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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