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7. Saving Private Ryan - Omaha Beach

“What the hell do we do now, sir?”

The opening 23 minutes of Steven Spielberg’s 1997 war chronicle takes the gritty realism previously reserved for less respectable conflicts like Vietnam and applies them to the Big One. The result is one of the most veteran-lauded depictions of battle ever filmed.

Spielberg, who already had a pretty good handle on how to make an action sequence at this point, abandoned many of his tried and true techniques in order to immerse the viewer in the world of the soldier. Eschewing storyboards in favor of improvisation, he acknowledged that the experience of the soldier was not well plotted out. He knew what happened on June 6, 1944, but the individual moments from point A to point B were more or less devised on each day of shooting. As a result, we get a collection of vignettes as opposed to a clear sequential process.

This makes things all the more visceral because we (a) focus on one moment at a time and (b) like the soldiers, have no idea what will happen next. To further enhance this aspect, Spielberg shot the entire scene (and the whole movie, for that matter) in sequence, with little knowledge of what he would shoot next.

He likewise abandons his reliance on John Williams in order to deliver the sequence without music. Since the soldiers didn’t hear any, neither do you. Another immersive aural element is the occasional warping of sound. It’s as if the blasts have momentarily shattered your eardrums.

Spielberg regular (though a relatively new addition at the time) Janusz Kaminski employs some interesting cinematographic techniques to enhance the experience. Going handheld alone kicks up the intensity. (Spielberg actually does some of his own handheld work here. Again, a rarity for him at this point.) In addition, his high speed shutter allows you to see every grain of sand as it kicks up in the air. Literally a gritty battle sequence.

The choice to leave blood on the lens in one shot both distances and immerses the viewer. On the one hand, it makes the presence of the camera obvious. On the other, as the camera stands in for your eyes, it gets blood on you. Children of Men faces a similar POV conundrum in its final scenes.

Another departure for Spielberg here is the use of gore. He’d been brutal before (Schindler’s List), and he’d tried to gross us out (Temple of Doom), but he’d never engaged in “serious” gore. The difference between the matter-of-fact violence in Schindler’s List in black and white and the same style of violence in color is astounding. There is a primal horror in the sight of a soldier, intestines spilling out, yelling for his mother.

There are plenty of tried-and-true Spielberg hallmarks at work as well. He understands, more than almost any director, how to communicate visually. When Sgt. Horvath collects sand in his jar we get, without words, how long he’s been in this war, how many countries he’s been to and one surprisingly gentle hobby he’s adopted. All in one, brief shot.

Part One

Part Two

Part Three

Part Four

See also: Final battle in Saving Private Ryan, all of Flags of Our Fathers, all of Glory.

Next: David Poland called it “the greatest CG action scene ever.”