Saving Private Ryan

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Colin Francis 10.1

Saving Private Ryan.

Analyse the methods used to make the opening battle sequence of 'Saving Private Ryan' both shocking and realistic, and say how effective you find it as an introduction to the film.

'Saving Private Ryan' was first released on September 11th 1998, a joint production from paramount and DreamWorks pictures. It was directed Steven Spielberg whose other famous films include: Jaws (1975); Jurassic Park (1993) and Schindler's List (1993). The main stars of the film are Tom Hanks, Tom Sizemore, Edward Burns, Barry Pepper, Jeremy Davies and Matt Damon. The film won five Academic Awards (Oscars) including best director in 1999. The story is based on the saving of the last remaining Nyland brother during the American Civil War. Steven Spielberg says "The last thing I wanted to do in this picture was use the war simply as a springboard for action-adventure. I was looking for realism all the time." 'Saving Private Ryan' is a war film genre film. However, the film breaks some of the traditional conventions of the war film genre. It is a general conception that in a war film, one man against all the odds manages to single-handedly defeat the adversary. However, in this film there is no individual portrayed as a hero from the opening battle sequence. Spielberg uses a variety of superlative camera shots enhancing dramatic clips,emotions and soldier's perspectives.
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The film begins with and elder World War II veteran, James Francis Ryan, and his family visiting a cemetery in respect of his former comrades. Spielberg uses a medium shot to introduce us to the graves. Immediately we notice most are identical, some are different due to religious reasons. Then it pans into a long shot portraying the amount of lives taken through the war. The music played is to add to the ambience of the proud and sorrowful visit. There also is no dialogue throughout this whole scene. The veteran collapses to his knees in front of ...

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