Realism, Historical Truth and the War Film: The Case of Saving Private Ryan

Abstract

Saving Private Ryan has been widely praised for bringing a heightened level of realism to the representation of war. Some even regard it as a landmark in the history of war films, praising Steven Spielberg for recreating battle so realistically as to bring truth to the representation of war. Although the cinematic techniques pioneered in this film have since been widely copied, Saving Private Ryan is still widely recognised as being the best of the `epic battle' films, especially because of the visceral recreation of the landings on Omaha beach, according to one anonymous viewer --- a `byword for war realism'. In order to faithfully recreate the battle of Normandy, Spielberg exploited an arsenal of filmmaking techniques, notably by mimicking the actuality footage that was shot by official military cameramen serving with the Allied armies during the Second World War. But how does Spielberg's representation compare with the scenes recorded in the `real footage' taken by men under fire using basic cameras?