Letters From Iwo Jima

Subject: Letters From Iwo Jima 24th February 2007, 10:07 pm

Hollywood’s Golden Boys, Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg bring us Part Two of the Battle of Iwo Jima in the Pacific in 1945, the companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers. Now the Japanese get their say, or do they?

The ‘story’ follows General Tadamichi Kuribayashi as he arrives on the volcanic island, under instruction to defend to the last. He immediately upsets the garrison already stationed there who are preparing for the inevitable American assault with the radical notion of planning their defence from the hills rather than the black beaches.

The Japanese know from the outset that they cannot win, but must hold the Americans back as long as possible before the expected invasion of the homeland, an invasion that would never take place. The film shows the misconceptions the Japanese had of their enemies, a feeling which was reciprocated and still exists in global conflicts.

The screenplay was written by Iris Yamashita with story contributions by Paul Haggis (Crash) and is based on the book, ‘Picture Letters from Commander in Chief’ which consists of correspondence from the General himself.

The writers face a difficult task here. They must find the right tone between being sympathetic to our main characters and yet realistically representing the military mindset of the time. The Japanese committed many atrocities in WW II and all troops were to fight to the death or commit suicide over surrender. At some point, their humanity must be revealed. This isn’t an easy line to tread.

The real battle went on for nearly six weeks but it seems to only last a couple of days here. What is illustrated accurately is the insanity of war. There is neither right nor wrong as both sides carry out appalling acts in order to reach their objectives. Such is the nature of combat.

Eastwood and his team brilliantly stage the battles scenes with effective use of colour throughout. The performances of Ken Wantanbe (The Last Samurai) as the General and Kazunari Ninomiya as the baker Saigo are standouts.

Clint’s son Kyle chips in with Michael Stevens for an impressive soundtrack.

Iwo Jima is unsettling and punctuated with a number of tense scenes. A subtle but poignant highlight shows the General in the company of Americans before the War. You can see the sparkle of condescension amid their smiles. Yet this film is often slow, trying too hard to show the Japanese as human beings. Such scenes would not be necessary in an English language film so they should not exist here. No matter how valid the effort, this is still told through the eyes of the West. One wonders how the Japanese would fare with their version of events.

With a substantial trim, this could have been much more powerful. As a war film, it is a customary but effective portrayal of humanity amongst the madness, more so than producer Spielberg’s patchy Saving Private Ryan though not in the league of such emotionally captivating films as Platoon, Paths of Glory, Full Metal Jacket and The Thin Red Line. It’s just a pity that we continue to ignore the lessons.

A bold directorial achievement and a positive step forward for American filmmakers.

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Subject: Re: Letters From Iwo Jima 4th March 2007, 3:35 am

Thanks for that review. I was wondering what this was like.