MovieMantz Reviews: ‘Letters From Iwo Jima’ (December 21, 2006)

“Dead ‘Letter’ Office”
by Scott Mantz

“Letters from Iwo Jima”
Starring: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya
Directed by: Clint Eastwood

If good things come to those who wait, I’m sure glad that I didn’t have to wait that long for Clint Eastwood’s “Letters from Iwo Jima.” Originally slated to open next February four months after the release of Eastwood’s other Iwo Jima epic, “Flags of Our Fathers” “Letters” was hastily moved up earlier to December, which now puts the Oscar-winning director in the enviable (or unenviable) position of having two brilliant masterworks compete against each other during the highly competitive awards season.

As for which movie is the better of the two, it?s hard to play favorites. Both are triumphant cinematic achievements that compliment each other, yet they each stand on their own as powerful films with clearly defined visions. “Flags of Our Fathers” was an epic, non-linear, $90 million-budgeted examination of the harrowing battle and its emotional aftermath on the American “flag raisers” in Joe Rosenthal’s famous photo. By contrast, “Letters from Iwo Jima” is a more intimate, straightforward, $20 million-budgeted re-creation of the physical and psychological effects of that battle from the Japanese point of view.

And while “Letters” isn’t necessarily better, it’s far more engrossing, since it depicts the battle from the perspective of a different culture a culture where honor, loyalty and sacrifice outweighed any natural instinct for survival, even in the face of unbeatable odds. That building sense of dread is solidified early on by Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe, in a spectacular, Oscar-worthy performance), the Japanese defense leader, who, upon realizing the hopelessness of the situation, could only mutter to himself, “This will not work.”

Where almost 7,000 American soldiers were killed on Iwo Jima, more than 20,000 Japanese troops perished over the nearly 40-day battle. Isolated from the remaining Imperial forces, it was only a matter of time before the outnumbered Japanese soldiers met their fate. Among them are Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a baker who dreams about his unborn daughter; Baron Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara), a former equestrian who competed in the Olympics; and Ito (Shidou Nakamura), a strict lieutenant who would rather die than accept defeat. Though most would never see their loved ones again, their hope, their pride and their courage lived on in the letters they sent home.

First-time screenwriter Iris Yamashita, who wrote the story with Paul Haggis (“Crash”), effectively conveys Eastwood’s sympathetic approach by focusing on several clearly defined Imperial soldiers. But perhaps the overall mood that “Letters from Iwo Jima” most closely resembles is 2004’s “Downfall,” a fly-on-the-wall account of the last days of the Third Reich from inside Hitler’s bunker. The environment may be different, but the claustrophobic confines, the deterioration of order and the sense of desperation are the same. The Japanese are no match for the Americans, and they know it. From deep within their trenches and caves, they put up a good fight, but when defeat become inevitable, thoughts of surrender are immediately ruled out in favor of suicide or fighting to the death.

Moviegoers who were frustrated with Eastwood’s challenging, non-linear structure of “Flags of Our Fathers” will have an easier time following the more straightforward “Letters from Iwo Jima.” Of course, they’ll have a lot more to read, since the Japanese-language film is subtitled. And despite filming both movies back-to-back with the same faded, sepia-toned cinematography, none of the battle scenes are duplicated. In fact, none of the actors from “Flags” appear in “Letters,” and the milestone mounting of the American flag on Mount Suribachi is seen briefly from the distance of a Japanese bunker.

But perhaps the most profound moment in “Letters from Iwo Jima” occurs when Shimizu befriends a captured American soldier. The disarming scene, spoken in English, breaks down the barriers between the two warring parties, and previously solidified judgments about the enemy completely disappear. It’s a deeply poignant and relevant moment one that reminds us that people from different cultures are more alike than they realize. If Eastwood can make a reflective moment like that stand out from not one, but two vast, ambitious and immensely powerful films, I hope I don’t have to wait too long to see what he does next.

(Verdict: See it!)