Iwo Jima Saga is Excellent Cinema

Clint Eastwood has done anything but be lazy in recent years. Coming on the heels of critically acclaimed films Mystic River (2003) and Million Dollar Baby (Best Picture - 2004), Eastwood took on a project of epic proportions - tell a story in two parts from two differing perspectives about a major historical event. The event was the Battle of Iwo Jima during World War II which saw intense and bloody combat between the Japanese and American militaries during the Pacific campaign. The Iwo Jima saga is unique because it takes a new road with war movies in that we don't simply see the American perspective, but also that of the enemy which I believe made for a very complete and compelling storytelling experience.

Flags Of Our Fathers

Flags Of Our Fathers was released first to theaters in 2006. Serving as the American perspective it follows the story of three US soldiers who participated in the battle of Iwo Jima and, more importantly to the story, their participation in raising the flag on Mt. Suribachi which is captured in a famous photograph. The focal point of the film is their struggle with being lauded as heroes upon returning stateside to help promote the purchase of war bonds to fund the war through to victory.

When you fight along side men who become like brothers and they die while you survive, being called a hero is the last thing soldiers want. These men just wanted to honor their fallen friends and they resented the fact that the government simply wanted to use them as salesmen for the war effort. No one could truly understand what really happened unless they were there at Iwo Jima, but all the people back home had was the picture of the flag being raised. They thought it was when the battle was over. It wasn't; good men died shortly after it was raised (for the second time) and the battle raged for another 35 grueling days. People were so obsessed with the details that they overlooked the truth of the situation. No one really seemed to care about the men lost, the friend these soldiers had lost. They only wanted their heroes.

As the American perspective, Flags is a mix of both brutal war scenes and the story of the war bond effort back home. While the battle itself serves as more of a set piece for the men's feelings back home, it is intense, graphic and important. Eastwood does a fabulous job handling the battle aspect with some help from co-producer Steven Spielberg (Saving Private Ryan, Band of Brothers). However, the film does feel uneven at times as it bounces back and forth from flashbacks of the battle to the bond campaign.

Ryan Phillipe, Jesse Bradford and Adam Beach all turn in fine performances as the three main characters of the story and Eastwood does a fine job directing. Despite the uneven aspects of the storytelling, Flags is worth viewing and is a fine addition to the new generation of war film. 8/10

Letters From Iwo Jima

Letters From Iwo Jima is an amazing film! The second half of the Iwo Jima saga offers an engrossing glimpse at the lives of the Japanese soldiers who fought to the death on Iwo Jima, something that I am fairly certain American audiences have never been given before. Certainly there is a novelty in that fact alone, but it is a film done extremely well and handled with great care and respect.

In the last year if the war, the Japanese military was slowly being pushed across the Pacific back to Japan. Iwo Jima was a critical island for both sides as it was capable of serving as a strategic airfield for fighters and bombers. The men of the island knew the Americans were coming and they waiting with anxious anticipation for the battle to arrive. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) was dispatched to take command of the island and take charge of its defense, a task he knows in his heart is all but impossible. However, he does what he must to prepare his men, but the task is made all the more difficult when he clashes with his subordinate officers concerning strategy for defending the island.

We also view the events through the eyes of a soldier by the name of Saigo, a young man who was pressed into service by the Empire leaving his his pregnant wife and job as a baker far behind. He is a soldier, but he doesn't have the heart to fight. He is a peaceful man who simply wants to return home alive. We are witness to the horrors that he experiences as he tries to survive the battle.

Letters is a powerful film, expertly done and beautifully presented. The cinematography is superb and the performance given by Ken Watanabe is powerful as he truly leads the film. It is jarring at times and totally engrossing as we are shown a side of the war we might never ourselves have imagined. It is definitely the stronger of the two films.

Letters was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (2006). It was totally deserving in my opinion. This is probably one of the best war films I have ever seen. It brings the human element to the tragedy of war through a lens that we have rarely seen before, if ever - the eyes of the enemy. This is a must see film that I am glad I finally saw. 10/10