Good Historical Movie
Added 2/6/2010
This movie is good and you even hold sympathy for the Japenese at times. Its well acted and gets you into the world war 2 theme (pacific theater). The only problem is the subtitles. The subtitles are small and you pay more attention at the subtitles than the actual movie. I know it's in Japenese and that the only way to understand the movie but they should of put the subtitles a bit bigger. Other than that this movie is great.
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Worth seeing over and over
Added 2/6/2010
Letters from Iwo Jima is perhaps the best war film ever made. It is worth seeing over and over again, getting better over time. The common story lines and common images shared by both Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers enrich both movies. It is worth reading Eugene Sledge's With the Old Breed to get a richer understanding of the experience of the soldier on the ground and the combination of hatred and respect felt by both the American Marines for the Japanese and the Japanese soldiers for the Americans. Two scorpions in a bottle. What makes this film unique is that it presents the Japanese experience with honesty and sensitivity. The cast is extraordinary, as is the writing, the cinematography, and the integrity of the story telling.
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A Quick Review of Letters from Iwo Jima
Added 1/30/2010
This movie is about letters discovered on the island of Iwo Jima 60 years after the war. The movie (filmed on location) focuses on what was written on those letters. This movie shows the gruesome reality of the battle of Iwo Jima as shown through the eyes of the Japanese soldiers. This Clint Eastwood directed movie is entirely in Japanese with subtitles (winner of the Golden Globe Award). At times, the film seems a bit longer than what is necessary, but overall, a magnificent film.
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Looking at a war from completely different angle
Added 12/29/2009
There are by now countless movies on the WWII, many are outstanding on their own merit as they showed the war and its utter destruction to human life, mind, heart, body, society, psyche in every conceivable way. With this very background, it is a whole new experience to watch the 'Letters' movie as it still could find some new way and material to tell a WWII war story. Mr. Eastwood has told a familiar story but from a totally different angle (a completely opposite direction to the American side) to say a different story of a war, whose result is known to all viewers.
Strength of the movie is that it shows more of the human side of the Japanese boys-turned-soldiers for the WWII. To make it authentic - which it is - the film is made in Japanese - though made by an American!! The film is more interested in the hopeless situation the young lads of the Japanese troupes are in and successfully catches their mindset. "I do not want to die for nothing" - this comment from a Japanese soldier summarizes it all. It depicts the result of a futile war decided by some incompetent leaders making gross wrong decisions driven by mindless ambition, on the hapless citizens-turned-army of their own country! The boys were defeated - mentally - not just before the battle started, but even before joining the army to fight Japan's 'enemy'. By capturing the pity of the common Japanese in the Imperial Army, the film essentially questions the validity of such a war and subtly endorses the notion of universal brotherhood. The humane treatment of the film seems to pass the feeling that ultimately, the instruments of war are no 'savage' (as the Japanese Army described Americans to their boys) regardless of their nationality, as they are only carrying out the duty as mandated by the rulers.
Problem is to do so, the film needed to show some soft aspects of the Japanese leadership also, which will definitely be felt bit compromising. While it is possible, that there 'were' few good Japanese (the real life Colonel Saito of the 'Bridge On The River Kwai'), but they were only few, and showing them as good or bad as the allied forces is a clear distortion of the truth. This is the only point, which I feel the movie - made with some astonishing cinematography and care - could have handled with more balance.
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"Patriotism" - a concept for fools
Added 10/20/2009
"Damn this island! The Americans can have it!", exclaims Saigo, the baker-turned reluctant Jap soldier, as he digs into a beach trench in the opening scene.
I'm a pacifist. I don't like war movies with senseless violence. I wanted to give this movie 1 star before I even watched it, but somehow, I find myself giving this 5 stars because of the human face it portrays behind all those solider-victims who were drafted and sent off to die by war-mongering politicians and their high military command. This movie reminded me of Emma Goldman's essay on "patriotism" which exposes the lies that the military-industrial complex in society wants us to mold all male behavior into. I don't admire any war or military force from any country. They're all puppets of politicians. You can see some of these structures being played out in this movie. The most lowly soldier doesn't have a say in anything except to obey reluctantly - all in the name of his freaking "country".
This movie tells a war story from the eyes of the Jap solider, two in particular - the youthful and low-ranking Saigo and the highest ranking Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi.
The war to defend the island of Iwo Jima was doomed from the start. Without Jap Imperial air and naval support or ground reinforcements, the island couldn't be defended effectively. Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi and the other Jap commanders are soon made aware of this fact, but had to stand ground and couldn't retreat because Tokyo HQ didn't want them to. That evil merciless Emperor! So, here we are viewing and listening to the inner thoughts of the Jap soldiers as they do what they were told to do, will all, save for lucky Saigo, end up dying by the end of the movie.
The opening scene starts off with Saigo digging a beach trench and venting his frustrations at the war. Unbeknowest to him, his "unpatriotic" comments were overhead by both his buddy and his strict, "patrotic" captain who took offense at insults to the Imperial Army. Saigo and his buddy were both beaten with a stick by the captain. Scene 2 shows Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe of "The Last Samurai") arriving on a plane onto the island of Iwo Jima and briefed by one of the island's commanders. He chances upon Saigo being beaten at the beach, halts the punishment and immediately tells the beach defenders to quit digging beach trenches and to move inland. This encounter with lowly Saigo is to be the first of several throughout the movie as we track Saigo's "lucky streaks" with death and war, right to his final encounter with the General in the final scene where he was ordered to bury the dead General, before Saigo ends up getting whacked unconscious by an invading American soldier.
To be continued.....
Recommended reading:
Anarchism and other essays
1 out of 2 people found this helpful.
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Good Historical Movie
Added 2/6/2010
This movie is good and you even hold sympathy for the Japenese at times. Its well acted and gets you into the world war 2 theme (pacific theater). The only problem is the subtitles. The subtitles are small and you pay more attention at the subtitles than the actual movie. I know it's in Japenese and that the only way to understand the movie but they should of put the subtitles a bit bigger. Other than that this movie is great.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Worth seeing over and over
Added 2/6/2010
Letters from Iwo Jima is perhaps the best war film ever made. It is worth seeing over and over again, getting better over time. The common story lines and common images shared by both Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers enrich both movies. It is worth reading Eugene Sledge's With the Old Breed to get a richer understanding of the experience of the soldier on the ground and the combination of hatred and respect felt by both the American Marines for the Japanese and the Japanese soldiers for the Americans. Two scorpions in a bottle. What makes this film unique is that it presents the Japanese experience with honesty and sensitivity. The cast is extraordinary, as is the writing, the cinematography, and the integrity of the story telling.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
A Quick Review of Letters from Iwo Jima
Added 1/30/2010
This movie is about letters discovered on the island of Iwo Jima 60 years after the war. The movie (filmed on location) focuses on what was written on those letters. This movie shows the gruesome reality of the battle of Iwo Jima as shown through the eyes of the Japanese soldiers. This Clint Eastwood directed movie is entirely in Japanese with subtitles (winner of the Golden Globe Award). At times, the film seems a bit longer than what is necessary, but overall, a magnificent film.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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