Translating the War

A.      I agree with the article when it talks about the level of realism in the violence shown in the movie. It is hard for producers to know what is too far and when dial down violence but be able to still make a moving war film. Producers and directors want their films to be remembered and a good way to do this is through violence and action but they struggle to find what is right and what is too much.

B.      It is hard to find something in the article that I “disagree” with due to the fact that it is mostly factual and there really isn’t a opinion section that I can either agree or disagree with. It talks about the themes shown through the movie Saving Private Ryan and why those themes are important or what they show about Americans in general. It also talks about its ability to do this as well as its ability to show the feelings of people involved in the war. The film does a great job of showing all of these things and that is what the article points out so it is hard for someone to sit down and look for something to “disagree” with.

C.      Whenever I watched Saving Private Ryan, I never looked at it to take some moral lesson away or that it so easily and masterfully portrayed the feelings of the soldiers in the war. It shows the politics surrounding the war and the good honest men that are forced to carry out their orders but do it with no hesitation. Whenever I watched it I just looked at it as another good war movie and decided that it was one of my favorites. Now when I watch it I can see all of the ideas that the director wanted to show the audience and that has brought the movie to a whole another level for me.

D.      This article along with this class has taught me to look beyond the special effects and look deeper for what the movie is trying to say about society or themes. I now look at movies as more than just something for entertainment. Behind every movie is a true event that inspired it or some other theme that I can learn from. This makes movies more enjoyable for me and I can now go into a movie looking to learn something rather than sit back and get caught up in the drama of the movie itself.

The Fog of War vs Saving Private Ryan

The Fog of War teaches the viewer much more than Saving Private Ryan.  The two differ majorly because one is a documentary which contains facts and opinions from people who were actually there where the other takes overly exaggerated and patriotic stories and ideas and turns them into a product meant to entertain instead of educate. This does not mean that we cannot learn from them however. The themes portrayed and the values shown were pretty common of the time period. In Saving Private Ryan a platoon searchers for a single soldier to tell him that he may leave and go home. Along the way the platoon shows comradery and bravery. Underneath the very patriotic shell shown, many soldiers would go to great depths to save others.

                Also both films to a great job of depicting the hardships and inhumane acts that were commonly seen. Whether it be firebombing entire cities just to inflict civilian casualties or using terrifying weapons on the ground such as flamethrowers to clear bunkers and pill boxes. War isn’t pretty. It’s all about survival and there are no limits on what soldiers can do to defeat the enemy. If that means striking fear into the civilians or into the opposing soldiers themselves.

                There are important lessons to be learned about war in both The Fog of War and Saving Private Ryan. These films are important to our understanding of the inner workings of war and the politics that surround it. Other movies also do a great job of adding to our knowledge of the second World War but few do it like these.