Steven Spielberg said he felt exhilarated after completing *Saving Private Ryan*, but was also ashamed of that reaction because the film’s subject was war. He described making a film as resembling a military campaign, and said the experience left him feeling as though he had a kind of “shellshocked hysteria”.

The 1998 film was widely praised for its harrowing battle scenes and influence on later war films, though its patriotic portrayal of American heroism has also drawn criticism as glorifying or fetishising the Second World War. Spielberg’s comments to *The Washington Post* reflect the intensity he felt while making the film; the article also places it in the context of his demanding career, including directing *Jurassic Park* and *Schindler’s List* in 1993.