Saving Private Ryan (1998)

The first twenty minutes of this film are mind blowing. Spielberg shows you visions both terrifying and sublime. It is interesting that he chooses to start the film concentrating on the eyes of the veteran at the grave (which turns out to be Private Ryan) then matches it only a few scenes later with the eyes of Captain John Miller. When the film ends and you realize that Ryan's remembrances of the storming of the beach could not have been first hand, rather stories that were told to him (as the young Spielberg was told war stories by his father). Perhaps this is simply a conceit to surprise the audience, but it is also likely that Spielberg was commenting on how memory is not completely reliable and can never capture the essence of an event or life. The plot of having a group of soldiers risk their lives on a mission to bring one soldier back to his mom won't lose her last son is of course ridiculous and is just too much of a hurdle to get over and keeps this film form being a masterpiece. I was surprised however that even given this ridiculous plot device the film was still very powerful.

Schindler’s List

I feel I have to first state that I think this is a powerful film and one that should have been made given the ignorance of the majority of people regarding the Holocaust. However, I do not view Schindler’s List as a film that focuses primarily on the Holocaust and it is perhaps this reason that I do not agree with the many detractors of this film. I see the film focusing on the character of Oscar Schindler and his development as a human being. The movie is fascinating as it explores a human being that winds up doing great acts, yet a man that at least initially lacks any moral center. As we witness Itzhak Stern guide Schindler on his path to becoming a compassionate human being, the images of the Holocaust are moving, but they do come close to representing the Holocaust itself. The fact that none of the characters we come to know lose their lives, the overall positive feeling of the film (and one can perhaps fault Spielberg for making his film sometimes too beautiful for the subject matter), the need for him to find an escape for his persecuted characters, and his betrayal of his exploration of an imperfect main character (having Schindler break down and cry wishing he had spent more money) do give ammunition to his critics. The scene where the Jewish woman and children are placed into what we think are gas chambers, only to find (to the characters’ relief and ours) it is only a shower, is aggravating. Spielberg it seems can not go that far into the darkness and we perhaps subconsciously are relieved he has provided an escape. For millions of people however, there was no escape and providing one for a Hollywood production may ultimately sell more tickets, but fails to help us grasp the horror that ended so many lives.

However, if you acknowledge that no film or work of art can ever represent the Holocaust, then the moments and images Spielberg does capture are powerful and add to the main focus of the film, which is the character of Oscar Schindler. On that level, had Spielberg not chosen to have Schindler break down out of character at the end of the film, but instead left him the enigma he was (perhaps even suggesting he could have been doing this as he knew Germany was losing the war), the character of Oscar Schindler would have gone down as one of the most interesting in films. In the end however, Spielberg has given us a fascinating character portrayal and glimpses of some of the atrocities. Merely for this and the fact he helped bring awareness to the subject, he succeeded and must be commended.

I would also argue that even with the failing on the part of Spielberg to hold true to the character of Oscar Schindler due to his apparent constant need for melodrama in his characters and feel good endings to his movies, the character of Oscar Schindler that existed up until the last few moments of the film is so fascinating, that it still manages to rise to the level of brilliance. Few people could have even dared to make Schindler’s List into a movie and Spielberg’s masterpiece is flawed, but I can’t help but admire him for what he was able to accomplish.

Jurassic Park (1993)

I found it interesting that Spielberg called Jurassic Park "a sequel to Jaws on land" as Spielberg did seam to be throwing in references to many of his most successful movies - the raptors of course similar to the shark of Jaws, but Alan Grant appears to be an aging Indiana Jones (again more interested in the past than those around him) and the scene in which Alan Grant and Tim flee from a jeep (which looks like it is driving down a tree to attack them) brings to mind the Truck in Duel. The movie is one of my favorite Spielberg films for its sheer pleasure of watching dinosaurs brought to life so spectacularly (though later versions would have better affects, they lacked the superior writing and acting of the original) and eyeing humans as their new favorite meal. Spielberg's playfulness while commentating on merchandising and Disneyland (w/ a Disneyland-like theme park where the pirates of the Caribbean breaking down can result in the visitors being eaten)

It is interesting to note that the character of Alan Grant did not have the initial discomfort around children that Spielberg added to the film. Again, Spielberg shows us a male father figure that lacks basic father skills. The character of Ian Malcolm is an absentee father that spends most of his time hitting on the mother figure of Ellie Sattler. However, over the course of the film Alan loses his uncaring attitude (his first encounter with a child borders on contempt) towards children to a protective and caring father figure.