Flags of Our Fathers + Letters From Iwo Jima = Great Cinema
The year 2006 saw the release of a pair of complementary films directed by Clint Eastwood: Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima. Both center around the bloody and pivotal Battle of Iwo Jima that was fought over a period of 40 days in February and March of 1945. Each movie can stand alone as a complete story and is powerful in its own right, but taken together the pair constitutes one of the greatest achievements in cinema history.
The True Story Behind an Iconic Image
The source material for the film Flags of Our Fathers was the best-selling nonfiction book of the same title by James Bradley with Ron Powers. Bradley is the son of one of the six American servicemen in the famous World War II photograph showing the Stars and Stripes being raised over Iwo Jima. Taken by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal, that snapshot was the basis for the Marine Corps War Memorial monument in Arlington, Virginia.
A Thought-Provoking, Complex Film
"We like things nice and simple—good and evil, heroes and villains," says the movie's version of Joe Rosenthal (Ned Eisenberg) as he explains why his photograph captured the American imagination. But the story behind that picture is complicated and messy. The result is a film that poses questions for which there are no easy answers.
Of the six servicemen who raised the flag in the photo, three were killed in action and one was wounded. The U.S. military suffered 28,000 casualties, including 6,800 killed, on Iwo Jima. An important military victory was achieved, but as shown in the movie, there were prices to be paid.
Still, as the film's Rosenthal says about the photo, "Looking at it, you could believe their sacrifice was not a waste."
A Horrendous Battle and the Hoopla of a Bond Tour
The dramatic structure of Flags of Our Fathers consists of intercutting scenes from different time periods. The effect is occasionally disorienting, but the nonlinear storytelling heightens the movie's emotional impact: the viewer shares the feelings of the principal characters as they go through a troubled time. Most people will probably not at first viewing be able to follow every detail of the demanding narrative, but the main story points are always clear because of Eastwood's assured direction.
Although the movie jumps around in time, there are two dominant periods. One of these is the chaotic, gory month or so of combat on Iwo Jima. Many servicemen are killed on the desolate island, including three of the six flag-raisers. Those who survive the ordeal are traumatized by the carnage they have witnessed. Eastwood drains almost all color from these harrowing scenes, which makes it easier for viewers to follow the film's nonlinear narrative.
The other main time period in the movie consists of several weeks just after the battle is over. The three surviving flag-raisers are taken to meet President Truman, who tells them, "You fought for a mountain in the Pacific, now we need you to fight for a mountain of cash." The three must spearhead a multi-city war-bond tour, and at Chicago's Soldier Field, they reenact the flag-raising on a mound of papier-mâché under a sky filled with exploding fireworks. At each event they are introduced as "the heroes of Iwo Jima," a characterization that leaves them feeling deeply ambivalent.
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