This film is not for the faint hearted. I offer my condolences to those simply too squeamish to see it. Apart from the fairly nostalgic scene at the prelude, the film is a frenzied denomination of disembarking terror, as Captain Miller (Tom Hanks) leads a group of star crossed troops to certain death. And guess what: most of them do die.
In spite of the difficulties they face, they delve into the dense depths of Normandy, to liberate one man. Steven Spielberg: “wanted the audience to feel the same as the green recruits”. And he certainly did just that. The events that follow seem to be much like a rhapsody, and also they seem to be just intense snap shots of de bâcle.
Anyway, this psychobabble isn’t getting us anywhere. The men seemingly lay down their lives in a frantic attempt to re-energise their hopes of saving the one man that can liberate them from total annihilation, and, in short, nothing worse than hell.
But is that statement even true? For all we are told, Ryan is just a namby pamby mummy’s boy who needs to get home ASAP. Of course, if that doesn’t happen, then he may get his brand-spanking new private’s uniform dirty. And I don’t think that any of us would ever want that to happen. But even the best of friends fight, even through a rescue mission. Alas, the troop’s experience some social discomfort, which may even slow them down from saving Saint Ryan who guards the gates to hell-umm-heaven...I meant heaven.
In between the random funny moments (and the just plain weird plank that seems to open a gateway for a hit squad of German soldiers) death and destruction also has its part to play, seeping in through the nooks and crannies of friendship, and in some cases, common sense. So enjoy the cheap idioms and puns while you can, even though most of them are not even punny.
The group’s saviour in times of need, the much hailed sniper, Barry Pepper, seems to have a way with words. That is, of course, until he blasts them out of the adversary’s head. Permanently. As he takes his post in the beginning parts of the film, we get to see a close up of his face, and now it’s our turn to look down the barrel of the gun, but also we see an eye, although part hidden by doubt, we can still the fear and certainty of death that resides there. As he prays for strength, he realises that he is doomed. If you didn’t know, in this context, doomed=dead. (Like we didn’t expect them to die anyway!)
Back to another camera angle, a deliciously gruesome one, which they have picked to show off his death, as he explodes in a spectacular fireworks display. That was my only highlight of the entire film for two reasons: one, it was very good camera work, two, I didn’t like the sniper guy (Jackson) anyway. It’s hard to believe that just moments before he was the one killing people.
Now, we go on to the music. Ah. I’m afraid to say that John Williams is getting old and senile (Just like Spielberg). His music is grey and insensitive (just like Spielberg’s hair). So dull and bland, that I cannot even remember part of the music to describe it to you. In an interview, Spielberg told us that his father told him stories of war. In my opinion, Spielberg did not listen very well. And hence, this is why he created a world of war that void of emotion and realism. Also, the music, it did not even have the ethereal magicality of Schindler’s list. Actually, it sounded more like an out of tune violin combined with nails on a chalkboard with use of a very old sound program. (Older, in fact, than Spielberg). Actually, both the former and the latter comparisons are better than the music for the film.
But let’s go back to the beginning of the film. Do you really want to waste 20 minutes watching people die? And if they do survive, their limbs end up getting blown off. After that piece of simple gore, we are made to realise the monotonous plots. Suddenly, the film version of Harry Potter and the Order of The Phoenix doesn’t seem to bad, does it? (I only meant the subplots, the rest of the film is too appalling to describe). And, hey presto, the plot is:
8 MEN SAVE ONE MAN
That should have been read in a monotonous voice. We may as well get some shut-eye now as that’s the plot the entire way through.
And talking of men, where are all the women in this film? Did they not have a part to play? It is quite clear that where sweaty male soldiers lie, interesting subplots do not. It is typical in war films. (Cough cough cough). I mean, even Schindler’s list was worse than this (cough wink nudge).
When we see Adam Goldberg, portraying the Jewish Private Mellish, weep to the heavens as he casts his eye on a Hitler youth knife-WOW-real sentimentality,-no, it is revealed to us that it is just another object of murder. The next time we see this knife, it is buried in Mellish’s chest. Spielberg has to relate it all to death, doesn’t he? The knife that broke his heart once did it again, albeit now, the meaning was quite literal.
Actually, we may as well stab ourselves now, as watching the film would probably have the same effect. It’s all like a tragic melodrama, but without the mellow. (Actually it really isn’t that dramatic either, as we expected them to die anyway). The film does not even have the otherworldly touch of ET, though it does have double helpings of Tom Hanks’ and Barry Pepper’s good looks, even though they probably look worse and act worse than ET anyway. For all of the 53 nominations it achieved, to me it’s just another director trying (and failing) to portray a war.
Verdict:
Spielberg: you should have stuck to sci-fi.
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