and kids. This was the turning point for the audience, as they began to become
emotionally involved with the Capt. and eventually lead to what make Saving Private Ryan
such a tragedy.
PFC Jackson and Pvt. Mellish were contradictions in the movie. They were both
religious, but were killing men, and being active participants in the war. PFC Jackson even
considered his sharp shooting talent a gift that god gave him to use against the Germans.
(?If god be for us, then who be for them??)Pvt. Mellish had an extra reason to fight the
war, he was Jewish, and showed his contempt for the Nazi?s, during the scene which took
place at the rally point. As Nazi POW?s walked by, he taunted them with the phrase
?yeuden? which means Jewish in German.
Sgt. Horvath showed his courage at the end of the movie, when they reached Remmell.
?quote about best damn thing about the war? was how he justified the battle, and he
fought to the bitter end. With the German?s heavily dogging the weakened American?s
Sgt. Horvath was shot, and mortally wounded. Knowing this he, told Capt. Miller to move
on and he would hold down the fort on the front line, hoping that his already dying body
might save the lives of his other fellow soldiers.
Pvt. Ryan was also a hero, because of his sense of duty, he stayed to protect the bridge at
Remmell, even in light of his brother?s deaths. He told Capt. Miller right out, that there
was no way that he was going to abandon the rest of his unit.
T/4 Medic Wade was the most compassionate soldier out of the fleet. Having to deal with
death everyday, and having it live or die in his hands made him so conscious about it. So
naturally when the other soldiers began making a game out of dead men?s dog tags, in
front of the Division which they belonged to, he became angry. He stormed up to the men,
and started shoving dog tags into the bag, screaming ?the whole airborne is watching,
don?t you realize that??? The other soldiers didn?t allow themselves to see a dead person
behind every tag, only a name, with no meaning. Spielberg used it to show the various
coping mechanisms used by soldiers to deal with how overwhelming war is.
Cpl. Upham represents youth, and fear. He had never been in a combat situation
before, but because he was tri-lingual, he was forced to acompany the fleet sent to resue
Pvt. Ryan. Through the course of the four days which they were together, the Cpl. learned
many lessons. In the begining it seemed as if he was just a tag along, and not part of the
squad, but as the time wore on, he began to fit in with the other soldiers. (Compassion
with Nazi POW before Remmell ties in with Medic)
was a very young man. Obviously educated, he was tri-lingual, but still had to fight in the
war. During the final combat scene you can relate to what he is feeling, because although
he is not completely, it is like he is a child on the battle field.
Spielberg develops the characters in such a way that you can relate to them. Each
character represents a unique part of everyone?s personality, while remaining believable.
_______ represents childhood and youth, as well as being frightened. ________ represents
defiance. ______ represents thoughtfulness and healing. ______ represents…..
By allowing the viewer to connect with the each of the characters, the feelings that
they have are more strongly felt by the audience. This intensifies the message because the
individual is more involved in the storyline. In total this creates a film which has power,
and Spielberg has definitely accomplished that in the making of ?Saving Private Ryan?
Captain Miller is a human metaphor for determination in Saving Private Ryan. His
reasoning for war, combined with his drive and passion, makes him a mystery. What
profession could this man have other than the Army? It turns out that he is a school
teacher, but his family is what puts the fire in his belly. The
At the beginning of the film Capt. Miller is portrayed as a nose to the grindstone
military man, with only the end of his present mission in sight. But as the movie
progresses, we begin to see the other side of Miller. As the pool on what he does for a
living out of the army grows, and tensions arise about a decision that he makes, we begin
to see the emotional side of him. The deep focus on the mission was not military based as
everyone had thought, but it was so that he could once again return home to see his wife
and kids. This was the turning point for the audience, as they began to become
emotionally involved with the Capt. and eventually lead to what make Saving Private Ryan
such a tragedy.
PFC Jackson and Pvt. Mellish were contradictions in the movie. They were both
religious, but were killing men, and being active participants in the war. PFC Jackson even
considered his sharpshooting talent a gift that god gave him to use against the germans.
(?If god be for us, then who be for them??)Pvt. Mellish had an extra reason to fight the
war, he was jewish, and showed his contempt for the Nazi?s, during the scene which took
place at the rally point. As Nazi POW?s walked by, he taunted them with the phrase
?yeuden? which means Jewish in German.
Sgt. Horvath showed his courage at the end of the movie, when they reached Remmell.
?quote about best damn thing about the war? was how he justified the battle, and he
fought to the bitter end. With the german?s heavily dogging the weakened american?s Sgt.
Horvath was shot, and mortally wounded. Knowing this he, told Capt. Miller to move on
and he would hold down the fort on the front line, hoping that his already dying body
might save the lives of his other fellow soldiers.
Pvt. Ryan was also a hero, because of his sense of duty, he stayed to protect the bridge at
Remmell, even inlight of his brother?s deaths. He told Capt. Miller right out, that there
was no way that he was going to abandon the rest of his unit.
T/4 Medic Wade was the most compassionate soldier out of the fleet. Having to deal with
death everyday, and having it live or die in his hands made him so concious about it. So
naturally when the other soldiers began making a game out of dead men?s dog tags, in
front of the Division which they belonged to, he became angry. He stormed up to the men,
and started shoving dog tags into the bag, screaming ?the whole airborne is watching,
don?t you realize that??? The other soldiers didn?t allow themselves to see a dead person
behind every tag, only a name, with no meaning. Speilberg used it to show the various
coping mechanisms used by soldiers to deal with how overwhelming war is.
Cpl. Upham represents youth, and fear. He had never been in a combat situation
before, but because he was tri-lingual, he was forced to acompany the fleet sent to resue
Pvt. Ryan. Through the course of the four days which they were together, the Cpl. learned
many lessons. In the begining it seemed as if he was just a tag along, and not part of the
squad, but as the time wore on, he began to fit in with the other soldiers. (Compassion
with Nazi POW before Remmell ties in with Medic)
was a very young man. Obviously educated, he was tri-lingual, but still had to fight in the
war. During the final combat scene you can relate to what he is feeling, because although
he is not completely, it is like he is a child on the battle field.
Capt. Miller: tragic hero, complete mission and go home to wife and kids
T / Sgt. Horvath: Right hand man,
PFC Rieben: No emotion helped him cope, would rather be doing something ?useful?
Pvt. Ryan: Hero, wanted to stay and finish his mission
PFC Jackson: a contradiction of terms, religion and war, ?If god is on our side, then who
is fighting for them???
Cpl. Upham: fear, young kid, obviously educated, tri-lingual, really shouldn?t be there, has
a conscious.
T/ 4 Medic Wade: compassion, the dog tags, all the work for nothing when he patches up
a guy, and is immediately shot.
Pvt. Mellish: Jewish, again contradiction of terms, religion and war, the hate that must be
inside of him.
Pvt. Caparzo: compassion, the child that looked like his niece, longing for home,
I think Capt Miller has to go in a separate category, considering the story revolves around
him.
You could also place Sgt. Horvath in with Miller, but needs to be done strategically so
that it does not deter from Miller.
Jackson and Mellish, religion and war together.
Medic and Caparzo, compassionate.
Upham could hold a whole paragraph with the fear aspect as well as the youth at war
concept.
PFC Reiben, could also slide in with the contradiction, using no emotion to cope, instead
of religion.
Other Notes:
50% of the movie footage was shot with the handheld camera.
Minimal Background music, and the battle scenes unscored.
W.W.II history: In 1933, Adolph Hitler became chancellor of Germany and declared
himself ?der Fuhrer? (the leader) ending the existing democratic German government and
making Germany a Fascist nation where no opposition or criticism of the government is
permitted. His Nazi Party began breaking the rules set forth by the Treaty of Versaillies, a
Treaty which restricted . This caused an outcry in Britain, but Neville and Mackenzie King
believed in the policy of appeasement, hoping that that would prevent a war. Hitler used
this to his advantage walking into Czechoslovakia, and later using his position in the
country to take Prague. In doing that, he violated the Munich Pact, and Britain and France
immediately declared war. Hitler then headed for Poland, trying to gain a pathway to East
Prussia, so that he could eventually rule all of Europe. After Poland was taken he set his
sights on Norway, which was taken almost as easily as Poland. The Netherlands, and
Belgium were the next to face the Nazi wrath, as they bombarded in and seized the
country, after the Dutch army surrendered. With the small countries out of the way Hitler
was ready to take on a more ambitious project. On June 14th the Nazi?s gained control of
Paris and on June 16 the French government signed an armistice with Germany. Hitler was
extremely surpassed though that Great Britain did not surrender after the fall of France.
So he approached Churchill about peace between the two, but Churchill would never even
consider the idea. So Hitler carried out a series of air attacks on Britain. After the air
attacks weakened Britain the Nazi?s were supposed to invade, but as the Royal Air Force
mobilized they took down the German planes at a crippling rate. and D-Day was a planned
attack on German forces in France via the English Channel.
When Hitler realized that the Allies were gaining on his troops, he began launching guided
missiles toward Britain, killing many civilian?s and damaging everything. The Allied
Armies moved into Germany in 1945, and after an unconditional surrender of Italy, Hitler
committed suicide to escape capture from the Soviets. The war in Europe was over.
D-day was such an important part of the defeat because the two fronts caused the German
army to divide, allowing the Soviets, and the North American?s to fight against a
weakened army. )
Tom Hanks
determination, perseverance,
Mystery, duty, he?s there to be a soldier, when he gets back home he will be who he was
before.
Spielberg develops each character in a slightly different way.
The way that Captain Miller used gum to stick a mirror on a bayonet to spy on German
sharpshooters, is much like the old-fashioned equipment that editor Michael Kahn lugged
directly to the battle’s filming location. Spielberg refuses to use electronic editing
equipment. He believes that it was the basics that got him to where he is so he is gong to
stick with them. Kahn dragged a Moviola viewer, an Eight Track to the modern day
mini-disc, to the Irish coast, where the invasion was staged. That way, director and editor
could review and splice together footage each day while Kaminski and crew worked on
their shots.