The opening scene of Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan is intense and gruesome. The realistic battle scene follows a group of World War II soldiers as they land at Omaha Beach on the Normandy Coast on June 6, 1944.
“Spielberg’s Omaha Beach is deafening and chaotic, in sharp contrast to the battlefields of an earlier generation of World War II films,” says Stephen Ambrose, historical consultant for the movie. In an interview with Peter Meyerhoff of Britannica Online, Ambrose points out, “In those films, without exception, the battles are too clean, too neat, too surgical, too short, too good to be true.”
Spielberg’s script was influenced by Ambrose’s books on the Normandy invasion and the story of Fritz Niland in Ambrose’s 1992 Band of Brothers. Niland was one of four brothers from New York state who fought in the war. Two Niland brothers were killed on D-Day, while another was missing in action in Burma and was presumed dead, although he actually survived. Fritz was located in Normandy by an Army chaplain, Reverend Francis Sampson, and taken out of the combat zone.
In Saving Private Ryan, Captain John Miller (Tom Hanks) survives the landing at Normandy only to be told he must take his squad behind enemy lines on a mission to retrieve one man – Private James Ryan (Matt Damon). Ryan is the youngest of four brothers. The other three have been killed in action within days of each other, and the Army has decided to send Private Ryan home to ease his mother’s grief.
While battling through the countryside, Miller’s men begin to question their orders… Why is this one man’s life worth risking the lives of eight? Why should Ryan get to go home when they all want to go home? Is this one mission more important than fighting the war?
While dealing with his squad’s feelings of betrayal, Miller must remain strong for the men under his command. In one scene, while the soldiers are complaining about the mission, they ask Miller his opinion. The captain points out that he does not complain to the men under his command. According to the chain of command, they complain to him, and he would speak to his own supervisor. When the men ask what he would say, Miller responds that he would tell his superiors the mission is worthwhile. This response surprises the men and makes them a bit ashamed of their own complaints.
Miller also provides an image of decency in the madness of war. When tempers flare between two soldiers, Miller distracts them by revealing that when he isn’t serving his country as a soldier, he is an English teacher. This shocks his men into realizing that their captain is there to do a job because he feels it is the right thing to do. He wants to go home as badly as they do, but he is determined to complete the mission.
Miller’s leadership techniques are similar to those described in Unit Ten of Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Development Studies: A Humanities Approach. He engages in the empowerment process to provide direction through strong ideals, vision and purpose. He commits his men to action, inspires them to accept and work toward a common goal and converts followers into leaders.
In his article, “Leadership as Empowering Others,” W. Warner Burke states, “Empowerment comes from leaders providing clarity of direction, but not just any direction – a direction that encompasses a higher purpose, a worthy cause, an idea, and will require collective and concerted effort.”
Miller represents a leader who empowers his followers to see the higher purpose, to take initiative and to face the risks.
Sources:
Spielberg, Steven, Director. Saving Private Ryan. 1998.
Phi Theta Kappa International Honor Society. Leadership Development Studies: A Humanities Approach, Fourth Edition. 2006.
[Stacy Duke, November 1999]
Questions or comments about Phi Theta Kappa Leadership Movie Reviews may be directed to Monika Byrd, Director of Leadership Development Programs.
