Flags of Our Fathers follows the Marine assault on the Island of Iwo Jima. This was one of the last important islands the U.S had to catch in the months of February 1945- March 1945. This battle was a major one right from the start and was hard fought from each side. Eventually, the Americans overtook the island and the most iconic photo of the war was taken.
The rest of the movie follows the men who supposedly had been the ones to lift the flag and take the photo. It's an instant classic and it has a great status among the rest of the greats of the World War Two genre of film. This movie shows some aspects of the war that was not very well known and overlooked. Clint Eastwood does his best when it comes to the making of this movie and when a man as talented Mr. Eastwood does his best then you know you are in for a hell of a movie.
Letters from Iwo Jima takes the perspective of the Japanese during the assault and by god this movie is incredible. It could honestly make a grown man shed a tear its that good. It is the better of the two movies but by a small margin. The Japanese soldiers are shown to be human which is rare in films depicting the Pacific Front. Clint Eastwood had done an amazing job at humanizing the Japanese and if a character dies then you feel the impact of it all. If you know your history then you know the history of the battle then you know the Japanese lose in the movie. But the characters and the story make this film a masterpiece.
When added together the run time equals nearly 5 hours. Both movies do their job and they do it well. The source material is respected and displayed very unbiasedly. Everyone should see these two movies and if you're a fan of World War Two movies then you will know what I'm talking about.
Source: Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
I liked your in depth review of why you liked these two movies. I think its good that there are movies that are out there that show the unbiased view of historical events. It makes for a better movie in general, because it would focus more on the plot, story, and individual characters, rather than presenting one side as good and the other side as evil. In addition, it also makes for a good educational experience.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed that you talked about two movies which showed the perspectives of the Japanese and the Americans during the pacific theater. I also liked that you talked about the characters in the movie rather then just the plot. I also think that movies are a good and interesting way to gain knowledge such as the two movies you talk about.
ReplyDeleteI liked how you chose to relate events that occurred during the war to pop culture now. It gives some context to the famous symbols such as iwo jima
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