They've been described as bookends or even mirror images of each other "Flags of Our Fathers" and "Letters From Iwo Jima" two different perspectives on the same World War II battle.
December 20, 2006 (Press Release) --
But this second picture is so different from the first, and such a rare, remarkable achievement in itself, it could have stood squarely on its own.
Comparisons are inevitable between the films, which director Clint Eastwood shot back-to-back and has released within a couple months of each other (how the man did it is unfathomable he's a machine, with a mind and a heart). Whereas "Flags" was a cynical, skeptical, pointed view of war from the American side, "Letters" offers a pure, almost poetic vision through the eyes and language of the Japanese an idealistic depiction of duty and dying for one's country.
If it had been made about American forces, it would seem like an incredibly traditional war picture, except that it has as much respect, dignity and humanity for the other side as for our own. (Told in linear fashion, it's also more straightforward in its narrative than "Flags," which jumped around in time to place us in the same confused state as the characters trying to determine who really appeared in that famous flag-raising photo during the Battle of Iwo Jima and who didn't.)
None of that depletes the power of its message or imagery, however like the striking, olive-and-brown color scheme that's so bleached out it looks as if Eastwood shot the film in black and white, making the explosions on the beach burst with even brighter flashes of orange and red. (The cinematography is the work of longtime Eastwood collaborator Tom Stern.)
And the director doesn't shy away from showing the lengths to which some of the Japanese soldiers will go to maintain honor when their prospects of survival look bleakest.
But of course the ultimate point is that, despite being an ocean apart, the men fighting and giving their lives on both sides of the battle weren't so different after all.
That's hinted at from the start in the script from Iris Yamashita (with Paul Haggis, who wrote Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" and co-wrote "Flags," receiving a story-by credit). Present-day Japanese archaeologists investigating the elaborate cave system devised specifically for the Battle of Iwo Jima stumble upon a buried sack of letters from soldiers to their mothers, wives, children, etc.
Among the most heartfelt writers is the man in charge: Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, whose real-life letters helped inspire the film. Played with unflagging confidence by Ken Watanabe, Kuribayashi functions as the kind of figure Eastwood himself made a career of on-screen: efficient, dryly funny, and unquestionably in command.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
Comparisons are inevitable between the films, which director Clint Eastwood shot back-to-back and has released within a couple months of each other (how the man did it is unfathomable he's a machine, with a mind and a heart). Whereas "Flags" was a cynical, skeptical, pointed view of war from the American side, "Letters" offers a pure, almost poetic vision through the eyes and language of the Japanese an idealistic depiction of duty and dying for one's country.
If it had been made about American forces, it would seem like an incredibly traditional war picture, except that it has as much respect, dignity and humanity for the other side as for our own. (Told in linear fashion, it's also more straightforward in its narrative than "Flags," which jumped around in time to place us in the same confused state as the characters trying to determine who really appeared in that famous flag-raising photo during the Battle of Iwo Jima and who didn't.)
None of that depletes the power of its message or imagery, however like the striking, olive-and-brown color scheme that's so bleached out it looks as if Eastwood shot the film in black and white, making the explosions on the beach burst with even brighter flashes of orange and red. (The cinematography is the work of longtime Eastwood collaborator Tom Stern.)
And the director doesn't shy away from showing the lengths to which some of the Japanese soldiers will go to maintain honor when their prospects of survival look bleakest.
But of course the ultimate point is that, despite being an ocean apart, the men fighting and giving their lives on both sides of the battle weren't so different after all.
That's hinted at from the start in the script from Iris Yamashita (with Paul Haggis, who wrote Eastwood's "Million Dollar Baby" and co-wrote "Flags," receiving a story-by credit). Present-day Japanese archaeologists investigating the elaborate cave system devised specifically for the Battle of Iwo Jima stumble upon a buried sack of letters from soldiers to their mothers, wives, children, etc.
Among the most heartfelt writers is the man in charge: Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, whose real-life letters helped inspire the film. Played with unflagging confidence by Ken Watanabe, Kuribayashi functions as the kind of figure Eastwood himself made a career of on-screen: efficient, dryly funny, and unquestionably in command.
Source: http://www.yahoo.com
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