Narrative Structure and Ideology. Eisenstein in Saving Private Ryan
- Fernández-Ramírez, Laura 1
- Nevado, Ignacio 2
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1
Universidad Rey Juan Carlos
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2
Universidad Complutense de Madrid
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ISSN: 1578-8393
Year of publication: 2022
Volume: 22
Issue: 3
Pages: 353-366
Type: Article
More publications in: Área abierta
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.