Review: 'Letters From Iwo Jima' a masterpiece - CNN.com (2024)

Story Highlights

• CNN.com's Tom Charity: New Eastwood film "a masterpiece"
• "Letters From Iwo Jima" tells battle story from Japanese POV
• Film has strong performances, steady, reflective direction

By Tom Charity
Special to CNN

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(CNN) -- There aren't many examples of war films made from the vantage point of "the enemy," but perhaps there should be more.

Orson Welles told Sam Peckinpah that "Cross of Iron" (Peckinpah's 1977 film about Germans on World War II's Eastern Front) was the best antiwar film he had ever seen, and Lewis Milestone's 1930 best picture winner, "All Quiet on the Western Front," still holds up.

Clint Eastwood's reverse angle on the brutal battle for Iwo Jima is a remarkable companion piece to "Flags of Our Fathers," and the better of the two films. It is also the only American movie of the year I won't hesitate to call a masterpiece.

Shot almost entirely in Japanese, and even more monochromatic than its predecessor, the film has a more linear trajectory than "Flags," only leaving the barren Pacific island for a handful of brief flashbacks when a soldier swaps his rifle for a pen and reminisces to loved ones he never expects to see again.

The device is a good one, permitting Eastwood to strike the same rueful, reflective key he found in "Unforgiven," "Bridges of Madison County" and "Million Dollar Baby," even in the midst of nightmarish combat scenes. It also allows us access to fears and sentiments proud Japanese soldiers would be unlikely to express aloud. Indeed, the first time we see Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), he is beaten by an officer for a casual defeatist remark.

Saigo's fatalism is more honest than that of the Imperial High Command, which neglects to advise General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) that the naval fleet has been destroyed and with it any hopes for victory. In any case, the general realizes that the best he can do is delay the Americans for as long as possible.

He orders miles of tunnels to be dug out of the island's volcanic rock, and draws up plans to consolidate his beleaguered forces through a series of strategic withdrawals. The plans outrage his subordinates, indoctrinated in Bushido ("way of the warrior"): death before dishonor.

None of the four characters we get to know best in Iris Yamashita's screenplay share this crazed militaristic mindset, but even the two relatively enlightened officers, Kuribayashi and Lt. Col Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara) cannot break free from its bonds. Ken Watanabe makes the general a shrewd and charismatic leader, but if the film has a hero, it's Saigo, the least conventionally heroic of the lot. He's an infantryman who still thinks of himself as a baker, and who is at greater risk from his own army's suicidal zeal than the American onslaught.

In a pivotal sequence, Nishi -- a horseman who competed in the Los Angeles Olympics of 1932 -- orders his medic to treat a mortally wounded American GI with what remains of their morphine. Later he translates a letter from the dead man's mother for the benefit of his men. They are surprised and touched by its simple, heartfelt sentiments, and what they reveal of the enemy their rulers have systematically demonized: "Come home safe; do the right thing because it is right ...," she writes.

"My mother said the same things to me," Shimizu (Ryo Kase), a disgraced military policeman, admits to Saigo. He deserts, but in the midst of battle, even surrender is dangerous. He sits, oblivious, with another POW, while two GIs callously decide their fate over a smoke.

The Pacific campaign was tremendously hard-fought, culminating in the firebombing of Tokyo and the atomic blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Twenty-one thousand Japanese troops died in the intense fighting on Iwo Jima, a volcanic island a mere eight square miles in area.

Eastwood's spare, fluid, eloquent movie shows atrocities on both sides, squarely attributes the worst of these to Japan's military-Imperial dictatorship, and gently sifts the black sands of Iwo Jima for moments of solace, grace and mercy.

"Letters From Iwo Jima" runs 141 minutes and is rated R. For Entertainment Weekly's take, click hereReview: 'Letters From Iwo Jima' a masterpiece - CNN.com (5).

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Review: 'Letters From Iwo Jima' a masterpiece - CNN.com (2024)

FAQs

Review: 'Letters From Iwo Jima' a masterpiece - CNN.com? ›

CNN.com's Tom Charity in his review described Letters from Iwo Jima as "the only American movie of the year I won't hesitate to call a masterpiece."[8] On the "Best Films of the Year 2006" broadcast (December 31, 2006) of the television show Ebert & Roeper, Richard Roeper listed the film at #3 and guest critic A. O.

Is Letters from Iwo Jima worth watching? ›

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.

How accurate are Letters from Iwo Jima? ›

While some characters such as Saigo are fictional, the overall battle as well as several of the commanders are based upon actual people and events.

What is the message of Letters from Iwo Jima? ›

In the big picture, Iwo Jima demonstrates that both the Japanese and the American armies included both noble men and men who made selfish and morally repugnant choices. In doing so, it makes the statement that men in war everywhere are ultimately similar.

What do Japanese people think about the Letters from Iwo Jima? ›

Generally speaking, Japanese users have appreciated the film for its anti-war message, its sentimental story, and its"surprisingly sympathetic stance for an American director." Nonetheless, an articulate minority have taken issue with the historical inaccuracies of the film.

Did they really find a bag of letters on Iwo Jima? ›

Voegelin, a Japanese TV crew followed the story and found that the letters had belonged to Tadashi. The Japanese station located Mr. Matsukawa. Victor Voegelin was a 19-year-old sailor in Iwo Jima when he found the packet of letters.

How many people died in the Battle of Iwo Jima? ›

The assault units of the corps—Marines and organic Navy personnel—sustained 24,053 casualties, by far the highest single-action losses in Marine Corps history. Of these, a total of 6,140 died. Roughly one Marine or corpsman became a casualty for every three who landed on Iwo Jima.

What was the famous quote from the Battle of Iwo Jima? ›

"Among the men who fought on Iwo Jima, uncommon valor was a common virtue." (Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, USN, 16 March 1945.) "The bended knee is not a tradition of our Corps."

Could the U.S. have bypassed Iwo Jima? ›

Located roughly half way between Saipan and Tokyo, and directly under the flight path of B-29 Superfortress bombers headed to Japan, the island of Iwo Jima was a Japanese stronghold of crucial strategic importance and could not be bypassed.

How did Japan react to Iwo Jima? ›

For many Japanese, the battle that killed 6,800 U.S. Marines and 21,000 Japanese has long been a tragedy best forgotten. "Iwo Jima was a defeat. It was miserable and no Japanese movie company wanted to try to show it," said Eichi Tsukada, a 71-year-old retiree whose father died in World War Two.

What was Clint Eastwood's motivation for creating Letters from Iwo Jima? ›

He tries to escape from stereotypical images of the Japanese society, Japanese soldiers, and Japanese culture, often presented in the American cinema. Main roles are cast with the Japanese while in the earlier Hollywood movies Japanese characters were generally performed by Chinese-Americans or Asian-Americans).

Why is it called Iwo Jima? ›

This archaic or mistaken form of the Japanese name was particularly reinforced during the Second World War, when it was mistakenly used by Japanese naval officers who arrived to fortify the island ahead of US invasion.

Can you visit Iwo Jima? ›

The island of Iwo Jima, now named Iwo To, is open to American civilians only one day each year for this very special Reunion of Honor.

What happened to Saigo in Letters from Iwo Jima? ›

After gathering the rest of his men, the General orders Saigo to stay behind and burn all documents and letters during the final attack rather than join the fighting, thus saving his life a third time.

How violent is letters from Iwo Jima? ›

Realistic, graphic and disturbing war violence. The second half of the film presents dirty, harrowing combat, with lots of blood, exposed entrails and limbs are blown off. A soldier's face is blown off during an air attack.

What did the Japanese general say about Iwo Jima? ›

"America's productive powers are beyond our imagination. Japan has started a war with a formidable enemy and we must brace ourselves accordingly." Kuribayashi recognized that he would not be able to hold Iwo Jima against the overwhelming military forces of the United States.

Why is Iwo Jima so popular? ›

The strategic importance of the island, and the enduring image of Marines raising the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi, cemented the Battle of Iwo Jima as one of the great victories in the history of the Marine Corps.

Is Letters from Iwo Jima a sequel to Flags of Our Fathers? ›

Clint Eastwood conceived Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima as companion pieces, telling the same story — the 1945 battle of Iwo Jima — from opposing (American and Japanese) sides.

Is Letters from Iwo Jima gory? ›

Violence & Gore (18) Realistic, graphic and disturbing war violence. The second half of the film presents dirty, harrowing combat, with lots of blood, exposed entrails and limbs are blown off. A soldier's face is blown off during an air attack.

Are Letters from Iwo Jima all subtitles? ›

Summary: The film was directed by Clint Eastwood and is actually in Japanese with English subtitles. The movie is told from the Japanese perspective of the Battle of Iwo Jima and provides an insiders look at what it's like to have war in one's home soil.

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