Before going to “Letters of Iwo Jima”, I was thinking that there will be no more war movies as good as many acclaimed classics. Clint Eastwood proved me wrong. After that I decided to watch the twin release which came before that directed by him too. “Flags of Our Fathers” can be more said as a Post War movie than a war movie. Many people rarely try theirs hands on that. Eastwood always moves us with any of his stories and this time he does it again.
The flag raising photograph which is famous and brought lot of hope to American people is taken back to its roots. The people involved in it are brought back from the war zone to help the US government to collect money for the war. In one of the most deadly battles in the World War – II, three survivors of those six men are called back. John “Doc” Bradley (Ryan Phillipe), Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) are those. Rene is excited about this because as he says in the platoon, he joined marines because the uniform makes him look like hero. He sees this as a great opportunity. Ira on the other hand wants to stay. He wants to stay for his fellow men. Truth is told that every one wants to leave the place of certain death any moment but no one will be ready to come out of there. It is the feeling of being there for their men more than country. It is hard cold enlightening truth every one should know about.
The film is said as much as in narration and interviews carried on by James Bradley (Tom McCarthy), son of Doc. The movie is based upon the book by the real life James Bradley. Every thing I would love to discuss over this review has been spoken in true right words in the movie. What exactly War boils down to? What does it mean to be “patriotic”? Is patriotism something marketed to lure in to the drains of war? The men who sacrificed their lives from all over the world regardless of Americans or Japanese or any other region did not fight for the country. May be they thought they did but what exactly did they fight on for? A point in which some one can place the finger and say that and it will be family or children. But the immediate thought when the act in the war is to save themselves and also more importantly to save the man near them. In “Black Hawk Down” the character of Hoot played by Eric Bana says that precisely. In that movie it is a dialogue of a side kick factor with true intensity though. Here it runs throughout the movie wide and profound.
It is a brave story of the men who died inside when people call them heroes. In fact the real men do not want them to be called heroes. A hero is a made up word. It is human to look out for examples. People immediately blame others for all bad things. And when they are hopeless, they need heroes on the positive side. It is a positive blaming which turns out to be a different sort of game as time flies by. An opportunistic word is what the movie migrates the incident of the flag being raised. It sure did profit in collecting money for the war. It sure did help the men in the island of dead. End of day, the means of it is something people do not want to remember. The sacrifice is honoured but not the war.
The island of Iwo Jima looks black. The sulfur in the sand is the reason. And if we are able to see blood out of that black sand, then imagine the reality of it. I cannot comprehend the fact of being in the war zone. It is something I do not want to comprehend. War is a man made attempt to feel good as a whole. It is a collective effort of vengeance taken in the form of government. So does defending is wrong too? Where can the line been drawn? The line should never be there at all in first place meaning the concept of war should never be in that place. Eastwood sure does not talk about it but spreads it across the movie.
Ira goes through the trauma. More than the war, it is how he been called upon. The horrid reality striking back when he is made as an exhibition. Being used as a show piece is the last thing any soldier would want. He is troubled. He is perplexed on the reaction he needs to give. He is put in a spot light where he never wanted it to be. But Doc is the one who really had the composure to maintain the balance. Seeing soldiers die in the Warfield is horrible enough but trying to save them and failing on it is even worse and unimaginable. Doc does that and has witnessed numerous of those. How did he manage to live a calm life, do daily work and bring up a family? Am sure he practiced forgetting those. He practiced to accept who he really is. He is a good man who took the responsibility, to raise a family.
The flag raising photograph which is famous and brought lot of hope to American people is taken back to its roots. The people involved in it are brought back from the war zone to help the US government to collect money for the war. In one of the most deadly battles in the World War – II, three survivors of those six men are called back. John “Doc” Bradley (Ryan Phillipe), Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) are those. Rene is excited about this because as he says in the platoon, he joined marines because the uniform makes him look like hero. He sees this as a great opportunity. Ira on the other hand wants to stay. He wants to stay for his fellow men. Truth is told that every one wants to leave the place of certain death any moment but no one will be ready to come out of there. It is the feeling of being there for their men more than country. It is hard cold enlightening truth every one should know about.
The film is said as much as in narration and interviews carried on by James Bradley (Tom McCarthy), son of Doc. The movie is based upon the book by the real life James Bradley. Every thing I would love to discuss over this review has been spoken in true right words in the movie. What exactly War boils down to? What does it mean to be “patriotic”? Is patriotism something marketed to lure in to the drains of war? The men who sacrificed their lives from all over the world regardless of Americans or Japanese or any other region did not fight for the country. May be they thought they did but what exactly did they fight on for? A point in which some one can place the finger and say that and it will be family or children. But the immediate thought when the act in the war is to save themselves and also more importantly to save the man near them. In “Black Hawk Down” the character of Hoot played by Eric Bana says that precisely. In that movie it is a dialogue of a side kick factor with true intensity though. Here it runs throughout the movie wide and profound.
It is a brave story of the men who died inside when people call them heroes. In fact the real men do not want them to be called heroes. A hero is a made up word. It is human to look out for examples. People immediately blame others for all bad things. And when they are hopeless, they need heroes on the positive side. It is a positive blaming which turns out to be a different sort of game as time flies by. An opportunistic word is what the movie migrates the incident of the flag being raised. It sure did profit in collecting money for the war. It sure did help the men in the island of dead. End of day, the means of it is something people do not want to remember. The sacrifice is honoured but not the war.
The island of Iwo Jima looks black. The sulfur in the sand is the reason. And if we are able to see blood out of that black sand, then imagine the reality of it. I cannot comprehend the fact of being in the war zone. It is something I do not want to comprehend. War is a man made attempt to feel good as a whole. It is a collective effort of vengeance taken in the form of government. So does defending is wrong too? Where can the line been drawn? The line should never be there at all in first place meaning the concept of war should never be in that place. Eastwood sure does not talk about it but spreads it across the movie.
Ira goes through the trauma. More than the war, it is how he been called upon. The horrid reality striking back when he is made as an exhibition. Being used as a show piece is the last thing any soldier would want. He is troubled. He is perplexed on the reaction he needs to give. He is put in a spot light where he never wanted it to be. But Doc is the one who really had the composure to maintain the balance. Seeing soldiers die in the Warfield is horrible enough but trying to save them and failing on it is even worse and unimaginable. Doc does that and has witnessed numerous of those. How did he manage to live a calm life, do daily work and bring up a family? Am sure he practiced forgetting those. He practiced to accept who he really is. He is a good man who took the responsibility, to raise a family.
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