeing hundreds of men dressed in U.S. Army gear jumping off ships and onto the site of what served as Omaha Beach would confuse the pants off of and probably scare the daylights out of any French citizen who happened to be walking by. Talk about post-traumatic stress disorder at its finest... Geez.

The acting in the film was solid from beginning to end. Tom Hanks did a fantastic job, although I initially had a hard time picturing him as a hardened army Captain. This is Tom Hanks. Forrest Gump. He’s a third cousin, four generations removed, of former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. He seems too nice and too regal to be a bad ass military guy.

However, I did believe in his character by the end of the film. The rest of the cast was also phenomenal, and I was even impressed with Vin Diesel’s performance (which is saying a lot).

In total, Saving Private Ryan was nominated for eleven Academy Awards. It won five. Steven Spielberg won his second for Best Director (the first being Schindler’s List in 1993, a film I am watching next week). Other wins included Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Editing, and Best Sound. Tom Hanks was nominated for Best Actor, but he lost to Roberto Benigni of Life is Beautiful. Edward Norton was also nominated for his performance in American History X. That must have been close, because each of those men delivered dynamite performances. The film was also nominated for Best Picture, but it lost to Shakespeare in Love.

Before I end this blog post, I believe it’s important that people understand why D-Day was so important. I do have a history degree, and I do love to talk, so I’m going to provide a 60 second lesson about the background...

D-Day, formally referred to as Operation Overlord, commenced on June 6, 1944, in the wee hours of morning. Roughly 195,000 personnel and 7,000 ships landed on five beaches along the Normandy coastline, which were codenamed Juno, Gold, Sword, Omaha, and Utah. Additional troops parachuted behind German lines, in an attempt to weaken their defences from the rear.

Of all five beaches, Omaha acquired the highest number of casualties. This was because their beach was the most difficult. It wasn’t flat, like Juno Beach (where we Canadians were sent to kick some ass). There was a high point opposite to the coastline, meaning that the Germans had high ground. They literally wiped out American troops with machine guns as they tried to get off the ships and dash for cover.

In total, on all of the beaches, there were roughly 9,000 casualties. 2,000 of those casualties were on Omaha Beach, and roughly 1,200 Canadians fell on Juno Beach (out of the 14,000 that landed).

Operation Overlord was overall a huge success, and gradually led to the fall of Hitler’s Nazi Regime. D-Day is referred to as “the beginning of the end of the Second World War,” which is exactly what it was. The Allies slowly made their way towards Berlin from the West, liberating citizens of occupied countries as they went. The Russians made headway and then defeated the Germans in the East. In the end, it was a race to Berlin from two directions, and Hitler knew all was lost.

Benito Mussolini, the dictator running Italy, was Hitler’s ally. On April 27, 1945, Mussolini was captured while trying to flee the country. He was executed the following day, and his body was hung along with six others at a gas station for the public to view. Hitler was terrified he would suffer the same fate. Therefore, on April 30, 1945, he married his mistress, Eva Braun, in his bunker in Berlin. Then, they both committed suicide. Germany began to surrender around the globe on May 1. Victory in Europe Day (V-E Day) was on May 8, 1945, when the news of Germany’s surrender became known across the globe.

So, that’s the long answer of why D-Day is important. Even though Saving Private Ryan wasn’t based on a true story that took place during the Second World War, it was realistic, heartfelt, and clearly portrayed the grisly environment the soldiers faced. I recommend everyone watches it again, because this film is a masterpiece.