Flags of our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima single disc editions double pack with no special features.
In 1944 the second World War was entering its final act and the forces of the Empire of Japan were being defeated and hemmed in. After losses at Saipan and the Marianas the United States directed its forces for the first time at a dominion of Japans homeland-the grey, dusty island of Iwo Jima.
The Japanese defenders anticipating invasion began to prepare their defences. Abandoning trench digging on the beach where they would have engaged the Americans as they disembarked their landing craft, instead they buried themselves into the island itself digging caves deep into Mt Suribachi the birds head shaped promontory on the South West tip of the island. Once embedded they waited on their last battle, for with no sea or air support they knew it would be a fight to the death. Their own.
Clint Eastwood in these two masterly films tells the story of the forty four day battle from both sides.
Flags of Our Fathers at its centre unravels the events surrounding the iconic photograph of a group of marines and sailors raising the stars and stripes on a tip of Mt Suribache and the fall out in human consequences of those that did or maybe did take part as the U.S. media and the military political machine drew them in out of the front line and compelled them on a bond selling tour to boost a U.S. war fund grasping for dollars.
Flags of our fathers is framed in retrospect with the son of John Bradley "Doc" trying to find his fathers role and to fill out his character through his behaviour in those extreme circumstances-like a lot of us would want to do, to join the dots of our own histories.
The drained out colour of the photography gives both films a patina of age and theres not a wasted scene or camera movement in either. The battle scenes are realistic and frightening. The emotional lives of the soldiers are rendered truly moving especially Adam Beach's performance as Ira Hayes prised apart from his marine core brothers on Iwo Jima and now back home, except now for him there could never be any home-a man seemingly displaced from his own character.
Letters from Iwo Jima-begins in 2005 with Japanese archaeologists on Iwo Jima discovering a cache of letters ostensibly written by Saigo(Kazunari Ninomiya) a young soldier and husband with a new born child he hasn't seen. And others by the overlord on Iwo Jima General Kuribayashi. Ken Watanabe in a very authoritative portrayal of a man preserving order in an impossible situation. There is a sense of increasing dread at the thought of the impending invasion and astonishment when Saigo sights the Armada in all its immensity.
There is a particularly touching scene in the tunnels during the battle when the aristocratic Lt.Col.Nishi(Tsuyoshi Ihara)an olympic horseman converses with a badly wounded American prisoner. In this way the film shows the commonality of human beings which also must inevitably mean a commonality of savagery as well as compassion.
The music co-composed by Kyle Eastwood and Micheal Stevens is spare and very apt particularly haunting in the tunnels away from the clash of battle.
Clint Eastwood stands in the front line of world film directors and these magnificent films need to be seen ideally on consecutive nights, so one is still resonating while experiencing the other.
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Summary: Two Truly Great War Films
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Soundtrack
Outstanding
How does it compare to others by the same director?
Good
Value for Money
Excellent
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DVD
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