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 Steven Spielberg& Robert Rodat
 Plot
 Music
 Editing
 Cast
 Message to the Viewer

2

 Genre: Action Drama History
 1998, Steven Spielberg
 Won 5 Oscars
 Mixture of history(loosely based)
and fiction
 Portrays WWII as it really was:
very realistic portrayal of war
 About brotherhood, courage,
sacrifice and leadership

3

• Born in 1946, Cincinnati,
Ohio, USA
• Most famous movies
• First movies :WWII
• Jaws(1975)
• Close Encounters of the Third Kind
(1977)
• Raiders of the Lost Ark(1981)
• E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
• Schindler‟s List(1993)
• Jurassic Park (1993)

4

 Very interested in WWII
• Escape to Nowhere (1961), which
featured children as World War Two
soldiers
• Battle Squad (1961)
• Empire of the Sun (1987)
• Saving Private Ryan (1998)
 Started the „summer blockbuster‟
concept with Jaws
 Pioneered in special effects and
product placement (E.T. And
Reece‟s Pieces: peanut butter
flavored candy)

5

 Screenwriter
 Inspired to write the movie
 Loosely based on moving
story of the Niland brothers: 4
brothers , 3 killed in the same
week, all in different units:1
alive
 Sullivan brothers: 5 brothers
killed in action
 All served on the same vessel

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 4 out of 3 brothers KIA(killed in
action)
 Mother is going to be told of the
losses all on the same day
 A group of rangers sent to find
the only remaining Ryan brother

7

 Opening scene: American flag
 Old WWII veteran visiting a
cemetry in France (French flag)
 The beginning and ending scenes
of the film mirror each other
 Start and wrap up the film very
well

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toipOBs5oos : opening
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 John Williams: Military music
 Album Saving Private Ryan: won
Grammy Award for Best
Instrumental Composition
Written for a Motion Picture or for
Television
 Level of respect well portrayed by
the music
 Only 1hr of the movie has film
 „break‟for the viewer: can soak up
what is happening(creates
atmosphere)
 None during battle scenes: sound
editing made a realistic atmosphere
with bombs and bullets flying at the
viewer

9

Editing
 Many close ups + medium shots: show
the suffering
 Tracking shots mixed with long shots
often used to follow battle scenes and
the soldiers
 Battle scene: Top 10 battle scenes of all
time
 Omaha Beach D-Day, 6th June 1944
 Shocked audiences: shaky, hand held
cameras, desaturated colour(grey,black,red),
sea-sick soldiers, near suicidal assaults:
documentary feel
 Makes a cruel joke of the human body and
spirit: what is human life worth?
 “sickening sense of realism” (doesnt spare
the viewer: gory, violent)
 Spielberg terrifies the viewer:
 shows what happened in the past
 Could also be a warning for future
generations

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFQIuF590B4&feature=
: battle scene

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 Capt. John
H. Miller
(Tom Hanks)
 Well
respected by
his rangers
 He is a good
leader with a
good heart,
but closed
about his
personal life

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 Great Leader: tactfully leads the men
on during D-Day.
 Breaks up a fight between Horvath
and Reiben not by orders, but by
telling something about his personal
life
 Admits Ryan is just a name,but if this
mission gets him to his wife, then he
will carry on
 He is just as tormented by the war as
the lower-ranked privates, but never
shows it (weeps for Medic Wade in
solitude)
 Good heart:Upham convinces him
not to kill a surrendered German
soldier

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEzNY0SLUUM:
I‟m a school 12

 Self controlled- required to make
good decisions as a leader
 Brave and honorable
 Human: sense of humor
weeps (although in
solitude)
 Multi-dimensional character:
 On the one hand is closed up as
leader(cant get too attached to him)
 Later on, he confesses to his men he will
do whatever it takes to get back home to
his wife
 Initially seems dedicated to his mission
 Later, he confesses he just wants to get
home: makes him a character the
audience can relate to

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 Richard
Reiben
(Edward Burns)
 Survivor of D-Day
 Hand picked by
Miller for saving
Ryan
 Attempts to return
to American lines:
Miller convinces
him to stay
 Most vocal:
cynicaland
sacrastic about
their mission
 Doesnt believe 8
men‟s lives should
be risked for one
random stranger,
no better than any
of them
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 Private
Jackson
(Berry Pepper)
 Talented sniper:
brave
 strongly
religious: religion
is the only thing
keeping him
going – but even
his religion doesnt
save him
 Contrast:very
religious but
nothing loving
about him:
ruthless
 Irony: quoting the
Bible,
simultaneously
slaughtering
dozens
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 Mike
Horvath
(Tom Sizemore)
 Miller relies
most on him to
lead the crew

 Horvath
convinces
Miller to stay
and fight
alongside the
stubborn Ryan:
this could turn a
negative
situation into
something
positive

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 Timothy
Upham
(Jeremy Davies)
 Translater: never
been deployed in
battle before
 Viewer can identify
with him: coward
 Most soldiers were
civilians not
prepared for what
combat would bring
 War can turn people
into monsters:
turning point when
he kills a
surrendered German
in cold blood (who
just killed his
comrade)

17

 Private
Mellish
(Adam Goldberg)
 Jewish
soldier:fighting
Hitler and the
Nazi‟ss
 Is handed a
Hitler Youth
knife by
Caparzo
 Proclaims it a
Shabbat(like the
Christian
Sunday: day of
rest) challah
cutter (Jewish
Holly bread)

18

 Adrian
Caparzo
(Vin Diesel)
 Has a tough guy
act in the
beginning
 Killed first while
trying to save a
little French girl:
she reminded
him of his niece

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 Medic
Wade
(Giovanni Ribisi)
 Quiet and soft
spoken: always
eager to help
fallen comrades
 Tells his personal
story: his mother;
regrets avoiding
her as a child:
sends a message
to be kinder to
your family as
you never know
when you will be
snatched away
from them

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 Private
Ryan
(Matt Damon)
 Brave and
courageous:
refuses to leave
behind his new
and only
„brothers‟ at the
Bridge
 Will fight on
and survives :
the mission was
worthwhile
 He earns his
rescue

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 Although he
doesnt become
famous by
“inventing a
lolnger lasting
light bulb or
inventing
something”, he
fulfills a good
life
 Proof: Good
husband, father
and grandfather
(his family loves
him enough to
go with him to
see the
fallens‟graves in
France all the
way from
America)

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 What is a human life really worth?
 8 men‟s lives are risked for one, a
complete stranger to all of them
 Main protagonists do not beleive
rescuing Private Ryan has
anything to do with winning the
war
 Characters are multi-dimensional:
many sides to a man(Upham the
translater, Miller)
 “Earn this… ”
Ryan, and the viewers, must
strive to be worthy of the
sacrifices made by those who have
suffered: make those losses
worthwhile

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 Personal identity (all characters
remain their own individuals)
Title: “Saving Private Ryan”suggests
that too
 Family is importan
 goes with the old veteran to support
him;
 Try to spare the only son a mother has
left

 Belonging to a group &brothership
(dont care about Ryan; he‟s not a
part of the squad and hasnt earned
his right to be saved)
 Schindler‟s List: humans are the
villains, but here , not so much the
Germans, but War itself

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 Non-Utilitarianism: Miller
 Just wants to end the mission so he
can get back home: only cares for
himself and not about Ryan(a
stranger)
 Utilitarianism: Jackson, Reiben,
Horvat and even Ryan
 Defend the greater good for the
greatest number of people
 Miller: Also argues the number of
men he loses during battle are to save
10, or 20 times as many

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