Yes, it still blows most people's minds that Saving Private Ryan lost the Best Picture Oscar to Shakespeare in Love, but at least Spielberg scooped the Best Director Oscar and Janusz KamiĀski's evocative cinematography also won the gong, considering pretty much every image of this movie could be framed and hung on a wall. The movie ends with an elderly James Ryan at the grave of the very man who saved his life in WWII, Captain Miller (Tom Hanks), as he gives him a dutiful salute. On its own terms, this is a deeply moving image about both the camaraderie and massive loss of war, a reminder that, regardless of your politics, it's worth respecting the men who laid their lives down in order to secure our personal freedoms. The superb framing of the image, with Ryan's family hovering in the background, is also a reminder of how lucky subsequent generations are, to be free of war on their own turf and live their lives freely as they see fit. You'd need a heart of granite not to be moved by this display of respect, a tribute to the men who died to give him life.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
