Letters From Iwo Jima
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In Brief: What's Good
- Compared to its compainion piece, Flags of Our Fathers, Letters has better acting, better directing, a more cohesive and linear storyline, and better closure.
- Excellent action sequences, and the story contains a little more military strategy than Flags of Our Fathers.
- Sympathetic main characters.
In Brief: What's Not As Good
- At times, the visual look of the film is even more over-processed than Flags of Our Fathers. In Flags, colors were muted toward shades of grey and green. Much of Letters feels closer to total greyscale. An interesting visual technique but taken a tad too far.
Summary:
B | Story |
---|---|
B+ | Acting |
A- | Directing |
A- | Visuals |
Letters From Iwo Jima is Client Eastwood's companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers. This time the battle of Iwo Jima is told through the viewpoint of the Japanese officers and soldiers that tried despearately to hold the island, especially the pivotal Mount Suribachi, at the extreme southwest of the island.
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As Saigo makes his way throughout the island's many caves and tunnels during the battle, he sees ritual suicide by a group of fellow soldiers, is almost executed himself, witnesses the initial aerial assault by American bombers, crosses paths with General Kuribayashi, witnesses an officer conversing in English with a wounded American prisoner, is tempted with thoughts of surrender, and is entrusted with an important final assignment by his commanding officer. He could easily be most people's favorite or 2nd favorite character in the film.
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Since much of the movie takes place in caves and tunnels, Letters is not quite as visually interesting as Flags. But what the movie lacks in vivid images it makes up in story and characterization. Together, these two films form a solemn, informative, and respectful--yet occasionally slow--war epic that may remian the definitive dramatization of Iwo Jima for quite some time.
Oscar Awards
- Win - Best Sound Editing
- Nomination - Best Picture
- Nomination - Best Director: Clint Eastwood
- Nomination - Best Original Screenplay: Iris Yamashita
Golden Globe Awards
- Win - Best Foreign Language Film
- Nomination - Best Director: Clint Eastwood
Fun Facts from Internet Movie Database
Letter From Iwo Jima was shot back-to-back with Flags of Our Fathers, but none of the actors from either movie appear in both films. Originally titled, "Red Sun, Black Sand."
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