HOME |
DINING |
MOVIES |
LIVE SHOWS |
ARTS |
UPCOMING EVENTS
ARCHIVES |
ABOUT |
ADVERTISE |
CONTACT |
DISTRIBUTION
entertaining u newspaper: your weekly guide to entertainment
Main
|
Seen, Heard, Noted & Quoted
>>
|
|
|
by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
A Rated R 142 min
Clint Eastwood shot both Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima back to back on location on the volcanic island of Iwo Jima. He shot Letters from the Japanese perspective in Japanese with English subtitles. Both films are Oscar worthy. In creating Letters, screenwriter Iris Yamashita wrote the script with master scribe Paul Haggis.
Indeed, the small island was strategically important to both the Allies and the Japanese, who sent 22,000 soldiers to defend the island. American generals were committed to taking the island and its airfield at any cost. Failure was not an option. Once captured, it could serve as base for U.S. fighter planes to accompany U.S. heavy bombers flying to Japan from bases on Saipan. The Allies committed 100,000 troops with two Marine assault divisions for the initial landing with another two divisions in reserve waiting on ships offshore.
This film tells the story of the Japanese General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) who established a brilliant plan of digging tunnels into mount Suribachi (an inactive volcano) and establishing a heavy fire zone with artillary, machine guns, and small arms zeroed in on the beach. The landing beach was targeted with deadly crossfire from the mountain and the surrounding high ground. General Kuribayashi was a student of ancient war strategies and military science. His plan was to let the Marines land and when they were huddled on the beach he would open fire from all directions trapping the enemy in a deadly crossfire. The Allies would be devastated on the beach before they had a chance to advance. But he didn’t count on the resolve of the American generals to endure massive casualties to capture the island.
As the scenario unfolds, lead characters are developed. Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) is a simple baker back in Tokyo. He was drafted--dragged out of is shop and forced into the Army. He is the typically complaining grunt, forced to do manual labor to dig the tunnels and gun emplacements. Lieutenant Ito (Shidou Nakamura) is a loyal Army officer but not a fanatic. He is shocked when General Kuribayashi issues the” fight to the death” order with no surrender. Not all the Japanese soldiers were raving fanatics who were willing to fight to the death. Saigo believed in the mission but he was more worried about his wife and child back home. He desperately wanted to survive to get back home.
When the smoke cleared, 21,000 Japanese soldiers were killed and 1,000 captured. There were about 6,800 Marines killed. Yes, the Allies captured the island but at a terrible cost in lives. Viewing the battle from the Japanese perspective, the viewer can at least empathize with the ordinary conscripts who were not necessarily into fighting to the death. Eastwood’s movie humanizes the Japanese soldier. It was only the U.S. Command’s cold resolve to take the island no matter how men they lost and the bravery of the Marines that turned the tide in this bloody battle.
As the title indicates, the story is told through real letters discovered buried in the tunnels after the war. This sets up a narrative that uncovers the human side of the Japanese soldier, who missed his loved ones and was secretly scared like all soldiers facing a monumental battle. The letters show that the propaganda on the American home front exaggerated the Japanese as cruel inhuman monsters. Sure, there were the fanatics and psychotic guards at the Japanese prisoner of war camps, but the average Japanese soldier was a draftee obeying orders, facing death as bravely as he could under the circumstances. That is not to say that Eastwood was trying to cast the Japanese in a more sympathetic light, but these letters were quite poignant, showing these soldiers were loving husbands and fathers who just wanted to get back home. Many American veterans of Iwo Jima went back to meet their counterparts, the surviving Japanese veterans. They discovered kindred spirits in these brave men.
In this film, Eastwood tells the important true story, depicting the Japanese soldier as bravely facing a determined enemy as told through their letters. In one scene, Lieutenant Ito orders the men to move to a safer position. But some of the men were committing suicide by exploding grenades in their bellies. The last soldier decided not to do it, and then he got the order to move out. As history reveals, a 1,000 Japanese surrendered. It was an honorable way out.
|
|
