Saving Private Ryan - Opening two minutes analysis

Saving Private Ryan

Opening two minutes analysis

For a bloody, action-packed, gritty war film, Saving Private Ryan starts of fairly slow and domestic. The opening shot is an american flag blowing in the breeze, a powerful image to convey to the viewer the idea that this film may have a lot to do with patriotism and war, as flags were traditionally carried into battle to represent pride of their homeland and nowadays still posses a great power over some people. A simple piece of cloth can represent so much to so many, it can unite thousands of usually segregated crowds and can provoke such emotions within that 'dares the coward to relent'. It's also a fairly close up shot of the flag and doesn't show all of it which could represent the idea that somethings hiding, patriotism will play a part in this film but wont overwhelm it or be as dominant as first thought.

 This then cuts to a high angle shot of a character walking along, the camera pans up to reveal an older man walking slowly along a path in a park area, although his pace isn't that fast we, as the viewer, feel a sense of urgency and determination by his walk as if he is rushing to get somewhere and nothing will stop him, this creates suspension as we want to know where he's going. There are a crowd of people following him who we can assume are his family, this posses more questions as we begin to wonder why they're following and adds greater suspense and eagerness to find out where he's going. There is a close up shot of a man, the son maybe, as he walks along - this could suggest that a son or man is going to be a greater significance as the film progresses, he takes a photo of the old man walking along which signifies this is an important event as it would be unusual to take a photo of a man walking along. People often take photos to remember a certain time or event, this leads the viewer to believe that something significant is going to happen and are pulled deeper in as they want to know where the old man is going.

Another close up shot but this time of an older lady with a concerned expression on her face makes the viewer sypathise with her as she looks worried and sad. The film uses the stereotype of old people being alone and frail to cause the viewer to feel sorry for her and begin to relate to the characters and the story, in turn drawing them in and making it so they have to keep watching. As the man comes round the tree and a long shot zooms in to a medium shot of him the zoom represents the viewers being brought in and becoming closer to the character as they hopefully will find out where he is walking to as he comes to a stand. His facial expressions are enough to leave the viewer concerned about what he is leading them to and cautious about whats going to happen next, a medium shot is used instead of a close up shot so the viewers are able to see the characters family behind him gather round cautiously, not getting too close as they don't want to distract him from where he's heading. Curiously the family behind him are all looking attentively at him rather than whatever he has stopped to marvel at and shows how worried they are about him as they wont look away from him.

The camera turns so we can finally see what he is looking at - an american flag, presumably the one seen at the beginning of the scene, and a french flag both blowing in the breeze. A medium shot of him again, shows him put all his effort into walking even further even though he looks tired and withered. As before the family continue to look at him rather than the flags or anything else as he walks on wards, his eyes look full of tears and emotion as he stumbles slowly forward with his mouth opening slightly and him using whats left of his strength to hold back tears. He is subverting from the stereotype of old people being frail and weak by continuing to stumble forwards and hold in his emotions which requires real power.

A long shot of him as he cuts across the greens shows him to be a man on a mission, he knows exactly where he wants to go and nothing is going to stop him, the crowd following him keep their distance as not to off put him but keep relatively close as their faces show they are worried about him. This leads the viewers to believe they are his family as they are staying close, as they care about him, but aren't trying to stop him from whatever he is doing as they know him too well and know this wont work. A single cross tombstone cuts across the scene as the viewers now become aware they in a graveyard (conforms to the convention that old people have death all around them), this possess more questions than it answers as the viewer now begins to wonder what the characters are doing there and why he's so determined to get there. The camera pans round slightly so the family are out of shot to show it is all about him and his journey to the graveyard and his mission, presumably, to find someone. As the camera zooms out slightly rows upon rows of crosses appear and the viewer is lead to feel sympathy not just for the main character, who is probably visiting a dead relative, but for all the people who are buried there and how they lost their lives fighting for their country. 

This fits in with the genre of action movie as there is likely to be some form of flashback to the war as he's visiting a dead friend/relative and this will incorporate loads of action sequences, bloody battles and provide all the gores that everyone loves in an action movie. As the main character gets closer to the cross he is looking for his emotions start to overwhelm him and he starts to stumble more as he walks, the viewer is brought right into the film as they, like the family, feel worried and sorry for him as he stands in the graveyard, they are dying to rush over and hug him but know they must leave him to do what he has to do. A low angle shot of him looking relatively assertive and powerful as he walked through the graveyard is contradicted by a high angle shot as he collapses by the cross, distraught by emotion, showing how much this death has weakened him. His family rush over to check he's okay and the viewer is now even more drawn into the story as they have emotional connections with the characters and even more curious whose death could rock this persons world so much.

The first piece of dialogue in the entire film cements the viewers previous theory that these people are his family, as the man who previously photographed the old man calls out "dad" with a worried tone to his voice. Two women (wife and daughter?) also crowd around him to check he's okay with the old lady who previously look frail now leaning over him, higher than him in the shot to show maybe she is the stronger one as she has to hold everything together as the man is so emotionally vulnerable after the death of this person. The scene then cuts to a harrowing shot of rows of crosses from a low angle, this could show how their deaths tower over them and have such a large impact on their lives. It also hits home with the viewer and is a subtle reminder them that although this is a film that's supposed to entertain them and be enjoyed, that its based on real event where hundreds of thousands of people died so that we can have the freedom that we all take for granted today. The fact that in the shot after that you can see names on the crosses shows that this film also wants to remind you it wasn't hundreds of thousands of random men who died, it was thousands of husbands, thousands of sons, thousands of brothers who all left to fight for their country and never came home, they made the ultimate sacrifice and this should never be forgotten even amid a great Hollywood film.

A low angle shot contradicts the previous scene as it shows him to be powerful and dominant even though his family are leaning over him. His emotions can still clearly be seen in his eyes as the camera zooms in to focus solely on him, his lips are trembling almost with fear as well as sadness as he thinks back to the war. An extreme close up of his eyes draws the viewer in even more as they begin to empathise more and more with the main character, the overlapping noise of waves crashing links the graveyard scene to the beach scene (sound bridging) as the shot now shows waves lapping up against crooked steel shapes in the water. This leaves the viewer curious again, this time to where on earth we as the viewer are, a date then pops up on the screen to confirm our earlier thoughts of a flashback to the war, it reads "6 June 1944".

The music is not as important in this scene as it is in other opening two minute of films, as all the characters are shown at once at the beginning and then no new ones are added after that there is no need for sound motif really, also there is mainly one setting (the graveyard) so not much change there either. This subverts to the convention that action movies have to be jam-packed and fast paced as this is fairly slow and domestic. The lack of dialogue (diegetic sound as a whole) apart from the wind blowing is important as it adds to the sense of tension and suspense. The music |(non diegetic) is the same throughout the whole scene and only fades away at the end when the crashing waves can be heard, this could show the main character fading out of normal life as he's not quite with it, the waves signal the beginning of a new part of the story, a new scene (sound motif).