Posted: 12/27/2006

Letters from Iwo Jima

(2006)

by Hank Yuloff

A few months ago, I sat in the back row of a large theater and saw Flags of Our Fathers. Even though I had a few hundred people in front of me, I was completely captivated by Clint Eastwood’s handling of the battle in World War II that brought the war to Japanese homeland soil. That movie told the story from the American point of view. Letters from Iwo Jima tells the same story from the Japanese point of view. Equally gripping. Equally poignant. And most importantly, as an American, I watched Flags and rooted for the Americans. When watching Letters, Eastwood told the story so well from a few characters’ points of view that I found myself actually rooting for the Home Team, though I knew it would end badly for them.

The movies begin and end similarly. In Flags, we witness the landing beach from the highest part of the island, Mount Suribiachi, in 2005. This was the Japanese waiting for our troops. In Letters, we are on the beach, looking up at our not-so-distant enemy. Both end with shots of the island from the opposite views. In between, we follow the lives of a few soldiers on each side. Of course, for the Americans, there was an “after.” For the Japanese, not such a good fate for most. The Americans had the glory of returning home victorious, while the soldiers from Japan died on their home soil, never seeing their families again. They felt, and were told, that when they were digging the caves, they were digging their own graves.

It will be interesting to see for which of the two films Eastwood will be nominated for an Oscar. For either, the second film will be brought into account: Think Peter Jackson and Lord of the Rings. Eastwood has made two movies that, on their own, are each worth recognition by a statuette, but when you see the two full-length films released in the same year, it is almost as if they could have been spliced together for one picture. Both are shot with the same muted, almost blac-and-white tones, and in Letters, there are a few shots that could have been used in Flags to help cement the two together. The films were filmed back-to-back—one in English, one in Japanese—but none of the cast members ever met.

In Letters, we follow career soldier General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, who commanded the island, and Private Saigo, a baker who was drafted to defend the homeland. Their paths cross three times in this film and we see how when the bombs are dropping, they are just two men, very similar, whose life paths pointed to this little piece of real estate. Kuribayashi is played by Ken Watanabe, who American audiences have seen in The Last Samurai, Batman Begins, and Memoirs of a Geisha. He very well may be nominated for his second Oscar in three years for this film. The baker is played by 23-year-old Kazunari Ninomiya. He is a singer in Japan, and Letters marks his first major role in a movie. His performance is captivating. You will root for him. And knowing the outcome of the battle, will follow his steps with fear. My guess is that this film will make him an even larger star in Japan.

For those who like action films, there is enough of that to keep you interested. The sound of war is engulfing and may make you cringe in your seat. The human story of the hell of war and the futility of it for all involved will keep your eyes riveted to the screen.

Hank Yuloff is a film critic living in Los Angeles.

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