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Letters from Iwo JimaReviewed by Andrea Steffy
From the perspective of a Japanese soldier our story begins. It's sixty-one years ago, General Kuribayashi stands up against American forces to defend the volcanic island known as Iwo Jima. This epic companion piece to Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers is a tale written in English and then translated into Japanese. A story that brings to life four characters who soon realize the idea of leaving the island alive is going to be diminished.
Kuribayashi spent a brief period of time in the United States before the war broke out, leaving him with thoughts and feelings of awe, deference, and devotion towards the Americans. The general fights this war; however, he continues to feel an immeasurable amount of conflict within himself. Private Shimizu (Ryo Kase) was trained in the elite military police but shipped off to Iwo Jima for disobeying orders to kill a dog. Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) is an irreverent young baker who just wants to stay alive to see his wife and newborn daughter. The aristocratic Baron Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara) is a famous equestrian who competed in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, who brings his horse with him to the island. In Letters from Iwo Jima, Eastwood depicts the horrors of war. Showing us how appalling war can be. With a shocking intimacy, he shows us the atrocities committed by both the Americans and the Japanese. Emotionally devastating and superbly acted, giving us a glimpse beyond politics into the hearts and minds of the men we needed to call our enemy. A beautiful thing to let us see beyond ourselves. Blending and melding ferocity and delicacy, causing you the viewer to have an unblinking gaze. A simplistic quality film from the first frame to the last. The view taken by the director Clint Eastwood from Iris Yamashita's exemplary screenplay, takes the audience to places that would seem unimaginable for most American directors. With daring and significant combat scenes shot in desaturated color on the beaches of Iceland by the gifted Tom Stern. Editing by Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach, presents a picture from life's other side. Watching in horror as the soldiers bang their helmets with live grenades, we gain terror and insight. We see the complexity of how these men prefer suicide to surrendering. Ingrained in your mind will be the memory of authentic detail. A prime example of this is how Eastwood tells the story in the native Japanese language. Wartime is depicted as what it was like for our Japanese adversaries on an island engulfed in war in the pacific. The aforementioned prequel Flags of Our Fathers depicts the same battle from the American view point. The result is unique and unforgettable. Letters from Iwo Jima is being hailed as one of the great war movies - or antiwar movies - of all time. A Golden Globe winner, and Academy Award-nominated war film. I don't think I'm being too presumptuous in saying that I think the overall effect is what Eastwood wanted. That he is nonetheless pleased with the turnout. Aside from one indelible moment, the mutual recognition between sworn adversaries happens not on-screen, but later, as we piece the two films together in our minds. Taken together, Flags and Letters represent a genuinely imposing achievement, one that looks at war unflinchingly — that does not deny its necessity but above all makes you think and lament over the human loss that war entails. Letters from Iwo Jima, much like any war movie, honors the courage of the men who took part in a war not necessarily of their making. But by placing us on the opposite side of the battlefield, the movie forces us to approach it from a fresh perspective. The characters are drawn with striking nuance and have tender feelings. I'm not normally a Clint Eastwood fan, and was impressed with the movie. Had I not known that Clint directed this, I honestly would not have guessed he was even involved with this. I guess I have him type-casted with westerns some of my family would watch as I was a kid growing up. Letters From Iwo Jima strikes me as the height or peak of achievement in Eastwood's respected career. This film is eloquent despite being bloody. A prime example of descriptive words you don't normally find grouped together to describe something. Truly impressive both in movie-making and in its understanding of history. The humanistic approach makes Eastwood's movie a war story for the ages. More Images (Click image to enlarge) :
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Director: Clint Eastwood
My experience with this film was much better than I thought it would be, not quite what I had anticipated or expected at all. An intimate epic movie in which Eastwood uses a politically correct tone, that gradually picks up as we delved deeper into the film. I instinctively felt like I was watching a Kurosawa film. Reminiscent of such movies as Seven Samurai or Roshomon. The look of Letters from Iwo Jima can be compared to Kurosawa's, who was known for using telephoto lenses, flattening the frames, placing cameras farther away, and shooting action from various angles. He liked the use of weather elements to heighten the mood he wanted to convey.
