the audience applauded

From my favorite movies..

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

Film Review: "Letters From Iwo Jima" (2006)The critically-appreciated WW2-drama as skillfully-directed by Clint Eastwood, alongside producing with fellow Hollywood filmmakers Steven Spielberg at Amblin Entertainment and Roberto Lorenz at Malpaso Productions; comes this subjective intepretation of nevertheless well-researched procedure of self-sacrifice in moments of inevitable defeat of the Japanese Army forces in World War II on utmost cave as open range highlighted production design efforts for authenticity, when actor Ken Watanabe as the emotionally-declining character of General Kuribayashi are as beautifully written on the page by righteously Academy-Award-nominated screenplay by Iris Yamashita and co-writer Paul Haggis as shot and then almost completely-monochrome color-corrected 35mm filmstock captured by long-time Eastwood-collaborating cinematographer Tom Stern with talent and awe, exspecially in ultra-intense mass suicide scene of mutuality and honor-striving Japanese soldiers, when "Letters From Iwo Jima" works as stand-alone independent brother of the falling-down high-scales of the ambitious as front-running production to "Flags Of Our Fathers" released two months earlier on October 20th 2006, when both films could have been one uniquely-received motion picture experience of a 200 Minutes, including classic overture, an Intermission plus "Entr'acte" on "The Pacific" warfare in the final stages of "World War II" (WW2). © 2018 Felix Alexander Dausend (Cinemajesty Entertainments LLC)

This second film on the battle of Iwo Jima is from the point of view of the Japanese and based on a collection of letters the Japanese soldiers received or wrote during the battle, letters that were never dispatched or were never distributed, and were incidentally saved by probably the sole survivor of the battle, a survivor who only survived due to a set of circumstances that saved his life three times during the whole battle. This Japanese soldier put the letters in a leather bag and buried them in one of the caves used by the commander of the Japanese troops. The bag of letters was found when some Japanese workers started working recently on the island to turn it into some kind of memorial. The film shows with a lot of crude truthfulness the life of these soldiers - and officers - who knew from the very start that they were all going to die on this island for no reason whatsoever but for the Emperor and the Empire, even though this Emperor and this Empire were doomed to get to their dead end of a final destination. The life of the soldiers is brutal and the officers are divided. A new commander arrives for the battle and some flashbacks show how attached to the USA he was and yet he will be wounded and will die, by his own hand with a Colt that had been presented to him by some American important people in some kind of celebration in the USA before the war. An allusion to the 1932 Los Angeles Olympic Games is quite pregnant in this context. This commander could be humane in this context, both for his troops and for the one and only prisoner he made. Apart from this one he provided with some medical and communicational comfort while he was dying, no other prisoner was made and two Japanese prisoners were made on the American side and the two GIs who were supposed to look after them took the decision to kill them, one GI by shooting the two bullets and the other GI as an accessory to this crime.This battle was a battle without any prisoners, except the simple soldier who had been saved from a vicious caning at the beginning, then from a sectarian beheading from some fundamentalist patriotic officer, and finally from the final assault by the commanding officer of the battle. This soldier witnessed the final suicide of this commanding officer who was severely wounded and committed suicide with the Colt he was presented as a gift long before the war, hence dying from an American bullet. The surviving Japanese soldier buried his commanding officer so that he would not be taken away from this Japanese land, just before being made prisoner. Nothing is said about his future.The film also shows, particularly with the letters the soldiers are writing to their families that are quoted all along the drastic horror they have to live through. They are also divided between very few wanting to surrender, many being tired and bored with the war but ready to go on to the final end, and a certain proportion, particularly among officers, ready to consider dying in such a butchery is an honor, a heroic honor. Clint Eastwood and Steven Spielberg do not go beyond and hardly show real Japanese society, except in some flashbacks about before the war, about before being drafted into the war, or even a few about the real survival conditions of the wives and children left behind. War is a drastic event and there is no one side in such an event that is clean. Since 1945 and this second world war, all wars were lost by the western powers who waged them, be it Great Britain, the USA, France, and even the USSR as an eastern power. Wars are numerous but always limited in scope and even terrorism is limited and would be a lot more limited if the west, globally or partially, had not provoked the Muslim world with the war in Afghanistan and then the war in Iraq and then the war in Syria, in other words a never-ending war in the Middle East started in 2001 and still going on with the USA trying to play their own and singlehanded game as if they were God Almighty. And of course they are unable to concede a defeat and after Obama had tried to step back and out of the muddy quicksands, the USA is back on the war track and the tomahawks they brandish are missiles. The two films, Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima, are a real manifesto to our most humane mental reality to make us understand there is no glory in war, no heroism in war, no future in war, and yet some have difficulties, and at times many difficulties to understand there must be an end in everything. It is amazing how people who have never had a war in their own street and in their backyards are unable to see the horror of such events and are ready to pay for such brutal and cruel selfish violence that achieve so little positive results, including pay for substitutes when they are drafted into such a war.Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU

After thoroughly enjoying Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers", I was inspired to check out his Japanese-perspective companion piece "Letters From Iwo Jima". Although the film was not bad by any means, it failed (were so many other Eastwood films have succeeded) to really surprise me or get me thinking about deeper issues.Basically, the film centers on the Iwo Jima invasion in the Pacific Theater of World War II, only from the Japanese army perspective. The technical aspects of the battle, such as defending Mt. Suribachi, are discussed, but the movie really is about showing the differences between what the U.S. and Japan viewed as being honorable in battle. Whereas the U.S. would give it's all and then retreat (to save lives) if the battle was not deemed winnable, Japanese soldiers were expected to die at their post (a sort of throw-back to the old samurai Bushido culture), even if that meant committing suicide so as not to be taken prisoner.While it was interesting to become more educated on these differences, I found there to be too few "wow" moments during the film. I came in with the expectation of seeing the Iwo Jima battle from the Japanese perspective, and that is exactly what I got...no more, no less. It's not like Eastwood's other recent films (Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino, etc.), where they build on complex themes and touch on heavy societal issues. This one is more cut-and-dry.One positive area I would like to single out, however, is the musical score. The plinking piano and soulful strings of Kyle Eastwood did more to tug at my heart-strings than any of the character performances. Eastwood (both Sr. and Jr.) has developed quite a positive reputation for the music of his films, and in no way does this one disappoint.Thus, if able, I would have given this film a "3.5 star" rating. It's better than "just okay" due to the interesting perspective and touching music, but not quite "really good" because of the lack of emotional depth. Also, the sooner you watch it after "Flags of our Fathers", the better, as the subject matter will be fresh in your brain.

I have yet to see Flags of our fathers, but I love the idea behind looking at a conflict from two different sides. I really appreciate what Clint Eastwood has done here, and I hope he and others will continue to explore the "less seen" perspectives of conflicts like this.But it still feels very much like a Western take of the Japanese perspective. The ideal Japanese characters in here has a lot of American influence (having lived there), and while I'm sure the movie is trying to be realistic when it comes to the Japanese mentality, it's still shown as something foreign. There are some good attempts at making their (more extreme) behavior understandable, but I think the movie can only do it's mission justice by going all the way.But when it does succeed, it's a very good movie, with several memorable moments.