Narrative Structure and Ideology. Eisenstein in Saving Private Ryan

Abstract

This paper highlights the relevance of the structural design of Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998) in conveying its message, in line with S. M. Eisenstein's theoretical principles. An analysis of its scenes has been carried out, identifying their emulation of, or "collisions" with, preceding "schemas". The film presents events characteristic of the classical model of the World War II combat subgenre, but its articulation is unforeseen and evidences authorial action as in the critical model of Vietnam, specifically as in Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, 1979). This contrast integrates citizens of different ideological persuasions. It also borrows the structural model and deceptive ending to a initial enigma from Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1941) so as to allude to the same theme: the true essence of man, in this case of the veteran, represented by the elderly Ryan.