+ Best Big Hit Movie of the Year
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| Sundown provides the sharp light on this interesting poster for Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima |
The WWII battle for Japanese isle Iwo Jima in the Pacific is portrayed from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and military leaders.
Letters from Iwo Jima is written by Iris Yamashita, with Paul Haggis (Crash (2004)) contributing story elements, based on Picture Letters from Commander in Chief by Japanese general Tadamichi Kuribayashi (portrayed by Ken Watanabe (Zawa-zawa Shimo-Kitazawa (2000)) in the movie) and Tsuyuko Yoshida, and directed by Californian master filmmaker Clint Eastwood (A Perfect World (1993)). It is the second part of Eastwood's double feature project of the Battle for Iwo Jima, which also includes the great Flags of Our Fathers (2006), which shows the American side of the story.
Letters appears less riveting than Flags to me, maybe partially because its structure is looser: Who we precisely are following, and what they aim for is not always obvious. - The character's reasoning and decisions are especially hard to follow, - their cultural persuasion of the merits of suicide are among the ludicrous elements that make them hard to grasp, - and Eastwood has chosen to have little in the way of narrative assistance here for us. There are no opening credits, time assertions or text to get us seated in the right frame of mind.
But Letters doesn't shy away from history, and the film has several memorable scenes. It is a handsome and hard war film, which, together with Flags of Our Fathers, are a unique addition to cinema's depiction of war. Together they underline the duality of truth in a most majestic manner.
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Flags of Our Fathers (2006) - Eastwood's Iwo Jima portrayal is captivating and profoundly moving
The Dead Pool (1988) - The highly entertaining last Dirty Harry movie (actor)
City Heat (1984) - Eastwood and Reynolds wrestle dispassionately in Benjamin's messy period affair (actor)
Tightrope (1984) - An undervalued Clint Eastwood sex killer thriller (actor)
Any Which Way You Can (1980) or, More Monkey Business! (actor)
Escape from Alcatraz (1979) - Siegel, Tuggle and Eastwood's phenomenal prison escape thriller (actor)
Every Which Way but Loose (1978) or, Honky Tonk Monkey Business! (actor)
The Enforcer (1976) - Eastwood teaches revolutionaries a lesson in third, less punchy Dirty Harry (star)
The Eiger Sanction (1975) - Eastwood's mountain climbing dud
The Beguiled (1971) - Intense, erotic Civil War kammerspiel thriller (actor)
Dirty Harry (1971) - Eastwood's great, signature renegade cop character comes to life (actor)
Coogan's Bluff (1968) or, Dopes and Hippies, Beat It! (actor)
For a Few Dollars More/Per Qualche Dollaro in Più (1965) or, Return of the Poncho Killer (actor)
A Fistful of Dollars (1964) or, Killer in a Poncho (actor)
Cost: 19 mil. $
Box office: 68.6 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 3.61 times the cost)
[Letters from Iwo Jima premiered 15 November (Budokan, Japan) and runs 140 minutes. Shooting took place in Japan, including on Iwo Jima, in Iceland and in California, including Los Angeles from March 2006 - 'late 2006'. The USS Texas battleship which is in both Letters and Flags actually participated in the Battle for Iwo Jima for 5 days. The film opened #30 to an 89k $ first weekend in 5 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #14 and in 781 theaters and grossed 13.7 mil. $ (20 % of the total gross), being the film's 2nd biggest market. It was hugely successful in Japan, its biggest market, where it was #1 for 5 weeks and grossed 42.9 mil. $ (62.5 %). Japanese audiences and critics praised the film for its authentic Japanese details, use of the language, mostly Japanese actors and a variety of character types. The 3rd biggest market was France with 1.7 mil. $ (2.5 %). The film was nominated for 4 Oscars: It won for Best Sound Editing and lost Best Picture and Best Director to Martin Scorsese's great The Departed, and Best Original Screenplay to Michael Arndt for Little Miss Sunshine. It also won 1/2 Golden Globe noms, an AFI award, was nominated for a David di Donatello award, won 2 National Board of Review awards and many other honors. Eastwood returned with Changeling (2008). Watanabe returned in Hoshi Hitotsu no Yoru (2007, TV movie), Keiji Ichidai: Hiratsuka Hachibei no Shôwa Jiken Shi (2009, TV-series) and theatrically in Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant (2009). Letters from Iwo Jima is certified fresh at 91 % with an 8.2/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
What do you think of Letters from Iwo Jima?
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