The Greatest Generation Comes Home: The Veteran in American Society

Chapter 6 The Veteran and the Postwar Film

CHAPTER฀6฀ The฀Veteran฀and฀the฀฀ ฀ Postwar฀Film Tell฀me฀I฀have฀led฀a฀good฀life.฀Tell฀me฀I’m฀a฀good฀man. —James฀Ryan,฀Saving฀Private฀Ryan War฀has฀always฀been฀an฀excellent฀topic฀for฀the฀movies.฀It฀is฀epic฀in฀ scope,฀violent฀by฀nature,฀and,฀in฀many฀cases,฀the฀perfect฀context฀ to฀resolve฀the฀moral฀conflict฀between฀good฀and฀evil.฀War฀is฀a฀life-anddeath ฀struggle฀that฀captures฀the฀ultimate฀level฀of฀human฀drama,฀overshadowing ฀the฀normal฀spectrum฀of฀emotions฀while฀elevating฀them฀at฀ the฀same฀time.฀War฀takes฀hate฀and฀gives฀it฀a฀sharper฀edge.฀War฀takes฀ love฀and฀imbues฀it฀with฀a฀greater฀urgency.฀By฀highlighting฀the฀visceral฀ elements฀present฀at฀the฀core฀of฀any฀one฀person,฀the฀war฀film฀has฀been฀ uniquely฀able฀to฀connect฀with฀movie฀audiences. ฀ An฀additional฀ingredient฀of฀the฀success฀of฀war฀films฀has฀been฀their฀ ability฀to฀move฀beyond฀emotion฀to฀mirror฀the฀rational฀elements฀of฀ contemporary฀conventional฀wisdom.฀All฀Quiet฀on฀the฀Western฀Front฀ (1930),฀for฀example,฀captures฀the฀broadly฀held฀cynicism฀regarding฀ war฀after฀1918.฀Failsafe฀(1964)฀reflects฀the฀Cold฀War฀anxieties฀that฀ were฀apparent฀in฀the฀wake฀of฀the฀Cuban฀missile฀crisis.฀In฀the฀eighties,฀ the฀Rambo฀series฀was฀popular฀for฀its฀unrepentant฀glorification฀of฀the฀ soldier-as-hero฀at฀a฀time฀when฀Ronald฀Reagan฀began฀his฀reconstruction฀ of฀American฀nationalism.฀In฀each฀case,฀the฀war฀film฀has฀placed฀history฀ at฀the฀service฀of฀the฀present,฀reshaping฀the฀past฀to฀fit฀the฀standards,฀ biases,฀and฀expectations฀of฀the฀current฀day. ฀ In฀more฀recent฀times,฀the฀film฀industry฀in฀general฀and฀war฀films฀in฀ particular฀have฀increasingly฀displaced฀conventional฀historical฀scholarship ฀as฀a฀primary฀means฀to฀inform฀the฀general฀public฀about฀the฀ past.1 ฀The฀movies฀offer฀modern฀audiences฀a฀shortcut฀in฀an฀era฀that฀is฀ 148฀ CHAPTER฀6 characterized฀by฀its฀impatience฀with฀detail฀and฀enamored฀of฀imagery฀ over฀substance.฀Many฀are฀the฀anecdotes฀offered฀by฀teachers฀who฀cite฀ films฀rather฀than฀books฀to฀draw฀a฀connection฀with฀modern฀students.฀ As฀the฀written฀word฀has฀declined,฀dependence฀on฀visual฀media฀has฀ grown฀and,฀with฀this฀trend,฀the฀relative฀influence฀of฀the฀film฀as฀part฀ of฀present-day฀discussions฀of฀history.2 ฀ Steven฀Spielberg’s฀Saving฀Private฀Ryan฀illustrates฀each฀of฀these฀trends.฀ Reviewers฀writing฀in฀1998฀devoted฀considerable฀attention฀to฀Private฀ Ryan฀for฀its฀“realism,”฀specifically฀Spielberg’s฀re-creation฀of฀the฀landings฀ at฀Omaha฀Beach.฀The฀depiction฀of฀death฀and฀the฀wounds฀suffered฀by฀ the฀troops฀landing฀in฀the฀first฀wave฀is฀extremely฀graphic฀and฀unprecedented ฀in฀its฀violence.฀Great฀efforts฀were฀made฀to฀emphasize฀an฀almost฀ documentary-like฀approach฀to฀the฀opening฀scenes.฀Cinematographer฀ Janusz฀Kaminski฀painstakingly฀crafted฀a฀visual฀atmosphere฀of฀pitched฀ combat฀in฀part฀by฀stripping฀off฀the฀lens฀coatings฀of฀modern฀cameras฀ to฀reinforce฀the฀feel฀of฀the฀technology฀that฀was฀available฀in฀the฀forties.฀ The฀results฀are฀devastating,฀almost฀overloading฀viewers’฀senses฀with฀the฀ shock฀of฀the฀action฀they฀are฀witnessing.฀The฀dominant฀topic฀surrounding ฀the฀discussion฀of฀Private฀Ryan,฀almost฀completely฀overshadowing฀ its฀main฀plot,฀is฀the฀film’s฀shattering฀depiction฀of฀violence,฀a฀quality฀ that฀both฀veterans฀of฀the฀Normandy฀landings฀and฀modern฀audiences฀ have฀found฀jarring.฀In฀this฀respect,฀Spielberg’s฀work฀set฀the฀standard฀ for฀the฀war฀film฀in฀the฀late฀nineties,฀one฀that฀continued฀in฀Black฀Hawk฀ Down฀(2001)฀and฀Windtalkers฀(2002).3 ฀ Much฀has฀also฀been฀made฀of฀Spielberg’s฀interpretation฀of฀the฀Second ฀World฀War฀in฀Saving฀Private฀Ryan.฀For฀some฀reviewers,฀the฀film฀ is฀a฀thinly฀veiled฀effort฀to฀refight฀Vietnam฀in฀the฀guise฀of฀an฀earlier฀ conflict.฀There฀is฀some฀justification฀for฀this฀view.฀Moral฀ambiguity฀ appears฀everywhere฀in฀the฀movie.฀Surrendering฀German฀troops฀are฀ gunned฀down฀by฀army฀rangers฀on฀Omaha฀Beach.฀Acts฀of฀humanity฀ are฀sometimes฀punished฀by฀tragedy.฀Private฀Caparzo฀(Vin฀Diesel)฀dies฀ after฀attempting฀to฀save฀the฀life฀of฀a฀French฀child.฀Tom฀Hanks’s฀Captain฀ Miller฀is฀killed฀by฀the฀same฀SS฀trooper฀he฀spares฀earlier฀in฀the฀film.฀In฀ many฀respects,฀the฀moral฀clarity฀that฀one฀might฀expect฀in฀a฀retro฀film฀ such฀as฀Saving฀Private฀Ryan฀is฀simply฀not฀present.4 ฀ With฀regard฀to฀war฀in฀general,฀Spielberg฀also฀represents฀an฀interesting ฀facet฀of฀the฀baby-boomer฀generation.฀Notable฀in฀the฀commentary฀ that฀followed฀the฀movie฀was฀the฀use฀of฀World฀War฀II฀as฀a฀surrogate฀for฀ a฀generation฀that฀did฀not฀possess฀its฀own฀honorable฀cause.฀In฀2002,฀ [13.58.216.18] Project MUSE (2024-04...