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Almost 20 years before the release ofOperation Chromite, the filmSaving Private Ryanhad been announced appearing to be one of the best representatives of the war drama movie genre. Changing the names of the main characters, Spielberg depicts the real story of the Niland brothers played by Tom Hanks. It undisputedly influenced the following major war drama films, especially, because of its innovative representation of war, which is horrible, bloody and realistic. Both of these films have many things in common, such as genre, some techniques applied during the filming process, and special emphasis on human`s qualities: courage, loyalty, and intelligence. However, there are many differences to be noticed and made them clear, for example, the overall purpose and protagonist-antagonist relations inOperation ChromiteandSaving Private Ryan. In general, both motion pictures are the turning points in the history of Korean and American cinematography defining main issues that the audience loves about such films: epic sound and visual effects in case ofOperationChromite, and thoughtfulness and soulfulness in case ofSaving Private Ryan.
FILMMAKING TECHNIQUES
Operation ChromiteandSaving Private Ryanare both war drama films, and that is why before comparing the filmmaking techniques applied during their creation, one should choose what kind of scenes should be investigated. First of all, the main feature of a war film is battle scenes. The way these scenes are filmed defines the perception of a war and its key points due to the scenario and director`s conceptual vision. Another important part of any war film is dialogues. Mostly, they are used to show how the main issue of a film is solved. The contrast between battle and conversation scenes is obvious and wavering between them determines the balance of action and static, war and peace, and muteness and soundness in the film.
As for the battle scenes, Korean filmmakers provide various aerial shots that represent the scope of the war more spectacularly. At the same time, the Hollywood film shows the war from certain peoples points of view; its battle scenes are less massive, but more heartbreaking because one can observe how different people struggle for life in those unbearable conditions. Also, Koreans apply POV shots to shift the audience into the reality of the film while in the battle scenes ofSaving Private Ryan,the American shot is a usual practice. This difference should be motivated by main purposes of the films;Operation Chromiteaims at creating an illusion of the audience to participate in the hostilities, andSaving Private Ryanis a life-story-telling movie about war participants.
Talking about the dialogues in these films, one should consider the connection between their content and presentation. InSaving Private Ryan, for example, the dialogues are full of philosophical statements and opinion sharing the issues of what companionship is, what courage is, how a single persons life can be evaluated, and so on. That is why the dialogue scenes in this movie are usually deep focused and show several people at the same time. In the case ofOperation Chromite,its creators` goal was rather to show how the decisions are made in difficult times and circumstances, so the shots of achieving their mission were focused on faces, slight body movements, and changing facial expressions; mainly these shots are cropped and shallow focused. By these means, they perfectly put emphasis on such emotions and feelings as hesitation, struggling, and regret.
In addition to this, there are other filmmaking techniques that can be observed in the filmSaving Private Ryan, for instance, low-angle shot of a running train. Also, an important part ofSaving Private Ryanis flashback. The movie starts from the elderly veteran walking through the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial and falling to his knees at the tombstone. Suddenly, the scene changes and the American soldiers appear to be landing on Omaha Beach in the morning of July 6, 1944. At the end of the film, the elderly veteran turns to be Private Ryan and the grave that he was crying over belongs to Captain Miller. In this case, the flashback is applied to form the movie frame.
HISTORICAL INFLUENCES
The filmOperation Chromiteis based on the real events of the Battle of Inchon. This huge historical event involved 75,000 troops and 261 naval vessels and became the turning point in the Korean War. Although at that time Americans and Koreas were enemies, there is no certain confrontation between the good and the evil in this film. Perhaps, this was done due to the present conditions of Korean-American relationships. The way in which Koreans are depicted in this motion picture can also be defined by the ideology of communism in strong relations with the Korean love of family. In addition, communism is another point that puts Korea in contrast with capitalistic America.
As well asOperation Chromite,Saving Private Ryanwas based on the real-life story of the Niland brothers, namely Robert, Preston, Frederick (Fritz), and Edward who are from Tonawand, New York. However, their names where changed to make the story more fictional. After investigatingSaving Private Ryanand comparing this Spielberg`s work with the others of this genre, one can notice some Kurosawa influences. For example, the scene when Upham is watching a battle from the distance reminds of the spy-abduction sequence from Seven Samurai where Katsushiro watches the event from the distance as well. Among the other films that influenced Spielberg`s vision and defined his preferences, one can highlightThe Story of GI JoeandThe Fighting Sullivans.
The horrific vision of war is shown both inOperation ChromiteandSaving Private Ryan. Unlike the last one, the main protagonist and antagonist of the Korean motion picture are not presented definitely as the good and the evil. Each side has its own purposes and means that are defined by ideological preferences of their homelands and predispositions as well as their human qualities.
On the other hand, the enemies inSaving Private Ryanare portrayed as villainous scourge and the main characters of the film are meant to fight them applying all the efforts that they have. Surely, they cannot win the whole war, but as one of the characters says that maybe saving Private Ryan was the one decent thing [they] were able to pull out [sic] of this whole god-awful, shitty mess (Saving Private Ryan,01:52:24-01:52:33) From this quote, it can be concluded that Spielberg, perhaps, wanted to present this small victory as the key to the overall success.
Spielberg`s choice of this scenario could be also influenced by his life background. He was Jewish, born as Steven Spielstein and was also very interested in WWII and everything connected to it. This might have led him to present German army as the embodiment of cruelty and evil.
KEY FEATURES OF THE FILMS
BothOperation ChromiteandSaving Private Ryanshare a lot of wisdom with the audience. This wisdom is consolidated in the quotations delivered by the main characters of the motion pictures. For instance, one of the dialogues inSaving Private Ryanshows how courageous and strong people manage to bear those hard life challenges:
Pvt. James Ryan:It doesn't [sic] make any sense. It doesn't [sic] make sense, sir. Why do I deserve to go? Why not these guys? They fought just as hard!
Capt. John Miller:Is that what they're [sic] supposed to tell your mother when they send her another folded American flag?
Pvt. James Ryan:Tell her that when you found me, I was here with the only brothers I have left, and that theres [sic] no way I was gonna [sic] desert them. I think she'll [sic] understand that. There's [sic] no way I'm [sic] leaving this bridge. (Saving Private Ryan (1998) Movie Script).
From this short passage, it can be assumed that the key notions inSaving Private Ryanwere companionship, stamina, and courage. At the same time,Operation Chromitefocuses on the same notions, but they are expressed differently. The main difference between the ways Koreans and Americans filmed these two stories is that the first ones tried to do it more epic telling the history of nations while the second story is more about individuals.
Operation Chromiteis an epic film and this is expressed in various ways. First of all, the color scheme is mainly cold, and it, undisputedly, sets the mood and atmosphere of the movie; it is tragic with strong emphasis on struggling and life challenges (Knight). The shots are highly contrasted and the light is often used to specify only the main elements of the scenes. Secondly, the protagonist Jang Hak-soo and the antagonist Douglas MacArthur are embodied in the representatives of two opponent nations; in spite of the fact that the story is based on real events, these two images are rather collective than individual.
InSaving Private Ryan,the director demonstrates the opposite things. Captain Miller and Ryan S. as the key characters of the movie are both individuals representing their own life stories. They are not just the parts of the army, they prove to be autonomous and ready to deal with their enemy by themselves. Captain Miller and his companions unite with Ryan and his group of paratroopers, but still, their individualism is expressed in the way how they deal with the upcoming problem.
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN AMERICANS AND KOREANS
It should be noticed how the motion picture ofOperation Chromitewas influenced by Korean vision of family and nation. Similar to many other Asian nationalities, Koreans have strong bonds with their families and the image of country is also determined by this. Koreans, unlike Americans, are more likely to obey the rules and commands as can be observed from these two movies. For example, Ryan does not agree to go home although this was not just Captain Miller`s decision, but it happened because an order is released by higher instance. In contrast to the Korean family-ship, the American companionship is embodied in the figures of Captain Miller and his troop as well as Ryan and the other paratroopers. They represent a strong and loyal bond that was formed accidently in those unbearable circumstances.
Another point about American mentality shown only inSaving Private Ryanis American exceptionalism (Allison). The helpless troop in captivity somehow manages to defeat German troops that doubtlessly are much stronger. On the other hand, Koreans` attitude to their enemies, Americans, is much more understanding and patient.
CONCLUSION
The analysis ofOperation ChromiteandSaving Private Ryanin their rich historical and cultural contexts compares two representatives of the same war drama film genre. It is rather the contrast between the perception of war of two nations and key issues connected with it. The key points to be highlighted in bothOperation ChromiteandSaving Private Ryanare loyalty, companionship, courage, and intelligence applied at the right time and in the right place. .Such filmmaking techniques as POV shots inOperation Chromiteand American shots inSaving Private Ryanallow expressing the main ideas of the films delivering major thoughts in different manners. There is no doubt that both of these motion pictures influenced the world cinematography in general and became essential for Korean and American film industry in particular.
