Tzvetan Todorov's Theory on Saving Private Ryan

This is the great and well known opening to the award winning World War 2 epic Saving Private Ryan (director Steven Spielberg) . I chose this film as throughout, being a war film, it is obvious who are the heroes and who are the villains which means its a prime example of Todorov's theory in action. The film does what is says on the tin with a small group of men on a mission to save private Ryan who is brother to 3 dead brothers who were killed in war. The opening to this particular film is famous for its ability to take the audience right into the action and shock them, which in return captivates the audience into the film.

In this film the protagonist (the man who propels the narrative forward) in terms of a singular character is Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) being the character with the most screen time. However in this situation you could also say that the allies, in this case the Americans, are against the axis. You could also so John Millers men are of an antagonist force. The axis Nazi forces are the antagonists, who hinder the heroes in their quest to save private Ryan.

The equilibrium at the beginning of saving private Ryan is short lived. The man at the beginning of the film who is James Ryan is in the equilibrium created by the film as an old man and the entire film is based on this flashback. There is a strong sense of equilibrium at the beginning of the film due to the peacefulness and beauty of the scene almost as if it were the end of the film. An equilibrium is set with a sense of peace with the translucent American flag flapping in shot. This is accompanied by war themed music which also has a feeling of peace about it.

The next few shots are of  James and the family, which are mostly mid shots and long shot which show the action at the beginning of the scene. All the characters are walking towards a destination with James out ahead as if he wants to be alone or get to his destination quickly. The viewer is given the impression that they are walking with the family as many of the shots are following shots. There is also an establishing shot  which follows the family's movement side on to capture the ceremonial looking walk, pathway, the well arranged trees and the sea in the distance. Following this there are many long shots of the war memorial to show the viewer the location the scene is set and to bring across a sense of honour and peace.    

There is an abrupt disruption of equilibrium when James Ryan collapses and begins to cry in front of a grave stone. There is then yet another couple of long shots of the many grave stones in the memorial and then a zoom from James looking down and his family who are comforting him to an extreme close up on his eyes (which shows a lot of emotion) the sound of sea is then implemented indicating a change of scene/ flashback.

This is where the equilibrium is completely trashed with what is made to seem the worst possible scenario of death and violence. The long shot of the beach seems peaceful but something isn't right as there are barrages in place and the sky is grey which is a conventional signifier of war.


The long shot of the moving attack boats, the stormy sea and the men being sick of the sides of the boats really helps to break the peace and tranquillity of the before setting. The next shot which it a close up, tilt up on John Miller who is shaking, dirty and wet which signifies discomfort which also helps to break the equilibrium. The camera then zooms out from the same shot to show the many wet and dirty men he is with who are being sick and are all looking forward in discomfort.

There is anticipation that something big and bad about to happen when you hear the sounds of mortars and the looks on the men's faces and there preparation for what we can presume is an attack. The door of the from of the boat opens in a long shot on the men, you hear a shout and there couldn't have been more of a contrasting shot here to the peace at the beginning of the film. There are many natural looking shots of men being put down instantly, like the have been hit by a wall of bullets.

There are many hints of what the heroes journey might be. One being that from our conventional knowledge of world war two that this is what U.S army soldiers war and this is what they looked like. Therefore we are immediately told if it hasn't been guessed already that this is a war and this particular war is world war 2 and therefore the journey of our hero hint to be one on fighting and violence to complete a mission or task he is put on, all the meanwhile fighting the Nazi antagonists. There are many indicators or the mission of war and here is a list that makes up a fraction of those indicators:

Overview of scene that disrupts equilibrium

Visual clues: The troopers in uniform, the attack boats, guns, bullets, barrages on the beach, explosions on the beach and in the sea, blood, the disturbed movement of the camera and natural filming.

Aural and Verbal clues: Shouting orders, shouting in pain, explosions, the sounds of passing bullets, bullets hitting water, bullets hitting sand, bullets ricocheting, bullets hitting people.
                                                   
These all ultimately add up to a picture of what will be in the rest of the film. The fact that the men are constantly moving shows they have a job to do, and we can tell they will be doing similar jobs throughout the film. We also know that the film is called saving private Ryan and that that is probably the mission the troops will go on. We also want to go back to the sense of equilibrium that there was at the beginning of the film and we know we will go back to that memorial setting at the end otherwise the film would not make sense, not forgetting that we are viewing a flashback of sorts.

From my knowledge if the film Ryan will be saved which restores some equilibrium, however Captain Miller (the focus of the film, the hero) is killed and another equilibrium is broken which is also restored by James Ryan's peace in front of the captains grave at the end of the film.