Undoubtedly, there were before and after in the history of cinema. Released in theaters on September 30, 1998 in France, Saving Private Ryan follows the adventures of a team formed in 1944 to find and repatriate American soldier James Francis Ryan, the sole survivor of his family, including three other members killed in action.
Steven Spielberg’s feature film opens with a recreation of the Normandy landings on June 6, 1944. The American filmmaker wanted the most realistic result possible and therefore relied on unprecedented means to realize his vision. Before filming, the main actors of the film – especially Tom Hanks – had to undergo intensive training in a military camp.
XXL stands for Landing Re-creation
It took at least four weeks to film the landing scene at Omaha Beach. Due to the lack of the necessary authorization from the French authorities, Steven Spielberg did not shoot this scene in Normandy and therefore resorted to Ballinesker Beach in Ireland.
Based on photographer Robert Capa’s famous photographs, the American filmmaker filmed a hand-held camera sequence to give the audience the illusion of participating in the landing. The scene is shot entirely from the Allies’ point of view, and German soldiers are never shown on screen.
For reasons of realism, around thirty amputees were hired to represent the wounded soldiers. Up to 1,000 Irish Army reservists took part in filming the scene, and another thousand mannequins were used to represent the bodies on Omaha Beach.
Excerpt from the landing site (sensitive people refrain):
It’s a titanic job, but praise the experts
Twelve million dollars were needed to shoot this twenty-minute opening scene, the entire budget of a small film. Despite criticism of the film’s historical reliability, most experts agreed to emphasize the extremely realistic nature of this reconstruction of the Allied landings.
British magazine Empire was quick to describe the sequence as “Best fight scene ever”. The feature film’s popularity was also served by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks as guests of honor at the 80th anniversary celebration on June 6.
The film Saving Private Ryan will leave the Netflix catalog on November 30.
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Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
