Saving Private Ryan
... many would expect. Instead we see the ordinary man who cares for his troops. Tom Hanks is Lieutenant Miller, a slate-faced, sad-eyed Army Ranger leading his troops into a suicidal raid on Omaha Beach. He is nervous but stays strong to build up the confidence of others. Close up shots to Hanks’ eyes portray the grim, grey thoughts in his mind. As the camera pans the boat gaunt faces tell you how much they have been through yet courageously continue fighting for their county and their pride. Beginning with a tight shot of Miller's shaking hand as the Higgins boats approach shore, the audience becomes a very active participant in the gruesome, heart-wrenching action. A range of techniques used by Spielberg captures the emotions of the troops whilst they await the possibility of death. The visual effects are stunning and exciting; creating a sense of heightened reality that transports the viewer right into the middle of the action. The camera refuses to allow its viewer the safety of distance. We are dragged along overboard, out of the terrifying whiz of bullets and bursts of bombs into the silence of underwater where soldiers struggle to free themselves from heavy packs before rising up to rejoin the ranks as they clamber towards shore. A juddered camera effect creates the first person impression of being one of the terrified troops. The documentary-style hand-held camera ducks, bobs, and lurches with all the terror that our men feel, conveying each gruesome detail with a crispness that sears it on the memory. As the camera pans the scene, the sense of being there, scanning the boat yourself is created. High angle shots show the Germans in place before the terrified troops jump over board. Unlike the hand-held camera, this effect is in a fixed position, not showing the chaos and stress of all the action. The uses of more juddered camera effects show the panic and chaos underwater and on the land as the men continue fighting through. The sudden gasps for breath show the continuous struggles of the brave men. The only vivid colour throughout the entire film is the red of blood. Everything else suffuses into greens and greys. Even the opening and closing image of the gently undulating American flag is washed out, tired, colourless, having been through hell and back. It serves as the curtain that lifts and closes, revealing the murky world of war where nothing is truly black and white. As Lieutenant Miller watches his troops cut down by the hundreds, the film intermittently slows to a crawl and starts again with jarring speed; the sound fades, drops out entirely or roars to a shattering volume-all in an effort to isolate small, telling moments within the chaos of the D-Day invasion. Each battle scene is given this carefully spontaneous treatment, compellingly portraying the chaos of war. These harrowing scenes are a sharp contrast to the opening shots of the film. Commencing with an elderly veteran stepping into an endless sea of white crosses, these opening scenes are in the bright sunlight of present day. As the camera pans the graves we see the mass fields of white crosses in Normandy, France, marking the graves of those who "saved" him and fought alongside him. His heightened emotion and rea...