The narrative centres around the search of eight men for one man, the eponymous Ryan, a member of the parachute regiment who's been dropped somewhere over France, and who's earned a trip home due to the death of his three brothers. I'm sceptical that this would actually have happened in the war but stylistically it works extremely well. The film is bookended by two short clips of a now much aged Private Ryan actively remembering the sacrifice which was made on his behalf and which we see played out in the film. The picture concludes with Ryan considering once more the challenge of his life, had he "earned" their sacrifice, had his life proved worthy of their loss. As viewers we're left with the same question, we might not have been saved in a way similar to the fictional Ryan but we too are heirs to the sacrifice of millions in WWII. Are we living lives worthy of what they gave up? Do we value enough the society which they laid their lives down for? How are we living in response to what they did?
Perhaps it's just because this week is Holy week but all this struck me is having echoes of the Easter story. Ryan's challenge to "earn it", to "earn" their sacrifice is not really about "earning" anything at all. They soldiers are already dead, the sacrifice has already been made. His rescue is a done deal, just like Jesus' death for us on the cross it's already a finished work. That's completely aside from the question: what could one man actually do inside his one life to be worthy of the lost lives of six others? Similarly how could a people whose lives are completely unworthy of Christ's sacrifice repay the death of the only man who was entirely undeserving of the brutal death he died? I don't believe that Ryan could, and I don't believe that we can. It seems to me, that rather than really being about "earning" anything, Ryan's subsequent life is more about his response to what has happened to him. He feels keenly the need to live differently because of the high price his life has been bought for. To live a better life than he might otherwise have done and a life of remembrance and gratefulness. This too is the very thing that the Christian desires to do, to live differently and indeed better in response to Christ's death for them. For Ryan it is clear that this burden had weighed on him throughout his life. How great for us then, that Christ's death is not just what prompts us to aspire to a different kind of life but is also the very thing that enables us to begin to live that life.
Perhaps it's just because this week is Holy week but all this struck me is having echoes of the Easter story. Ryan's challenge to "earn it", to "earn" their sacrifice is not really about "earning" anything at all. They soldiers are already dead, the sacrifice has already been made. His rescue is a done deal, just like Jesus' death for us on the cross it's already a finished work. That's completely aside from the question: what could one man actually do inside his one life to be worthy of the lost lives of six others? Similarly how could a people whose lives are completely unworthy of Christ's sacrifice repay the death of the only man who was entirely undeserving of the brutal death he died? I don't believe that Ryan could, and I don't believe that we can. It seems to me, that rather than really being about "earning" anything, Ryan's subsequent life is more about his response to what has happened to him. He feels keenly the need to live differently because of the high price his life has been bought for. To live a better life than he might otherwise have done and a life of remembrance and gratefulness. This too is the very thing that the Christian desires to do, to live differently and indeed better in response to Christ's death for them. For Ryan it is clear that this burden had weighed on him throughout his life. How great for us then, that Christ's death is not just what prompts us to aspire to a different kind of life but is also the very thing that enables us to begin to live that life.
