Letters from Iwo Jima

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Letters from Iwo Jima

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Letters from Iwo Jima

Evan Ellingson, Hiroshi Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Ken Watanabe, Nae Yuuki

This is the story of the battle of Iwo Jima, between the United States and Japan, during World War II, as told from the perspective of two good friends serving in the Japanese forces, who watch helple...( read more  read more... )ssly throughout various battles as their comrades are killed.

Id: 10890201

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Letters from Iwo Jima Recent Reviews
  • smith44
    December 29, 2009
    smith44
    Amongst the greatest war films of all time. One of the best films of 2006.
  • AgentLexi2132
    December 27, 2009
    AgentLexi2132
    ''For our homeland. Until the very last man. Our duty is to stop the enemy right here. Do not expect to return home alive.''

    The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese ...( read more)who fought it.

    Ken Watanabe: General Kuribayashi

    A film with powerful, historical significance. Told from the side of the Japanese as they prepare to protect Iwo Jima from American invasion.
    Some scenes especially the suicide deaths are quite graphic, and the action in it has a gritty, tense, war-drenched realism to it.
    Fantastic diverse range of Japanese actors; Ken Watanabe always impresses. Watched this numerous times and always find something new; very powerful, very emotional, very relevant and historical. Lets all take note of our past for the future.


    In the second half of Letters from Iwo Jima a group of Japanese soldiers find an American who has been badly wounded and take him into their cave. Their general speaks English, so he begins talking to this soldier, whose name we later find out is Sam. Although the two men should be sworn to kill each other, they are able to have a connection in the one conversation they have. A while later, the general comes back into the room only to discover that Sam's wounds have killed him. He searches him for a while and discovers a letter written by his mother. The letter is full of words that truly come from the heart of this kid's mother, and by the time the general finishes reading the letter, every soldier in that cave has realized that Americans aren't these savages; these hate-driven murderers. No, they all realize that Americans are exactly like they are, and that they don't want to be there and want to return home safely just like their enemies. I believe the point that Clint Eastwood is making with his Iwo Jima saga is just this: these two enemies were far more alike than they had imagined and they were both fighting only in hopes of returning home safely to their family.

    ''I don't know anything about the enemy. I thought all Americans were cowards. I was taught they were savages.''

    As for the specific film itself. In just about every way imaginable, this absolutely masterwork is a step up from Flags of our Fathers (which is not something I say easily, as Flags is a good film). From the acting of the incredible ensemble cast, to the film's delicate but powerful script, to the beautiful imagery of the film (the colour distortion could not be any more brilliant), to Clint Eastwood's absolutely perfect knowledge of film and what works in a film like this.
    The score written by Kyle Eastwood Clint's son(Original Music by Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens)captures the feel of the movie better than any score written for this year. It is very quiet, poignant music, but listening to it makes you think about all the people that die as a result of war.
    The acting is truly phenomenal. All of the actors do incredible, extraordinary work; although I must single out two actors in particular who really blew me away. The first is Ken Watanabe. I haven't seen any of his native work, but I can safely say based upon his American studio work (The Last Samurai, Memoirs of a Geisha. and of course this film)that the man is a force to be reckoned with. I simply hope that he is not reduced to roles in vain of Chow Yun-Fat or Jet Li in their Western cinema roles.
    He adds such an atmosphere of wisdom, intelligence and determination ? quite the opposite of how the Japanese enemy is usually portrayed in WWII films. His character is entirely human and not reduced to a suicidal, angry General type, which is probably what many people would expect. The second is Kazunari Ninomiya, who plays Saigo. What a heartbreaking performance this actor provides. He is small, scrawny, not built for war. He has trouble fitting in. His expression is that of constant exhaustion. But his determination to live and to honour his general over himself is touching and fascinating to watch. His delivery and performance in general is absolutely stunning.

    ''We can die here, or we can continue fighting. Which would better serve the emperor?''

    In terms of themes, the most intricate and important aspect of the film is its examination of the psyche of the warfare itself. In Flags of our Fathers; like in his earlier films such as Unforgiven, Eastwood portrays an examination and dissection of heroism and what it meant both for those who are labeled heroes and those who did the labeling.
    With Letters from Iwo Jima, Eastwood studies the exact opposite of the spectrum; Glory. It's almost as if Eastwood is more fascinated with the Japanese comprehension of heroism than the American one. The Japanese soldiers in the film don't have such a thing as heroism to begin with. What they do have is glory and honour. They accept their clear and present defeat with humbleness and modesty, perhaps too much so as they would rather take their own lives than fall into the hands of the enemy. If Flags of our Fathers was a criticism of wartime splendor and heroism, Letters from Iwo Jima is a modest glorification of these elements.

    In all, with Letters from Iwo Jima, Eastwood creates a new kind of war film that stands quite apart from its counterparts both because it portrays the side of the enemy but also and especially because it takes extra special care in emphasizing the human aspect of the soldiers it depicts, humanizing and characterizing them to endless extent. As a psychological study of warfare and as a history lesson; Eastwood has crafted a truly masterful and meaningful piece that's riveting and fascinating as it is intricate and complex. One of the best films of the year.
    To sum it all up; Letters from Iwo Jima is one of the greatest war films ever made, and is easily does the best job of depicting war as something that harms all involved that I have ever seen. Clint Eastwood has, with this achievement, engraved his name as one of the greatest American directors in film history.

    ''A day will come when they will weep and pray for your souls.''
  • flixsterman
    June 21, 2009
    flixsterman
    Now two years after it's initial release, a rewatch does nothing to lessen my admiration and respect for this film. Inspired by actual events, Letters from Iwo Jima is an emotionally powerful epic from a unique perspective.
  • organgrinder136
    April 17, 2009
    organgrinder136
    very pedestrian, confusing at times, no great cinematography and so slow to start with but if you give it time it grows into an almost great film. it starts off even slower than flags of our fathers did but finishes better. And with regard to someones comments about a war movie f...( read more)inally being shot opposing the U.S. perspective... actually happened years ago. has no one seen the cross of iron by sam peckinpah and starring the one and only james coburn? anyway, solid effort from clint
  • mrpopcorn
    December 28, 2008
    mrpopcorn
    "The battle of Iwo Jima seen through the eyes of the Japanese soldiers."

    After bringing the story of the American soldiers who fought in the battle of Iwo Jima to the screen in his film Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwood offers an equally thoughtful portrait of the Ja...( read more)panese forces who held the island for 36 days in this military drama. In 1945, World War II was in its last stages, and U.S. forces were planning to take on the Japanese on a small island known as Iwo Jima. While the island was mostly rock and volcanoes, it was of key strategic value and Japan's leaders saw the island as the final opportunity to prevent an Allied invasion. Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) was put in charge of the forces on Iwo Jima; Kuribayashi had spent time in the United States and was not eager to take on the American army, but he also understood his opponents in a way his superiors did not, and devised an unusual strategy of digging tunnels and deep foxholes that allowed his troops a tactical advantage over the invading soldiers. While Kuribayashi's strategy alienated some older officers, it impressed Baron Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara), the son of a wealthy family who had also studied America firsthand as an athlete at the 1932 Olympics. As Kuribayashi and his men dig in for a battle they are not certain they can win -- and most have been told they will not survive -- their story is told both by watching their actions and through the letters they write home to their loved ones, letters that in many cases would not be delivered until long after they were dead. Among the soldiers manning Japan's last line of defense are Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a baker sent to Iwo Jima only days before his wife was to give birth; Shimizu (Ryo Kase), who was sent to Iwo Jima after washing out in the military police; and Lieutenant Ito (Shidou Nakamura), who has embraced the notion of "Death Before Surrender" with particular ferocity. Filmed in Japanese with a primarily Japanese cast, Letters From Iwo Jima was shot in tandem with Flags of Our Fathers, and the two films were released within two months of one another.

    Review
    The one thing that stood out to me about this movie was the way that it was nearly shot in black in white given the dullness of the color. The setting was an island in the Pacific, yet the only time that only vibrant or dazzling color is present is during the battle scenes. This was useful because it intensified the violence of the air raids and made the moment more spectacular in terms of the fear it was able to create. The sheer power of the bombs was done in a realistic manner that reflected American military dominance without glorifying them into a fictional state.

    In terms of the dullness of the colors throughout the movie, I feel that they more powerfully control the interpretations that the audience gets from the movie itself. The despair and hopelessness of the Japanese on that island was brilliantly displayed with the lack of warm and comforting vibrant colors. The only time that the audience really gets a beautifully use of color is at the end when they show the sunset in the background of the dark island. The symbolism here is powerful and inspiring as it leaves the audience with a sense of hope in the possibilities available, yet with a real depiction of the reality of the situation represented by the dark and dreary island. All in all I felt the cinematography really made this movie a lot more powerful than it would have been with another cinematographer.
  • lmanuel54
    December 27, 2009
    lmanuel54
    very good film!, its like being one of them!
  • eryri
    December 20, 2009
    eryri
    A fantastic war movie of the battle for Iwo Jima as told from the Japanese viewpoint.
  • ryanfacebook91
    December 16, 2009
    ryanfacebook91
    Great war , action , drama
  • street331
    December 16, 2009
    street331
    The second Film by Clint Eastwood depicting the battle of Iwo Jima, but from the side of the Japanese
  • thisguyoverhere
    December 9, 2009
    thisguyoverhere
    You scream, I scream, we all scream while being shot at.

    This Guy Over Here picks this as one of the best films of the 2000s
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