Letters from Iwo Jima
Personally, I’m not a big fan of war movies. You really have to show me something for me to get behind one. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked Flags of Our Fathers, although I guess I shouldn’t have been since generally speaking Clint Eastwood doesn’t disappoint. I also don’t particularly care for westerns and I think we all know where the man stands in that category. So you can imagine how pleased I was to find that not only had he succeeded in the second part of his World War twofer, but Letters from Iwo Jima was even better.
Probably even more the story, the acting is really what elevates this film about Flags. Eastwood keeps everything so restrained that his actors really have to carry this movie, and they completely do. Ken Wantanabe as General Kuribayashi is absolutely deserving of an Academy Award nomination. Ironically, Kuribayashi lived in the United States and carries a pistol that was a gift from his friends there upon his departure. Similar to him, you have Baron Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara) who is a bit of a celebrity, having competed in the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics. Nishi enjoys the fame that his time in American has afforded him and routinely has Hollywood stars over for dinner. As good as these two are it is in Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) that the heart of this film lies. He truly is on a warrior’s journey to find out who he is and his place in the world. He starts of as a simple baker who just wants to get home to see his family, but by the end he is a hardened soldier, forever changed by this futile act.
What’s great about Letters from Iwo Jima is that it’s not as much about the fighting and explosions as it is about a group of men who are left alone with no chance of rescue and have to fight knowing they are going to die. They’ve been abandoned by the very people they are supposed to be fighting for. When they realize that their enemy isn’t the monster they’ve been told they were and that these are kids just like them whose mothers write them love letters, the lines become blurry. It’s much easier to fight a faceless enemy.
This film along with Flags of Our Fathers are not only two of the best war movies ever made but together may actually be the best anti-war film to date. Accurately portraying both sides of a battle fought by people who for all intents and purposes have no actual stake in the outcome is incredibly moving. On one side you have the raising of a flag that goes wholly unnoticed by the Japanese. This act is used completely as a marketing ploy to finance the rest of the war effort. The other side struggles with their honor and duty in a battle that is impossible to win. How are they supposed to stand up for a people that have left them alone to die? What’s the honor in that?
Let’s face it, Clint Eastwood is one of the greatest figures in film history, period. That’s it. When the man dies, there’s a good chance that they’ll bronze him and name an honorary Academy Award after him. Much like the rest of his work, I suggest that you see Letters from Iwo Jima, but you might want to see Flags of Our Fathers first to get the full impact. I’m looking forward to going back and re-watching it now that I’ve seen its companion piece. Clint won’t be around forever, but with each film his legacy grows. If you’re at all a fan of cinema, you should go to the theater and enjoy him while you can.
The Grade
- Story: A
- Acting: A
- Visuals: B+
- Originality: A
- Enjoyability: A+
- Overall: A
|
