Saving Private Ryan Essay

Saving Private Ryan can be considered historical fiction because it gives a true presentation of the war but includes an story line that is not true. While many images are graphic it gives due justice to what happened during the war. As the movie begins it shows a older man walking to a grave in a jointed allie world war two cemetery (Saving Private Ryan). After this the movie shifts focus to show troops fighting for Omaha Beach on D-Day. Throughout the scene many soldiers lose limbs and the allies face a large number of casualties. At the end it zooms in on one soldier is particular, S. Ryan. Later when a typist, captain and colonial are speaking you find out that only one of his brothers is left alive, James Ryan. The movie from here focuses on the finding and taking

home of Private James Ryan. Once Ryan is found at a strategic bridge, he tells that “I [am] here with the only brothers I have left, and there’s no way I [am] gonna desert them” (Saving Private Ryan This when when Captain Miller decides to stay and fight for the bridge, and they are, through a long hardship, able to keep this strategic point out of German hands. At the very end of the war scenes the audience finds Private Ryan holding his dying officer, Captain Miller. At this point, the captain says “James, earn this” (Saving Private Ryan). By this the captain is telling Private Ryan to earn his right to life after six others died to save him. It is not till the ending of the movie that the audience sees the old Ryan looking at his Captain’s grave hoping and asking if he “earned what all of you [did] for me” (Saving Private Ryan).
The plot behind the movie may seem unrealistic, many historians believe it was based on a real family’s story. The story of the Niland brothers does differs in some ways, it favors the early storyline of the movie. The first Niland brother, Edward, was shot down over Burman, while Bobby and Preston died at Normandy (Smithsonian Channel).

Fritz, the last brother known to be alive was behind enemy lines just like Private Ryan in the movie. In both cases the last brother came home under the sole survivor rule. The main difference in the stories is that Edward Niland, the brother who was shot down, was later found after escaping from a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Once he was escaped, he was able to return to the United States and rejoined his family (Smithsonian Channel). The sole survivor rule provided that the surviving child or sibling of a soldier that died in battle could return home, this rule allowed Fritz to return home and later Edward, as only one sibling need die in the line of duty (Sole Survivor). In the same fashion the fighting at Normandy is realistic. The battle began on June the sixth with five main fronts (D-Day). Omaha beach, which was shown in Saving Private Ryan, was the bloodiest with two thousand American casualties. This number is half of all allied lives lost on D-Day (D-Day). For this reason the scenes at Omaha beach can be seen as historical. The final battle, however, was not historical in any way. To begin, any soldier in

this situation would not have a chance of convincing the superior officers, this was the case with Fritz as he was ordered to return home (History Buffs). The town where the battle happens, Ramel is also fictional (History Buffs). Adding this fictional battle did give the director as way to share a message with the audience. Captain Miller’s final words can be seen just as much for the viewer as for Ryan. While for Ryan it was very specific, it can still be seen that the director, through Miller, was telling the audience they too should earn the right to live in a free country after many have died for their rights (History Buffs). While the movie is not factual it does show elements of the war and gives the audience a glimpse into the life of a soldier. For this reason, a movie can be used to teach history. Movies do have limitations to present all facts, those like Saving Private Ryan, that give true views of war do exist. A movie will never completely show all elements of any battle it can be used to educate people. A well researched and planned movie does not largely distort the public’s view of history but one poorly planned can. While a documentary is better at providing facts, a movie exceptionally shows the circumstances people on history had to overcome. The best way to present history through a movie is to show a storyline that shows truth even if it is not made of perfect facts. At the end of movies, the audience should be told of any large fabrications in the storyline. For example a short explanation at the end of Saving Private Ryan could have told that the battle at Ramel never happened.
No movie can completely show what happened in history, bt they can show what life was like. Saving Private Ryan is just one example of this. The film is not fact and it will never be, nevertheless it shows elements of war. For this reason movies can be used to show history as long as the audience understands it is not complete fact.