1.

INTRODUCTION

Film construction incorporates the systematic assembly of cinematic elements that seek
to convey meaning and invoke emotion. In order to ensure that the intended message is
received and understood by the recipient there must be a symbolic understanding between
the filmmaker and the intended audience. This commonality is implicit in nature but
explicit in expression, therefore the nature of the visual stimuli (that induces a sense of
understanding on the part of the recipient) is only iconic and semantically significant if
the intended message is constructed within a set of a generally understood language
system or culture.

According to Fuery (2000), cinema is "produced by, read in, and gains meaning from, its
cultural positioning", hence in order to attach meaning to any given film it is essential to
acknowledge, understand and internalize the paradigmatic nature of the cultural from
which it was produced. "Saving Private Ryan" (Spielberg, 1998) and "Catch 22"
(Nichols, 1970) are two films that represent isolated events that occur during World War
2 (WW2), both films are produce by the same culture, yet despite this the ideological
standpoint of the films are drastically contrasting and contradictory. The notion of
cultural and it's inseparable link to ideology can then only be understood within the
context in which the film was constructed, the thirty eight year gap between the two films
is culturally significant in the sense that it effects the audiences understanding and the
meaning obtained. This essay will explore the ideological significance within the space-
time constructs of post-WW2 American cinema through a detailed comparing Steven
Spielberg's "Saving Private Ryan" and Mike Nichols's "Catch 22" in an attempt to
highlight how films gain meaning from their cultural positioning.

2. IDEOLOGY

Ideology is term that loosely encompasses the collective understanding of the behaviors,
thoughts, motivations, beliefs, interpersonal discourses, socio-historical transgressions of
a societal group, individual or culture. The term was originally used in the Marxist
tradition that was used to "...place people in different classes in society on account of
their social and, in particular, economic differences" (Fourie, 2004:135), however since
the dispelling of the Soviet Union during the cold war the term has been somewhat
redefined to reflect a more unbiased classification of society and the individual.

The purpose of ideology, as indicated by Lye (1997) is to encapsulate the socialization

process that results in a collective understanding embedded in symbols and cultural
practices, this is achieved through the shaping of our cognitive process by ideological
"apparatuses" (churches, schools, family, art, etc.). Ideology, however, is not an absolute
term in the scientific sense as Lye (1997) states that "Any ideology will contain
contradictions, will repress aspects of its experience, will 'disappear that which tends to
contradict it or expose its repressions", hence when the ideology of any given text is
analyzed the resultant meanings are not absolute and are subjected to change, or in other
words, ideology as a cultural phenomena is constantly in a state of flux.

Giannetti (2005), defines ideology as "...a body of ideas reflecting the social needs and
aspirations of an individual, group, class, or culture", this definition as a operational term
is simplistic and vague, however it does incorporate the broadness that is the term itself.
For the purpose of this discussion, ideology "refers to ideas, attitudes, values, belief
systems, or interpretive and conceptual frameworks held by members of a particular
social group or cultural" (Fourie, 2004: 225).

2.1 Ideology and its cinematic application

Film as a communication medium is bound by the pardigmatic-syntagmatic correlation

and its resultant culturally bound implications and meanings. As a result it is necessary to
note that the explicitness through which cinematic meaning is convey should be seen as a
variable process, rather than a constant and all-encompassing ideological expression of
the filmmaker. Giannetti (2005:428-429), describes the three broad categories through
which the ideological nature of film can be ascertained, be it neutral, implicit or explicit.
Fourie (2004:224), in his discussion of contemporary film theory, emphasizes the effect
of mainstream and oppositional cinema as a means of portraying ideological standpoints.
"Mainstream cinema" is film that contributes towards maintaing the ideological
understandings amongst the majority of individuals within a societal group, whilst
"Oppositional cinema" seeks to challenge mainstream beliefs through generally explicit
ideological content (Fourie, 2004). The relationship between mainstream and
oppositional cinema, and the degree to which they vary, is a indication of the diversity of
individual ontological understandings within a societal group and provides a conceptual
framework for gaining insight into inter-cultural ideological variations. For example, the
degree to which mainstream and oppositional cinema differ in collectivistic societies (e.g.
Korea, China, and other south-east Asian countries) would hypothetically be smaller than
that of individualistic societies such as the USA.

3. SYNOPSIS

3.1. Saving Private Ryan

The film follows a small group of US soldiers as they arrive on the bloody beaches of
Omaha during the US World War II campaign on 6 June 1944 (or "D-Day").The film is
essentially a objective flashback of the Normandy campaign initiated by the aging Private
Ryan as he remembers the acts of heroism that lend to his present day existence. The
film's protagonist takes the form of Captain John Miller who successfully survives the
beach massacre only to be given orders to search for and send home Private Ryan.
Miller's initial apprehension is equally felt by his squadron who feel that searching for
one soldier is a waste of military resources, however these initial feelings are
progressively transcended as the company themselves realize the importance of the
individual as they grow closer as a unit. Along the way Captain Miller losses many of his
team which ultimately adds to his enduring efforts to save one man's life. Eventually
when Private Ryan is located, he refuses to abounded his fellow soldiers which results in
Captain miller and his men joining and protecting Private Ryan through his military
endeavors. The film is vivid in its depiction of the horrors of war during this time and
attempts to recreate the actual experience of the patriotic US soldiers that fought in the
Normandy campaign.
Heroism, bravery and patriotism are strong central themes and are persistent throughout
the film.

3.2. Catch 22

Catch 22 is a satirist look at the experiences of the 256th bomber squadron and it's
commanding officers. This 1970's film is based on the book by Joseph Heller and tells the
story of Captain Yossarain who is desperately seeker to return home but is constantly
being told to complete more missions before he is allowed to do so, this is due to his
glory seeker Colonel who dreams of making the papers with stories of how his command
has flown more missions than any other. The title is evidence of the immorality of war as
Captain Yossarian tries to pled insane in order to avoid flying more missions but due to
military policies he is unable to do so, the argument here is that if a soldier is able enough
to identify himself as insane then he is a rational being and therefore cannot be insane.
The story follows Captain Yossarian as he becomes more and more entrapped and
exploited by his superiors and subsequently becomes more and more desperate to escape.
The movie makes use of black humor in order to justify the madness that takes place
during the war, Engstrom describes the use of black humor in Catch 22 as follows:

"More commonly described as the'humour that deals with unpleasant aspects of life in a
bitter or ironic way', black humor became the American people's way to express their
feelings of disillusionment and hopelessness. Indeed, this is the eternal theme that
emerged in Joseph Heller's Catch 22...Through black humor, the senselessness of war,
particularly the act of enlisting young men in combat, individuals who have no idea
about, nor belief, in the war they were supposed to be fighting."

This idea of being caught in the catch 22 scenarios during the World War is the starting
point of Heller's satirist takes on the irrationality and immorality of war. Along with
immorality and irrationality, catch 22 is an oppositional approach to an otherwise
glorified American World War II campaign.

4. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN AND CATCH 22: AN IDEOLOGICAL

COMPARISION

America cinema as a whole has generally been criticized as representing a single-minded

ideological standpoint. Although this may be true when the majority of exploited films
are examined, however many American filmmakers have been addressing an oppositional
attitude that reflect an alternative post-WWII American consciousness. Catch 22 and
Saving Private Ryan represent two different perspectives on the same war by the same
society, therefore in order to account for this discrepancy the socio-historical context in
which the films were created needs to be understood and examined.

4.1 The American postwar parody: a context for analysis

American culture has long been one of national isolation and more recently infectious
global involvement policies. This isolationist impulse was results of the popular
disappoint the American people felt after World War I, making them hesitant in involving
themselves in another bloody war campaign (Grogin, 2002). It was through the
campaigning of the Warner Bro's film company that anti-nazi ideologies came into to
play. Through a series of propaganda films such as The Fighting 69th (1940) and The
Dan Patrol (1938), that started a movement that lead to the American society questioning
their role in the war, it wasn't until the first openly anti-Nazi films of The Black Legion
(1937) and Confessions of a Nazi Spy (1939) that Warner Bro's political stance became
overtly known (Grogin, 2002). Despite numerous threats, and even the burning of a
cinema house, the Warner Bro's campaigned continued and its efforts were eventually
met when America joined the war in 1941.

Since the release in 1998 of Saving Private Ryan the American public have once again
been ask to revive the debate over war and the remembering of the soldiers who fought in
it. With modern technology contributing towards a more realistic visual recollection of
war, viewers are now exposed to closer approximations of the "reality" D-day soldiers
had to face. Similarly, modern technology has allowed the American people to become
voyeurs of modern warfare, in which their own country has spearheaded the attack (e.g.
The recent war in Iraq and Afghanistan). Therefore, the notion and modern
implementation of technology has allowed American society to be brought closer to the
emotions and happenings of past wars, whilst and that same time technology is allowing
them to distance themselves for the present day conflicts. Spielberg’s Saving Private
Ryan "challenges America's idealistic vision of high technological warfare and brands a
benevolent battlefield as a myth" (Greenwood, 1998), this supports the paradigmatic
thinking that has resulted from the use of technology. The visuals in Saving Private Ryan
awaken the reality and irrational nature of war through assimilating the past horrors of
war into our modern schema, yet this apparent closeness felt by viewing the pearls of
brave soldiers (such as Captain Miller) fails to impact on America's hesitancy to initiate
and avoid the wars of today. It is for this reason that Saving Private Ryan is largely a war
film as opposed to the anti-war sediments reflected in Catch 22.

Twenty-eight years before Saving Private Ryan was released, the satire anti-war Catch 22
(based on the book of the same title by Mike Nichols) hit the America cinema scene.
During the 1940's many American soldiers were forced into the service without fully
comprehending the task at hand, it is this senselessness of war that Catch 22 encapsulates
and rejects. Catch 22 was written during the liberalization moment in America (1960's)
that had a strong anti-war consensus, this may be the reason it received funding despite
it's haphazard plot and narrative as the sponsor's focus was on the ideological slant rather
than its aesthetic potential (Engstrom, 2006). In conjunction with the peaceful protest of
the "hippie" cult, Catch 22 adopts black humor as a means of expressing its anti-war
inclinations. The growing concern of economic greed by elite societal members was
another growing concern during this time as America had fully recovered from its great
depression and was now reaping the rewards of capitalism (Engstrom, 2006), again this a
central theme in Catch 22 as the superiors in the film (namely Colonel Cathcart) are
willing to sacrifice their own dignity for extravagant economic rewards, while the
individual's under his command suffer under his tolaterian position
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