Flags of Our Fathers
Let’s just assume Clint Eastwood had never had been an actor. No “Dirty” Harry Callahan. No Josey Wales. And let’s pretend Sergio Leone never made his Dollars trilogy. If you take away all his iconic characters, what are you left with? Oh, that’s right, his brilliant career as a director; Unforgiven, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, and now Flags of out Fathers.
In February of 1945 a group of American soldiers climbed Mount Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima. Once there, six of those men raised a flag and became part of American history forever. This was the second time the flag had been raised that day. Flags of Our Fathers follows the three of those surviving soldiers, Rene Gagnon, John Bradley, and Ira Hayes, as they are shipped home and become spokesmen of the war effort. They are sent out to parades and photo ops so that they can sell war bonds while their friends are sacrificing their lives back in Japan.
I don’t want to give the impression that this is a political film, but it certainly is timely. At its core Flags of Our Fathers is a film about the perception of war. How the reality of what’s going on on the ground is completely different than the image the public at home is given once it is filtered through the government and the media. These men are essentially undeserving of the praise heaped upon them, but due to the fact that the government needs a hero to help them pay for the war and the people just want some good news to rally behind no one but the soldiers themselves care. As much as it pains them to be getting credit for nothing, without them selling war bonds their brothers in arms won’t have the equipment they need to fight.
Everyone here does a fine acting job. No one is really award worthy but they all carry their necessary weight, especially Ryan Phillippe and Jesse Bradford. The only person I’m a little grey on is Adam Beach as Ira Hayes. I find that he dips a little too far into the melodramatic. The only problem with criticizing him, however, is that Ira Hayes himself dipped into the melodramatic. You don’t get Johnny Cash to sing a song about you for nothing.
What’s amazing is that Eastwood doesn’t need a break out acting performance. He is such a strong filmmaker that he can rely solely on his script and ability to tell a story to get his point across. There really isn’t anything flashy about this film, but that may in the end be its greatest strength.
This is just yet another fine piece of filmmaking from Eastwood. Once again he has made a great film about the nature of violence. I can’t wait to see the companion piece, Letters from Iwo Jima, when it’s released. These two back to back will make him a tough man to beat when Oscar time rolls around. Then again, I think we should pretty much assume that’s going to be the case for the rest of Clint’s life.
The Grade
- Story: A
- Acting: B
- Visuals: B+
- Originality: A
- Enjoyability: A
- Overall: A
|
