Wow and Wow are the first two things that come to mind in describing the greatness that Clint Eastwood's two films I watched on Blu-ray the other night. I guess the best way to review these are to review them together since in essence they are one story told from opposites sides of WWII. Flags details the US perspective of the Iwo Jima invasion. The battle scenes are intense, but in a very realistic and classic sense of filmmaking. There is nothing showy about Eastwood's directorial style. He composes his films like classical music. They have structure and layers that is such a lost and necessary art in Hollywoodland these days. Unlike Saving Private Ryan's brilliant flurry of high shutter speed violence, Flags and Iwo take there time so that you feel the impending doom of these characters. The one flaw I would lay on the Flags battle scenes is that at times its difficult to follow who is who on the battlefield, but that is a minor quip in an otherwise masterpiece of modern cinema.
Once Fathers gets going past Iwo Jima we follow the tale of three solders who survived the battle and were captured raising the flag in that famous photograph. But we soon learn a nasty lesson in US Government PR, that the three guys that raised the flag were actually raising the replacement flag because the original flag was taken down hours after it was raised so that a general could have it as a souvenir to hang in his living room after the war. Sad but true. The film follows the lives of those three men as they were rushed back to the states to go on tour to promote the war by selling war bonds. The US used these guys as heroes to promote the war as win able, yet the men themselves were living a lie day in and day out. The ending coda for some of these men are very sad as their lives post war were quite sad. I was really taken with Flags not so much as a war movie but on a psychological level it has a fascinating structure about how war is promoted to the public and how the casualties of that war linger forever.
Letters From Iwo Jima doesn't do much to lighten up the party, as this film now sees the invasion of Iwo jima from the Japanese perspective which was an idea producer Spielberg thought might be interesting to do during pre-production on Flags and Eastwood agreed and shot them both at the same time. This film follows the lives of a general and his men preparing for the landing of the US troops on the island. Unlike the US soldiers who were told they would be coming back from the war as heroes, the Japanese men were told that they were not coming back. So its interesting to see the different mindsets that poses on the battlefield. The General and the men know that they can't win, so they go into the battle purely just trying everything they can to survive one day after another and prolong death one day at a time. The film also details some of the US soldiers who see taken capture in Flags but we don't know what happened to them. We discover here that some of them were treated well and with honor.
The young Japanese soldiers see reflections of themselves in a particular prisoner and the general played by the genius of Ken Wantanbe speaks English and spent time in America is able to read some of the prisoners letters to his Mom to the troops. Some of the letters he is writing are exactly those thoughts and feelings that they have. All of the solder's write their families letters thinking that they are being sent home, when in fat they are all going a big bag. Towards the end of the film as the Americans are overtaking the caves and underground bunkers, a Japanese solider buries the letters in the cave. Later in a scene showing real explorers in the caves they are found. Both films detail the honor both sides had for their country and that in reality there was not a winning side with the thousands of men that lost their lives. They were all just young men 18 to 20 years old fighting alternate versions of themselves when every one of them wanted to be at home with their loved ones. These two films are both an amazing testament to the talent that Clint Eastwood is as a director. He is turning out films in his 70's that filmmakers in their prime will never match. Having said that where can I get a ticket to see Grand Torino right now? In all seriousness I know I am late to the party on these two films, but you must see them if you have not. They are modern day classics. Oh and an apology to Kevin F, because I told him we would watch these and I went off and did on my own. My bad. I will gladly watch them again!
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