How did ‘Saving Private Ryan’ inspire ‘Game of Thrones’?
World War II is a subject that has seen more than its fair share of representation on the big screen. The conflict was still ongoing when the first films about it began to emerge, with classics like Casablanca and The Great Dictator offering invaluable insight into contemporary views on the subject. In the years since the Allied victory, numerous great directors have tackled the bloodshed, but few efforts have left quite as large an impression as Steven Spielberg’s 1998 epic Saving Private Ryan.
Following the death of his three brothers in combat, plans are made to rescue the final brother, James Ryan (Matt Damon), from Europe following the D-Day landings. Captain John H Miller (Tom Hanks) is tasked with bringing him home, leading to him and his men navigating a rapidly changing France during a pivotal time in the war. As well as being beautifully shot and gripping to watch, the movie is also famous for its accuracy. The cast were put through an intensive boot camp to simulate real combat, which almost caused them all to quit. Upon its release, there were several reports of real D-Day veterans having to leave theatres, as the scenes on screen strongly reminded them of their own experiences.
The film’s impact on culture is still being felt to this day, and in the strangest of places. Matt Shakman, a TV director who, among other things, was responsible for the penultimate episode of Game of Thrones, told The New York Times that Spielberg’s work was highly influential in bringing scenes of Daenerys Targaryen burning down King’s Landing to life.
“I looked at Saving Private Ryan, the opening battle on the beach, where the sound drops out and Tom Hanks is watching men being burned alive and shot to death,” he said. “That to me was very much what it should feel like for Jaime, watching men die left and right around him.”
Shakman, who is also directing the upcoming Marvel movie Fantastic Four: The First Steps, didn’t direct the episode titled ‘The Bells’ – that distinction fell to Miguel Sapochnik – but he was one of the people in charge of overseeing it. After finally conquering Westeros’ capital and claiming her place on the Iron Throne, Emilia Clarke’s ‘Mother of Dragons’ succumbs to the infamous Targaryen madness and goes on a rampage, instructing her scaly child to lay waste to the city. The episode (and the entire final season of the show) was heavily criticised, as fans thought Dany’s turn to the dark side was rushed, but on a purely visual level, the scene is mightily impressive.
Another classic war movie, albeit one about a different war, was also referenced when putting this sequence together. “What I looked at more were things like Apocalypse Now, the helicopter attack on the village, which felt very similar in terms of shifting points of view and the horror on the ground,” Shakman elaborated. “Dealing death from above – going through swirling clouds of smoke and napalm and all of that – felt much more like what I was trying to create.”
While ‘The Bells’ might not be as universally popular as its inspirations, the fact that filmmakers are still using Saving Private Ryan as a benchmark for on-screen brutality shows just how right Spielberg got it all those years ago.
