Letters for Iwo Jima
Several months ago I went to see Clint Eastwood's film Flags of Our Fathers. This film showed the American side of the battle of Iwo Jima. It also showed us what happened to the soldiers who raised the flag. The film was well made and boasted a terrific performance by Adam Beach as Ira Hayes. It also had some brutally real war scenes. But it lacked an emotional punch.
Eastwood also made a companion piece to Flags, Letters from Iwo Jima, which shows us the Japanese side of the battle. Letters is by far the superior film. In fact, I would say that it is close to a masterpiece.
The film is based partly on a book of letters written by General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (which is edited by Tsuyoko Yoshido). Even though Kuribayashi was high ranking he had a compassionate side to him. He is played in the film by the marvelous Ken Watanabe. As good as Watanabe is even better is Kazunari Ninomiya, who plays a young soldier named Saigo. Saigo has many doubts about the war and constantly thinks about his wife and daughter back in Japan (he has never met his daughter as he left Japan when his wife was pregnant). He is the conscience of the film. There are other characters that we get to know. They are portrayed as real flesh and blood people and not cartoon characters or bloodthirsty madmen. Don't get me wrong - the Japanese soldiers aren't shown to be angels. But neither are the Americans. In both cases the men are following the orders of their respective governments.
Iris Yamashita wrote the screenplay based on a story she created with Paul Haggis. Tom Stern is responsible for the magnificent cinematography. You will notice that the colors are muted during the war scenes and brighter in the other scenes.
With this film Eastwood proves that he is one of the great masters of American cinema. Letters from Iwo Jima brought out great emotion in me. Several times during the film I had to reach for a tissue. And with Letters and Flags Eastwood makes a point that I have long believed in - war is futile. Ah, if we could all only learn to live with each other in peace. Maybe that sounds like wishful thinking but I can dream can't I?
Eastwood also made a companion piece to Flags, Letters from Iwo Jima, which shows us the Japanese side of the battle. Letters is by far the superior film. In fact, I would say that it is close to a masterpiece.
The film is based partly on a book of letters written by General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (which is edited by Tsuyoko Yoshido). Even though Kuribayashi was high ranking he had a compassionate side to him. He is played in the film by the marvelous Ken Watanabe. As good as Watanabe is even better is Kazunari Ninomiya, who plays a young soldier named Saigo. Saigo has many doubts about the war and constantly thinks about his wife and daughter back in Japan (he has never met his daughter as he left Japan when his wife was pregnant). He is the conscience of the film. There are other characters that we get to know. They are portrayed as real flesh and blood people and not cartoon characters or bloodthirsty madmen. Don't get me wrong - the Japanese soldiers aren't shown to be angels. But neither are the Americans. In both cases the men are following the orders of their respective governments.
Iris Yamashita wrote the screenplay based on a story she created with Paul Haggis. Tom Stern is responsible for the magnificent cinematography. You will notice that the colors are muted during the war scenes and brighter in the other scenes.
With this film Eastwood proves that he is one of the great masters of American cinema. Letters from Iwo Jima brought out great emotion in me. Several times during the film I had to reach for a tissue. And with Letters and Flags Eastwood makes a point that I have long believed in - war is futile. Ah, if we could all only learn to live with each other in peace. Maybe that sounds like wishful thinking but I can dream can't I?
posted by Film Fanatic | 2:22 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home