Letters from Iwo Jima (2007, R)

Directed by: Clint Eastwood

Grade: B+

There are a few very sad moments in Letters from Iwo Jima that make it  sometimes heartbreaking to look at; then though, we realize that this is war, and wars are ugly affairs.  Letters from Iwo Jima gave me a totally different look at the topics of war and battle not because it focuses upon the Japanese side of the story over the American side at the Battle of Iwo Jima in 1945, but because it shows that in war, no one is really the good guys and no one else is really the bad guys. 

In other words, there are no protagonists and no antagonists, no forces of good vs. evil.  Letters from Iwo Jima devotes four instances during the course of its running time to depicting the good side and the evil side to both the Americans and the Japanese: in one scene a group of Japanese soldiers bayonet an American prisoner to death, in another, they shoot an American, take him prisoner, but then care for him and tend to his wounds. Later, an American soldier mercilessly shoots two helpless Japanese prisoners with his M1 Garand rifle, in one of the last scenes several Americans spare a Japanese survivor trying to kill all of them by yelling and swinging a shovel. 

It may sound very formulaic by the way that I have explained it, but when watching the movie on the screen, I was able to fully realize that there are instances of both good and evil on both sides in any war.  Eastwood also succeeds in bringing realism to his movie.  The colors must have been desaturated by like what, 70-75% at least?  At times, Letters from Iwo Jima looks like a black and white movie.  It's obvious that this is a passionate piece completed by Eastwood.  As the film, and the Battle of Iwo Jima, moves on ever closer to it's finale, the soldiers gradually begin to see the humanity within themselves, and in each other. 

The very basic structure of the movie plays out as expected, with the movie giving us plenty of time to get to know the soldiers and to watch and learn about how the Japanese will go about setting up their defenses, before the combat starts.  This is done so that we feel sentimental for the characters, as we full well know that most of them, possibly all of them, are to be killed by the film's end. 

There are a few scenes that drag, most of them in the first half, and a few of the battle sequences are cut short right when they begin to get interesting.  I'm not too sure if the film knew exactly when to quit, though the ending was satisfying enough nonetheless.  I can also understand if some people would be uncomfortable with the flashback sequences, as they certainly add weight to the film's structure, though I was very fine with it.  Ultimately though, Letters from Iwo Jima is a solid undertaking made by Eastwood, a movie that delivers insight into who were our enemies on the battlefield.  I consider that to be one of the film's deeper values. 

Letters from Iwo Jima is an above and beyond adequate companion piece to Flags of our Fathers and, even better, serves as a valuable, visual history lesson for the real Battle of Iwo Jima like in a new way than ever before.  And so far, it’s one of the more thoughtful film adaptations of any World War II battle that I've seen.  B+