Film and Literature/Adcock
War
Name: ______Period: ______
Saving Private Ryan
(Steven Spielberg, 1998)
1. How does the film begin? Why might Spielberg have chosen to begin the film this way?
2. Why might the director have chosen to shoot part of the Normandy scene in slow motion, focusing specifically on Capt. Miller’s character (Tom Hanks)?
3. What does the Normandy scene show us about the brutality of war?
4. Why does General Marshall decide to send men to retrieve Private Ryan?
5. What does Lincoln's letter, at hand in Marshall's office, suggest about Lincoln, and Marshall's, opinion of sending troops to battle?
6. Reiben asks, "What is the sense of risking eight guys to save one?" How do the others respond?
7. What is Corporal Upham like as a character (the interpreter who speaks fluent French and German)? What does he represent?
8. What is Corporal Upham writing a book about? Why does this make the others laugh?
9. What happens to Private Caparzo?
10. Who is Private James Frederick Ryan?
11. How does Capt. Miller reason the loss of one of his men? What does he tell himself to make himself feel better?
12. Why does the medic, Wade stop the other men when they are going through the dog tags?
13. What do the other men notice about Capt. Miller, physically?
14. What does Capt. Miller order his men to do on their way to Ramelle? Which character dies as a result?
15. Why doesn't Capt. Miller kill the German prisoner?
16. How does Capt. Miller diffuse the situation between Reiben and Sergeant Horwath?
17. Why might it be so important for the men to know about Capt. Miller’s background?
18. How do Capt. Miller and his men eventually find Private Ryan? How does he react to the news that he is going home?
19. Do you think Private Ryan should stay with his unit, or follow Capt. Miller's orders and return to his grieving mother?
20. What does Capt. Miller’s improvised “sock bomb” idea say about him as a leader?
21. How does the men’s attitude towards Private Ryan change after they meet him, specifically Capt. Miller’s?
22. What is somewhat ironic about Private Jackson? What does he always do while lining up shots?
23. Why does Corporal Upham fail to assist Mellish?
24. Is Upham a good soldier? What are his strengths and weaknesses?
25. What are Capt. Miller’s last words to Private Ryan? What does he mean by this?
26. Six men die in their effort to save Private Ryan. What do we know about his life? Was he a good man? Did he earn the freedom he has enjoyed these many years since he returned home from the War?
27. While stopped briefly in Neuville during their search for Private Ryan, Corporal Upham confides in Captain Miller his belief that his war experiences were good for him. From “War,” a lecture given by Ralph Waldo Emerson in Boston in March of 1838, Upham quotes the following: “War educates the senses, calls into action the will, perfects the physical constitution, brings men into such swift and close collision in critical moments that man measures man.” Do you agree or disagree with this idea? Explain.
28. Who is your favorite character in the movie? Explain.
29. What are your overall impressions of the film?
30. Discuss one thing you learned from watching the film about WWII, war in general, filmmaking techniques, etc..
Private Jackson: [Lining shots] Bleesen be the Lord that teaches my hands for the war, and my fingers to fight.
[Fires rifle]
Private Jackson: My strength, my high tower, and my deliverer
[Fires rifle]
Private Jackson: My shield, and he in whom I trust
Be not that far from me, for trouble is near; haste Thee to help me.
[Lining up a rifle shot]
Private Jackson: Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war, and my fingers to fight.
[Lining up a rifle shot]
Private Jackson: My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.
[Lining up a rifle shot]
Private Jackson: O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed, let not mine enemies triumph over me.