Analysis of the first two minutes of Saving Private Ryan

The film opens with an establishing shot showing an elderly man walking in a cemetery towards a specific grave- this makes the audience wonder who the man is, creating an enigma. The audience then see a French and American flag introducing the theme and genre of the film. The old man then stops by a grave and falls to his knees crying-this shows that he has a strong relationship with the dead soldier indicating that an important character will die.

The camera then pans down awaay from the grave and the scene cuts to a beach covered in anti-tank obstacles- this shows the audience the setting of the scene. A date then appears on the screen-this is significant because it says June 6 1944 (D day) this indicates the setting and plot of the film.

We are then introduced to the main protagonist-we know this because the shot is a close up when he is amongst a group of people but the camera only focuses on him. A close up is then used to show his hand which is shaking-this is significant because usually in war films the main protagonist is brave and not worried about anything, but the fact that Tom Hanks's hand is shaking shows the realism of the film and makes the audience think about how people felt when they were in that situation.

Overall the opening two minutes give the audience an insight to what the genre of the film is and who the main protagonists are.