Saving Private Ryan

Images of war are always haunting. The opening 24-minute sequence

of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN is memorable for its portrayal of the loss

of human life as well as the magnitude of the devastation of the

D-Day invasion. Knowing it is 24 minutes helps a bit since the

action is disturbing and seemingly endless. As quickly as it rolls,

it ebbs and then fires back at you. There is chaos and there is

fear. Both consume you.

Sitting in the theatre I thought about the vast number of books and

movies which have been written/made about this war. I thought about

all the references in books --- fiction and non fiction --- which

have been influenced by this war. My own personal favorites have

always been THE WINDS OF WAR and WAR AND REMEMBRANCE. I recall

devouring the books and watching each of the mini-series programs

with rapt attention.

Saving Private Ryan is something different. There is no romance.

There is a constant hardness to the film which makes it chilling;

there is no relaxing during this movie. Shot after shot is

beautifully done, if such a thing is possible in a film so packed

with horror and loss. Constantly I was seeing the images as stark

photos rather than just movie images.

The companion book to the movie from Newmarket Press --- SAVING

PRIVATE RYAN --- includes historical references as well as

background on the making of the film. Reading the comments from

Janusz Kaminski --- the movie's cinematographer --- explained a lot

to me. He defined the process which created the semi-documentary

scenes that moved me. The photos on the pages which accompany his

remarks show the shots in both full color and then desaturated

about 60% --- the way we see them in the film. This desaturation

process gives the footage the burned-out