Yr 12 IB Film

Adi Rai

How do war films from different cultural backgrounds differ in their portrayal of war?
War deals with the best and worst aspects of human nature and this is why war is still an incredibly popular film genre today. Almost every culture and society in the world has stories of great conflicts and wars and it is these stories that are normally adapted to the medium of film. In most war films, the director usually tries to promote anti-war themes within the story by showing how terrible war is. However, how these themes are conveyed across the screen is very interesting because not only do directors have different styles and techniques from each other, but separate cultures also have many differences in their views of war. Steven Spielberg s widely acclaimed Saving !rivate "yan is what one could call the classic Hollywood war movie. #he very opening scenes are incredibly intense and powerful. Spielberg wastes no time in showing the audience $ust what a war is li%e, with loud e&plosions, bullets flying everywhere and a beach soa%ed with blood 'as seen in fig(). #he graphic violence and the shrie%s of pain all come together to ma%e one blunt point* this is the pointless horror of war. Interestingly enough the characters and storyline is almost clich+ and generic, but it almost seems li%e these basic film aspects are unnecessary when it comes to a movie li%e Saving !rivate "yan because the war in itself ma%es the audience feel for the people within it. #he story is simply about a group of soldiers ordered to find another missing soldier named !rivate "yan in the midst of the American invasion of ,ormandy in World War II. #his simple story ta%es viewers on a powerful $ourney through destroyed towns, senseless %illings and human suffering. Fig 2 #he cinematography in Saving !rivate "yan is nothing short of brilliant. #he camera was rough and sha%y, yet unli%e other modern films with sha%y camera techniques, nothing from the scenes were lost. -ig. is an e&ample of this technique, as the gun sha%es so does the camera. In fact the audiences e&perience seemed to be enhanced, the technique made it seem li%e the war was literally happening around them, as with each e&plosion the camera would sha%e. Another incredibly successful technique was in the few scenes where the soldiers enter the water from the boat. /nce more Spielberg tries to ma%e the audience feel li%e they are really there and has the camera bob up and down, inside and then out of the water as if it were a real person in the water 'as seen in -ig0). #his shows the audience how it would loo% if they were in that situation and e&presses the sense of terror and emergency that the soldiers would be feeling. "an, a movie directed by A%ira 1urosawa is a perfect e&ample of how the same themes can be shown without bombarding the audience with immense amounts of death and destruction. "an meaning 2chaos3 or 2turmoil,3 is considered to be one of 1urosawa s best masterpieces. #he story centers around an old 4apanese samurai warlord named Hidetora, who decides to pass control of his land onto his three sons. /nce he has done this, he finds that his sons begin to disrespect his

Fig 1

Fig 3

Yr 12 IB Film

Adi Rai status as their father and begin to plot against him and each other. As the plot twists and turns, Hidetora slowly begins to realise the terrible things he had done in his own rise to power. Hidetora eventually loses his mind to visions of the countless people he had %illed. #he story is full of deceit and deception and the viewers find that although honour and dignity slowly collapses, violence is still %ept to a minimum.

1urosawa follows completely different cinematic styles than Spielberg, specifically in his cinematography. #he shots are so well placed, set and Fig 4 thought out that almost every scene could be a piece of art or on the poster. In addition to the cinematography, the mis-en-scene that can be seen through the colours and costumes is ama5ing. As the film progresses further and further into chaos, dar%ness and deception the colours subtly change from the bright sunny and Fig 5 colourful 'as shown in -ig6), into more contrasting dar%, chaotic scenes 'as seen in -ig7). /ne can also see the noticeable physical changes in Hidetora as he descends into madness, his face becomes incredibly pale and his eyes and features become gray. #hese techniques manage to convey the messages of death, destruction and madness in war without necessarily showing death and destruction. #he violence itself is a huge contrast to the violence that is seen in Fig 6 Saving !rivate "yan. Spielberg gives the audience a first hand loo% of the soldier s hardships, and shows a hectic struggle for survival. -or instance, Saving !rivate "yan has many shots of soldiers in incredible pain as they try to hold onto parts of their body. 1urosawa on the other hand does not focus on the common soldier, but on the great leaders that command them, and their story. #he violence is much li%e watching a chess game, as the main characters all plan their ne&t move against each other and then watch their soldiers to see the outcome. It is in this aspect that these films show their biggest difference, although both films are about war, one film shows it with blood and bullets while the other film shows it as a strategic battle between strong men and why they do so. /ne could argue that these movies cannot be generalised to be e&ample of how all movies from their respective cultures are made. #here is some truth in this, there is no reason that a 4apanese filmma%er cannot ma%e a movie in the same style as Saving !rivate "yan and vice-versa. 8ut what I have found is that many movies I have watched seem to follow the aforementioned styles. An e&ample of this would be the movie "ed 9liff or 9hi 8i, directed by 4ohn Woo. #his movie also follows the story of the leaders within an epic war in ancient 9hina, and seems to focus less on the common soldier and more on the decline of honour, respect, dignity and order. :eanwhile movies li%e -ull :etal 4ac%et by Stanley 1ubric% and Apocalypse ,ow by -rancis -ord 9oppola follow a more violent and shoc%ing approach. All in all, we find that although both the genre and messages of war were the same in each film, the way in which war is presented by the director is vastly different. While Spielberg aims to shoc% his

Yr 12 IB Film

Adi Rai

viewers with intense violent images, 1urosawa prefers to show how even the strongest men fall in war. #hese two completely different approaches end up conveying the same message and the way this is done is really why film is considered an art rather than $ust another form of entertainment. Word 9ount* ((0. Bibliography: http*;;en.wi%ipedia.org;wi%i;Saving<!rivate<"yan http*;;en.wi%ipedia.org;wi%i;"an<=.>film=.? http*;;en.wi%ipedia.org;wi%i;"ed<9liff<=.>film=.? http*;;en.wi%ipedia.org;wi%i;-ull<:etal<4ac%et http*;;www.imdb.com;title;tt@@>?>>(; http*;;www.imdb.com;title;tt@(.@>(6; http*;;$clar%media.com;film;filmreviewran.html http*;;www.mediacircus.net;saving.html http*;;www.imdb.com;title;tt@@A>A>>; http*;;www.imdb.com;title;tt@@?0@6>;