Author: Schneider, Thomas F.

Source: Amsterdamer Beiträge zur neueren Germanistik, SCHULD UND SÜHNE? Kriegserlebnis und Kriegsdeutung in deutschen Medien der Nachkriegszeit (1945-1961) Internationale Konferenz vom 01.-04.09.1999 in Berlin. HEUKENKAMP, Ursula (Hrsg.) , pp. 813-827(15)

Publisher: Rodopi

Abstract:

Spielberg's 1998 World War II movie Saving Private Ryan was and still is an "outstanding media phenomenon" (Die Zeit). The article describes and analyses how the film's reception has been influenced by prior perceptions, initiated by the film's marketing, and compares the discussion in the US and Germany up to mid-1999. It becomes clear that the arguments in favor and against the film in the US as well as in Germany heavily depend on these prior perceptions and only deal with the amount of 'reality of war' the movie provides. These prior perceptions and other accompanying marketing efforts have succeeded in claiming Saving Private Ryan as the only adequate filmic representation of World War II in the cinema and the only film which does justice to the American soldiers who were actively involved in the Second World War. Thus the movie has become a virtual US World War II memorial.

Document Type: Research article

Publication date: 2001-06-01

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