Saving Private Ryan
Steven Spielberg’s master piece Saving Private Ryan earned itself 5 academy awards, including the best director award in 1998. The all star cast starring Tom Hanks and Matt Damon brings to life the horror of war. Seen through the eyes of a squad of American soldiers, the story begins with World War 2’s historic D-Day invasion, and then moves beyond the beach as the men embark on a dangerous special mission. Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) must take his men behind enemy lines to find Private James Ryan, whose three brothers have been killed in combat. Faced with impossible odds, then men question their orders. Why are eight men risking their lives to save just one? Surrounded by the brutal realities of war, each man searches for his own answer-and the strength to triumph over an uncertain future with honour, decency and courage.
Through the use of setting, lighting and close-ups, Spielberg is able to create a sombre tone. The scene is set in time as the Invasion of Normandy has begun, with bloodied bodies strewn everywhere. As machine-guns fire mercilessly into the bodies of the soldiers as they make their way forward into German defences. Bodies are ripped apart (a soldier holds his exposed intestines), limbs fly in the air (a soldier bends down to pick up his lost arm), bodies catch fire, and the ceaseless unnerving rattle of gun fire, represent a stunningly powerful and vivid experience for the film’s viewers. The intense and fearful exhilaration created by a freely and rapidly moving camera is central.
In the final moments of the scene, the camera captures this feeling of emptiness and sadness when it pans across the beach to reveal the hundreds of bodies sprawled out while the waves keep coming, red with blood. The lighting of the scene also build up to this feeling of sadness, as the background always seems to be filled with clouds, smoke and fire, blocking out the sun and the warmth which comes with it. The lighting used in the scene also seems to symbolise
Through the use of setting, lighting and close-ups, Spielberg is able to create a sombre tone. The scene is set in time as the Invasion of Normandy has begun, with bloodied bodies strewn everywhere. As machine-guns fire mercilessly into the bodies of the soldiers as they make their way forward into German defences. Bodies are ripped apart (a soldier holds his exposed intestines), limbs fly in the air (a soldier bends down to pick up his lost arm), bodies catch fire, and the ceaseless unnerving rattle of gun fire, represent a stunningly powerful and vivid experience for the film’s viewers. The intense and fearful exhilaration created by a freely and rapidly moving camera is central.
In the final moments of the scene, the camera captures this feeling of emptiness and sadness when it pans across the beach to reveal the hundreds of bodies sprawled out while the waves keep coming, red with blood. The lighting of the scene also build up to this feeling of sadness, as the background always seems to be filled with clouds, smoke and fire, blocking out the sun and the warmth which comes with it. The lighting used in the scene also seems to symbolise