We have to save Private Ryan (1998)
The war film par excellence, about the most represented conflict in cinema, the Second World War, an immense success with critics and the public. Directed by Steven Spielberg, We have to save Private Ryan is inspired by several true events to tell the story of a team of Rangers tasked with finding the young soldier James Francis Ryan behind enemy lines, whose brothers died in combat. Their mission takes place over the following days the landing in NormandyJune 6, 1944.
The strong point of Steven Spielberg’s film is the ultra-realistic reconstruction, shocking in its brutality and violence, of the landing on Omaha Beach, created to great effect with the handheld camera. incorporated Perfect. A sequence lasting over 22 minutes, which opens and closes with a close-up on the hands and trembling eyes of Captain John H. Miller (Tom Hanks), leader of the team. The character also expresses himself at the conclusion of this masterful and terrifying opening, in a surprising way meta dialogue linewhile his men finally cleared the beach with much violence: “What a show.”
And indeed, what a show… A staging that alone required $11 million of the film’s budget (70 million in total), more than a thousand extras and more than two thousand real and artificial weapons. A legendary battle scene, considered one of the most successful in the history of cinema, and which alone justifies the perception We have to save Private Ryan as one of the greatest war films of all time.
The rest of the film remains a demonstration of his technique of the highest level, with other evocative war sequences – including that of the final battle -. The only weakness is the film’s uncritical American patriotism and, more generally, its cinematic nature. more demonstrative than reflective about the horror of war. However, Steven Spielberg directs with We have to save Private Ryan one of his best films, nominated 11 times at the 1999 Oscars and recipient of five statuettes, including that of Best director.
Dunkirk (2017)
Last technician of contemporary cinema, Christopher Nolan returns to earth later Interstellar tell in a very sensorial film, Dunkirk, Operation Dynamothat is, the evacuation of the British troops blocked on the beaches and in the port of Dunkirk by the German army, between 26 May and 3 June 1940. The director wishes to offer a complete vision of this operation, and tells it like this on land, at sea and in the air.
To spice things up and distinguish his proposal from a simple entry into the war film genre, there are three distinct temporalities for these three situations. On land, on the beaches and the port, the story covers a week focusing mainly on three soldiers. History covers in the air an hour and follows three British pilots. At sea, the story that follows first concerns three civilians aboard a pleasure vessel commandeered by the Royal Navy to cross the Channel to rescue soldiers stranded there, and takes place in One day. To embody these destinies, the impressive cast of Dunkirk is made up in particular of Tom Hardy, Harry Styles, Cillian Murphy, Mark Rylance and Kenneth Branagh.
Our review of Dunkirk here
Christopher Nolan’s war film is unique in its genre, in its staging and in the great care taken in the visual and sound spectacle. At the 2018 Oscar ceremony, Dunkirk is nominated 8 times, particularly in the categories Best film AND Best directorand wins 3 Oscars : Best Editing, Best Audio Editing and Best Audio Mixing. Dunkirk also marks the best global box office performance for a film about the Second World War, with takings of $525.5 million.
American sniper (2014)
In 2014, Clint Eastwood’s war film was released in theaters American sniper. It is adapted from the autobiography of American sniper and former SEAL member Chris Kyle, nicknamed “The legendThe latter, murdered in 2013 by a former marine on a shooting range in Texas, has the status of a hero – but also controversial – in the United States with, according to him, more than 255 people killed during the Iraq War (2003-2011).
Both spectacular and intimate, American sniper succeeds in the association between war film and biographical drama, since the sensations lie as much in the impressive sequences of fights and precision shooting as in the unusual interpretation of Bradley Cooper. The actor, who became very popular with the trilogy Terrible tripconfirm with American sniper its critical consecration. His performance earned him a second Oscar nomination for best actor in 2015, after the one obtained for happiness therapy in 2013. Like the Clint Eastwood movie, then he gets to work a very nuanced register : Elite patriotic soldier, absent and unstable father, military legend and simple man on the verge of madness.
The great success ofAmerican sniper is therefore to establish a complex and inglorious portrait of a man whose only legend is his performance in war, and to make this personal portrait a broader painting of the warrior identity of American society. The portrait of Chris Kyle is comprehensive, from his enlistment in the United States Army to his return to his diagnosis of post-traumatic stress after his deployment to Iraq. American sniper it therefore brings with it excellent critical material, which made it hit the headlines in the United States when it was released. On a commercial level it is a success $547 million in revenue worldwiderecorded in the filmography of Clint Eastwood.
Mosul (2020)
Compared to the other films in this selection, the great productions led by great directors, crowned with success at the time of their cinema releases, Mosul appears as a shy outsider. Mosul is the first feature film directed by Matthew Michael Carnahan, brother of Joe Carnahan. Before making this war film brutal and very realisticin particular he wrote screenplays The kingdom by Peter Berg and Lions and lambs by Robert Redford. He is therefore knowledgeable about war films and military issues, but he doesn’t take the easy route Mosul.
Mosul, in fact, tells the story of the recruitment of Kawa, a young police officer from the city of Mosul, Iraq, by the Nineveh SWAT team, made up of police officers who have all lost members of their family in the war against Daesh . The story of Mosul takes place during the terrible “battle of Mosul” (October 2016 – July 2017), after which the Iraqi government forces and the international coalition retook the city from Daesh. In the film by Matthew Michael Carnahan, the activities of the Nineveh SWAT team and their commander Jasem were made illegal by the military coalition, but its members continue with determination to pursue their own objectives, too one they keep secret…
Mosul: What is this war movie on Netflix?
Shot freehand, sometimes inside first person shooterfilmed entirely in Arabic, Mosul it is a radical dive into one of the most dramatic armed conflicts of recent years. Violent, brutal, breathtaking and very moving in its last part, Mosul features extraordinary performances from a then little-known cast, including a memorable score for the French-Tunisian actor Adam Bessa in the role of Kawa. Acclaimed at the Venice and Toronto festivals where it was presented in 2019, Mosul is distributed by Netflix and, in a short running time of 1 hour and 26 minutes, it succeeds in everything it offers.
In the West there is nothing new (2022)
In 2022 Netflix distributes an ambitious production, In the West there is nothing new, new adaptation of the famous novel of the same name by Erich Maria Remarque. Directed by German director Edward Berger, In the West there is nothing new faithfully repeats the story of the novel published in 1929, that of the young Paul Bäumer, volunteered in the German army in May 1917. At first enthusiastic, intoxicated by the patriotic speeches, Paul and his companions will soon discover all the horror of trench warfare “, in a devastating First World War in which European military losses will exceed the 10 million deaths.
In the West there is nothing new stands out for its great visual ambition, offering technically admirable and rarely powerful fight sequences, making the most of its limited budget 20 million dollars. Great realism is required, both to depict the battles and to illustrate the terrible living conditions of the soldiers in the trenches. Edward Berger’s film, like the novel and unlike many war films, takes a pacifist approach, developing the way in which the young European generation of the time suffered due to the imperialist and murderous madness of its leaders and trying to show all the tragedy of these broken destinies. .
Nothing new in the West: a grueling shootout
Nominated 9 times for the 2023 Oscars, In the West there is nothing new leaves with four prizes: Oscars for best cinematography, best production design and artistic direction, best soundtrack and best international film. Apart from Daniel Brühl, in the role of the negotiator Matthias Erzberger, the film’s cast is internationally unknown and the young Felix Kammerer shines in the lead role. In the West there is nothing new it is undoubtedly, to date, the best recent war film, which tells of a conflict that is not among the most covered in cinema, and does so to convey a message of humanity that, if not new, remains shocking.
Source: Cine Serie
Ray Ortiz is a journalist at Gossipify, known for his coverage of trending news and current events. He is committed to providing readers with accurate and unbiased reporting, and is respected for his ability to keep readers informed on the latest news and issues.
