Trying to "make sense of this God Awful war":
Abjection
and the Omaha sequence of Saving Private Ryan.
(briefness due to
word limit - see footnotes for further elaboration)
Kristeva says that abjection is something that
"disturbs identity, system, order" (1). The Omaha
sequence is an excellent example; things that give us life spew
or explode out of soldiers causing death. The state of battle (2)
destroys order and disrupts system. Because it is abject, we are
drawn to it (3). Furthermore, we experience the abject first
hand, becoming virtual soldiers where our minds (4) are hijacked
by the sound, camera work and editing. We dodge bullets, hope to
stay afloat, watch the private next to us get blown up, run into
a smoke fog of uncertainty (with heavy breathing) but still
manage to look back at the human carnage. The only laughter we
are afforded is when Spielberg removes us from the action and
gives us Miller's point of view (5).
However, the sequence is still not totally abject. Kristeva notes
that the purpose of religious rituals are often about purifying
the abject (6) . Similarly, religious signs are littered
throughout the sequence. Private Jackson kisses his cross, the
meds wear the red cross (7) , while a dying soldier recites the
Hail Mary in Latin (8). When the Americans reach the German side,
the fire flames they use to destroy life end up acting moments
later as an eternal flame (9). The cross like metal barriers on
the beach with dead soldiers strewn on them acts as a Calgary,
giving the sequence in its final shot (10) a message of
resurrection and purification from the abject.
The other reason why the sequence isn't as abject as it looks is
because the director has constructed the anarchy. It is a paradox
which demonstrates how cinema - a medium that is so technical
(11) - requires such a mastery of its rules to achieve abjection
(12).
FOOTNOTES:
1 Jullia Kristeva, Powers of Horror: An Essay on Abjection, page
6. Extracted from Mas 304 Unit Reader.
2 Destroying the line between life and death. The arbitrariness
of either is exposed.
3 Our wise lecturer said that the abject helps us determine who
we are or what isn't us (kristeva says that too) and this is an
attraction. However, some people may totally "eject"
the abjection before them by walking out of the cinema. Spielberg
himself has said that he wanted audience members to look at exit
signs. The first time I saw SPR, a man was sitting outside
another session saying he thought he was going to have a heart
attack.
4 And bodies for many people.
5 Brophy ("The Body Horrible: some notions, some points,
some examples" - from Mas 304 reader) says that scenes of
horror have an often schiszophrenic affect on viewers. They can
illicit laughter (because of the screen's non bodies) and horror
(because we imagine ourselves). Because Spielberg makes us a
body, we don't laugh at what's going on because we are there.
Only when we are taken out of the action can we possibly laugh.
The scene where from Miller's POV a soldier looks for his arm,
picks it up and tries to re-attach it brought out nervous
laughter in some viewings. The audience is given room to breathe
during these moments where they are not inserted into the action.
6 Julia Kristeva, op cit., page 17.
7 Metal structures that are cross like litter the beach, the
fences posts are like crosses holding up the mesh, etc.
8 And Chaplins giving last rights to the dying (who represent the
abject).
9 When a US soldier kills a German who has surrendered, you'll
notice an over-exposed flame over his head. He is afforded as
much dignity and purification as the "good guys". Much
of the lighting is like that, and a permanent visual sign of the
film, apart from the cross, is the flame which takes on a
religious experience even in its destructiveness (as is the case
in the Bible).
10 Before we have a cleverly edited cut to the women typing
letters (gun fire sound - fear : type writer sound-security).
11 Even at a basic level, light enters at so many frames per
second etc
12 Or a look that disturbs "identity, system and order"