SAVING PRIVATE RYAN

When I was a boy, there seemed to be two kinds of films on TV : westerns and war movies. I hated both of them. Because the good guys were too courageous and virile, and because the *bullets never hit them. Westerns were the worst – brave cowboys killed bad Indians – end of story. But even the war movies seemed to be the same story over and over again.

Now, however, Steven Spielberg has made Saving Private Ryan, a three-hour long film about World War II. This film is totally different to what was on TV when I was a kid.

It tells the story of a small group of men sent on an absurd, dangerous mission to find one *soldier – Private Ryan – somewhere in the chaos of the Normandy invasion. There is not one moment of *cheap sentiment, not one moment of superficiality or unjustified optimism. But it is a film that makes you feel that humans are generally good.

Steven Spielberg has made a great war movie.

VOCABULARY

- bullet = balle

- soldier = soldat

- cheap = au rabais, de pacotille

QUESTIONS
A) What is this document?

1) the review of a movie

2) an advertisement for a movie

3) an advertisement for the Army

B) What does this man think?

1) He loves old westerns and war movies

2) He thinks that this movie is better than the other ones.

3) He hates “Saving Private Ryan”

C) What is the story of this movie?

1) Indians fight against cowboys

2) Soldiers try to rescue another soldier

3) A policeman tries to find a thief.

ANSWERS

A1 | B2 | C2