Running time: 141 minutes
Starring: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ry Kase, Shido Nakamura
Rating 7 out of 10
The superior counterpoint to last year's Flags Of Our Fathers, which focused on the American viewpoint, Letters From Iwo Jima is director Clint Eastwood's take on the infamous battle of Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective. The idea of offering both sides of the story in separate films was an inspired one, and not just for logistical reasons. It affords a more in-depth look at the lives of those involved. It is this factor that elevates LFIJ above FOOF, with its more intriguing cast of characters who find themselves not only battling the Americans but the strict ethical codes of Japanese culture.
Filmed concurrently, LFIJ and FOOF share the same palette, being bathed in muted tones of brown and blue. The battle scenes are brutally graphic and unsparingly gory and though none of the characters appear in both movies, there are numerous shots that are interchangeable. Showing both viewpoints as Eastwood has done illustrates perfectly the shared sense of fear felt by the soldiers on both sides. It emphasizes that in war, the enemy is only a question of perspective and there are no victors, only losers.
Eastwood is a very competent if rarely subtle filmmaker. His work is generally drenched in sentimentality, which too often washes away any tenability. It was what undermined FOOF and nearly had the same impact here. He appears unable to resist the obvious in fear of disappointing expectations. And in keeping there are few surprises here, with events following an all rather predictable course. Pacing too only occasionally deviates from the ponderous.
In common with the first film, LFIJ jumps around in time, cutting from present day to the battle in 1944 and further back as it fills in background information on some of the soldiers featured. The two central characters are General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe), the leader of the Japanese troops on the island, and Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a free-thinking soldier. The one-time baker Saigo longs to return home to his pregnant wife, but Japanese custom dictates soldiers commit honorable suicide rather than suffer the ignominy of capture and, as all the heavily out-numbered Japanese troops at Iwo Jima were aware, defeat by the Americans was inevitable.
The thoughts of Saigo, Kuribayashi and their doomed colleagues on Iwo Jima are recounted in the letters they write home; letters that reveal their deep-rooted fears, their resignation to their fate and their abiding wish to serve their country. When they read aloud a letter found on an American prisoner, it only serves to confirm the unified thoughts and fears those on both sides shared. An example of how LOIJ was as guilty as FOOF of demonizing the enemy is exemplified in the gratuitous scene invoIving the American's capture of two Japanese POWs.
Watanabe's commanding performance as the compassionate and astute Kuribayashi provides LFIJ with its heart. That Eastwood dared to film it in Japanese and to use sub-titles is a testament to his commitment to authenticity. That he wasn't fully able to extend that commitment to every aspect of the film, and override his commercial and maudlin sensibilities, was the difference between a good film and a great film.
Kevin Murphy
Filmed concurrently, LFIJ and FOOF share the same palette, being bathed in muted tones of brown and blue. The battle scenes are brutally graphic and unsparingly gory and though none of the characters appear in both movies, there are numerous shots that are interchangeable. Showing both viewpoints as Eastwood has done illustrates perfectly the shared sense of fear felt by the soldiers on both sides. It emphasizes that in war, the enemy is only a question of perspective and there are no victors, only losers.
Eastwood is a very competent if rarely subtle filmmaker. His work is generally drenched in sentimentality, which too often washes away any tenability. It was what undermined FOOF and nearly had the same impact here. He appears unable to resist the obvious in fear of disappointing expectations. And in keeping there are few surprises here, with events following an all rather predictable course. Pacing too only occasionally deviates from the ponderous.
In common with the first film, LFIJ jumps around in time, cutting from present day to the battle in 1944 and further back as it fills in background information on some of the soldiers featured. The two central characters are General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe), the leader of the Japanese troops on the island, and Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a free-thinking soldier. The one-time baker Saigo longs to return home to his pregnant wife, but Japanese custom dictates soldiers commit honorable suicide rather than suffer the ignominy of capture and, as all the heavily out-numbered Japanese troops at Iwo Jima were aware, defeat by the Americans was inevitable.
The thoughts of Saigo, Kuribayashi and their doomed colleagues on Iwo Jima are recounted in the letters they write home; letters that reveal their deep-rooted fears, their resignation to their fate and their abiding wish to serve their country. When they read aloud a letter found on an American prisoner, it only serves to confirm the unified thoughts and fears those on both sides shared. An example of how LOIJ was as guilty as FOOF of demonizing the enemy is exemplified in the gratuitous scene invoIving the American's capture of two Japanese POWs.
Watanabe's commanding performance as the compassionate and astute Kuribayashi provides LFIJ with its heart. That Eastwood dared to film it in Japanese and to use sub-titles is a testament to his commitment to authenticity. That he wasn't fully able to extend that commitment to every aspect of the film, and override his commercial and maudlin sensibilities, was the difference between a good film and a great film.
Kevin Murphy
