One of the most crucial and bloodiest battles of the war was the struggle for the island of Iwo Jima, which culminated with what would become one of the most iconic images in history: five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi. Even as victory in Europe was finally within reach, the war in the Pacific raged on. The flashback style just doesn’t work here and the better efforts of the script are lost in the awkward puzzle that Eastwood ends up constructing out of a film that actually had a lot to say.Overview - February 1945. I felt the focus should have been more on the individuals who raised the flag, so when they are or are not recognized properly the guilt and uneasiness of the living would have been heightened, or at least more structured. The sequence really helps the audience understand what the exploited heroes really went through to get the recognition they did, and it certainly eats away at them for good reason.īut Flags of Our Fathers is just left with so many pieces that really don’t fit, or characters that fail to make a real impact. There is also a particularly effectual sequence where the real story of the photo is finally revealed, however anti-climactic it is. There are some nice scenes prior to the storming of Iwo Jima where soldiers listen to music together and prepare internally for their battle with the enemy, and fate. Of course the quieter moments in this film, as with most of Eastwood’s films, work the best and he continues to showcase his ability to present tranquil moments of calmness amidst the fury of what is to come. Part of the film wants to discuss the exploitation of the three men by the government and armed forces, while another part wants to show us interviews with characters that may in fact be real life veterans (one in particular seems to be a true vet.) Yet more of the film wants us to feel like the war footage is cutting edge and new, while it really looks a lot like animated sequences from a video game for the X Box. Told in a flashback style that jumps both forward and backward, and forward some more, the whole focus of the film is skewed. Unfortunately I could not help but be aggravated with this film from start to finish. There is one moment, understated by Eastwood and his editors, where the mother of a dead soldier, who helped raise the flag beside “Doc,” tells him that she doesn’t know why the photograph makes her feel better, but it does. The other two leading roles belong to Jesse Bradford (who plays charismatic Rene Gagnon) and Adam Beach (who plays Native American Ira Hayes.) Representing both the life and death of World War II, and of course the government’s desperate plea for war bond support, the three men are deemed war heroes by the national public all because of the hope that the iconic photo resembles. John “Doc” Bradley (Ryan Phillipe) is the central of the three protagonists, all of which become poster boys for the famous photo of American troops raising a flag on a hilltop in Iwo Jima. Of course what battle isn’t? And what soldier isn’t haunted by memories of war? Or the loss of friends, humanity, and innocence? The three main characters of Flags of Our Fathers also are calm souls amidst a violent backdrop in this case the sands of Iwo Jima in Japan, where American troops landed and eventually killed 12,000 enemy soldiers in one of the bloodiest battles ever fought. It has the same feel, the same patient qualities that accompany stories he has presented that are ultimately wrought with violence, or about people thrown into violent situations. His style has garnered him two Best Director Oscars, yet I have always thought of him as lacking both style and substance when it comes to most of his directorial efforts (with the exception of 3/4 of Unforgiven.)įlags of Our Fathers is very much made in a similar way to films he has directed like Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River, and even A Perfect World. Clint Eastwood, as a director and not an actor, continues his trend of making old fashioned films with soft acoustic guitar scores, thoughtful passages, and deliberate pacing.
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