is "realism" art worth mentioning?

Rating: Null/10 (4 August 1998)

Much has been said in homage of this movie. Realistic. Important. Devastating. A Masterpiece. An instant Classic. Brilliant. But how much of this is hype? Is this an example of the mainstream press bouncing off of itself to create an event? Is this really the first movie to show what war is really like? Who knows, really. Well, people all around the world know exactly what war is like. There's the World War, Korea and Vietnam veterans here in the U.S.. The Vietnamese, Korean, Laotian, Chechnyan, Iraqi, Isrealite, Palestinian, Saudi Arabian, French, German, etc. etc. civilians and soldiers alive during the conflicts in their countries that either have happened or are happening right now. Or, in other words, perhaps there are more people alive who know exactly what war is like than you can shake a stick at. Maybe even more people than live in the U.S.. Maybe more than will ever plunk down cash to see this "visceral" fantasy, this money making effort(don't forget just how much Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and thousands of other folk whose lives depend upon the success of their entertainment ventures are going to make from this particular one) that depends, partially, upon our buying in to the acceptability(even the goodness) of killing people with guns (ie. as German soldier is sitting astride one of our heroes, about to run him through with a knife, tell me that you don't want to wrest the gun out of the "ineffectual" intellectual who lies frozen just around the corner, that you don't want to take that gun and shoot the heck out of the soldier killing our friend). Oh my yes.

I personally haven't lived through a war. I don't know what it is like. I can't, however, imagine that it was anything like the first 30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. And it certainly wasn't anything like the next overly romanticized two hours. It might have been hard to watch, sure, but I could just close my eyes, think these are all actors, and lo and behold, three hours later I'm thinking about which restaurant to eat at. I wouldn't try to think that my experience with this movie would let me talk, with any sophistication, with someone who has lived through an armed conflict, much less imagine that I, in any way, was left with an experience that threw my very notion of myself into turmoil.
Saving Private Ryan is just a movie. Perhaps it was a more "realistic" effort than has been previously made. But all you need to do is throw a lot of money at something, take into account an audience more prepared for on screen violence, and hire enough people who are decently skilled at what they do, and poof, you have Saving Private Ryan. Sure it is finely crafted. Certainly the acting is decent, the lines aren't completely horrible, and the cinematography doesn't intrude on the experience. But it is still just a movie.
If we, as a nation, need something like Saving Private Ryan to realize that war is horrible, that people die way too quickly and without reason, then I think this means that there is something wrong with us. There are people living situations out there that are far worse than anything we feel when we are in our air conditioned theatres, and I think that it is a bit condescending of us to think that we understand anything about war just because we watched this movie.
It is a fine movie. Not exceptional. Not the best of the year. Not even as interesting as Forest Gump. But a fine movie that is worth seeing. Sure.