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Old 01-09-2007, 10:57 AM   #1
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I just saw it last night at an advance screening before it expands to 30 screens (from the original 5) in the U.S. this Friday. Since huge movie releases have been known to hit over 4,000 screens, one can see how 30 is still a very limited number. However, it will expand again on the 19th.

Anyway, so I saw the advanced screening with about 7 World War II veterans in attendance. Before it began a radio talk show guy (the screening was a promotional thing done by a radio station) gave a pretty damn good speech about how war comes down to infantry, or the guys they like to call "grunts". These are the guys who do the most and pay the biggest price, often for the sins of their superiors or their country's leaders who rarely spill their own blood. And this is true for all sides in a war.

So this movie does not sympathize with the Imperial Japanese aggression of the period, nor does it nod in agreement with Japan's politics of the time. This film is simply about the regular fighting men who wanted to get home to their mothers, wives, and children. They just happen to be Japanese men instead of Americans. No American filmmaker, until now, has ever had the balls to make the Americans the "faceless enemy" in war movie.

Then again, Clint Eastwood already visited the other side of this story, the American side, in Flags of Our Fathers. Flags had some interesting things to say, and is worth seeing in my opinion, but Letters From Iwo Jima is a much better, more focused film. There are sequences in Letters that had the audience gasping. The woman next to me was a critic from a local publication of some sort (she took notes the entire time), and she was quite audible in her shock at several of the scenes. It must be said, there are some disturbing moments here, including a group suicide done in a rather messy fashion.

Developing characters is another thing this film does better than Flags. I cared for Saigo, the simple baker who left his wife behind and has never seen his baby girl. I admired Baron Nishi, the champion of a horse riding event in the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles, who showed compassion for a wounded American soldier. I felt sad for Shimizu, a young man who struggles between his desire to hate the Americans and his fear that he's fighting for nothing. And, of course, I respected General Kuribayashi, who was always against the war and had many American friends, but nonetheless did his very best to protect his homeland.

I feel that there was a terrific exchange at an American dinner party in the film, where Kuribayashi was the guest of honor. I personally don't think that it's much of a spoiler, but just in case...

Spoiler:
Wife of an American General: Mr. Kuribayashi, how would you feel if America and Japan were to enter war?

Kuribayashi: Together, we would be hard to defeat.

American General: No, I think my wife means, what if we were to enter war against each other.

Kuribayashi: Well, the United States is the last country in the world Japan should fight. But I suppose if that were to happen, I would have to serve my interests.

American General: Your interests? Or do you mean your country's interests?

Kuribayashi: Are they not the same thing?

American General: Spoken like a true soldier.


I loved that scene because it showed that, especially in an age with no worldwide web and a lot of Japanese propaganda and indoctrination, it's quite an easy thing to just be patriotic and do what one's leaders say is right. A soldier fights for the guy next to him, for a cause they believe in if only because they are told they should believe.

There are a few people who have seen this movie and believe that it lets the Japanese off lightly. I disagree. It doesn't put their war crimes under the microscope, that's true, and yes they committed some significant atrocities, particularly in China. That's just not what this film is about. How often do we look at war crimes on the American side? Not often enough because America was on the "good" side. This film does show what happens to any Japanese who thinks of disobeying an order (no matter how dumb it is) or tries to surrender. This film does indeed contain several scenes of brutality on the part of certain Japanese characters. It also portrays their overwhelming desire to die rather than be taken alive, even when that desire comes down to simply not wanting to be the one guy in the group who is too afraid to "pull the trigger".

In the end, I felt that this was one of the most poignant anti-war films I've seen in recent memory. It's lengthy, but never boring. It's subtitled, but never a chore to follow. I think it's the best film of 2006.
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Old 01-09-2007, 01:35 PM   #2
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There's just something I don't like about an American director telling a Japanese story as though he's on the inside. I'll see it whenever it comes out here, but I'm going in with pretty low expectations.
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Old 01-09-2007, 02:10 PM   #3
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After Flags can't say i'm desperate to see this.

And i'm fairly sure i'm gonna be pissed when this beats Pan's Labyrinth to the Best Foreign Film Oscar this year.
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Old 01-09-2007, 02:21 PM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Spiwak View Post
There's just something I don't like about an American director telling a Japanese story as though he's on the inside. I'll see it whenever it comes out here, but I'm going in with pretty low expectations.
Uh oh... Here comes Spike Lee. I'll never forget when he said Steven Spielberg had no business directing Amistad. I was like, "Give me a break dude..."

Anyway, why is that a bad thing? The Japanese actually love that Eastwood made this film. It's doing quite well over there. Even Ken Watanabe, the lead actor in the film, said the only thing that he finds shameful is that it took an American filmmaker instead of a Japanese one to take a look at Iwo Jima thoroughly from the Japanese perspective. He meant that, of course, as a compliment to Clint Eastwood at the same time.

Besides, the film was written by Iris Yamashita and most of the crew was Japanese.

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After Flags can't say i'm desperate to see this.

And i'm fairly sure i'm gonna be pissed when this beats Pan's Labyrinth to the Best Foreign Film Oscar this year.
Well, it's MUCH better than Flags for one thing. Why would you be upset if it topped Pan's Labyrinth at the awards? Letters From Iwo Jima is, in my opinion, the ONLY movie of 2006 that was better than Pan's Labyrinth. And since you haven't seen Letters yet, are you absolutely positive you wouldn't agree (I'm not saying you would, but there's the possibility)? Do you see Flags on my Top 10? No. But there is Letters sitting at #1.
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Old 01-09-2007, 04:18 PM   #5
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Letters from Iwo Jima is as "Foreign" as Passion of the Christ is.
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Old 01-09-2007, 06:11 PM   #6
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Letters from Iwo Jima is as "Foreign" as Passion of the Christ is.
Now that can't really be argued. Heh. If the category is foreign film, then it shouldn't be up for an award. But if the category is "Best Foreign Language Film" it should compete.
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Old 01-09-2007, 07:20 PM   #7
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Yea, and I guess that's how they justify it in their eyes, but it's still stupid that an American movie will win that category. Especially since more voters will have seen Letters from Iwo Jima since it is, y'know, Clint Eastwood's latest hyped piece. Seems unfair to truly foreign films a la Pan's Labyrinth or Volver. I haven't seen any of the three yet, though (none are here).
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Old 01-09-2007, 09:44 PM   #8
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Yea, and I guess that's how they justify it in their eyes, but it's still stupid that an American movie will win that category. Especially since more voters will have seen Letters from Iwo Jima since it is, y'know, Clint Eastwood's latest hyped piece. Seems unfair to truly foreign films a la Pan's Labyrinth or Volver. I haven't seen any of the three yet, though (none are here).
Yeah, I can see what you mean. Frankly, if I had any say (which I obviously don't), I would see that Letters From Iwo Jima and Pan's Labyrinth were both nominated for Best Picture. Not just Best Foreign Language Film.
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Old 01-10-2007, 03:22 AM   #9
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I never understood all the technicalities but I believe they should both be eligible for Best Picture since they were released in American theaters during 2006 (Crouching Tiger was nominated for several awards besides Best Foreign Language Film, including Best Picture). I would expect at least Letters from Iwo Jima to be nominated for Best Picture, and probably Pan's Labyrinth too given how lame this year has been. And Babel. That's pretty remarkable when you think about it. I'm not seeing much for Volver, though.
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Old 01-10-2007, 08:14 AM   #10
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I'm going to see this if possible. It may be out of the local theaters, I really have no idea, but if so I'll just get it on DVD when it comes out in stores. I really like just about any WWII films, especially those who show it from an open-minded perspective.
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