Letters from Iwo Jima

By Kate Xian
January 12, 2007

The sister project of director Clint Eastwood's recently released Flags of our Fathers, Letters from Iwo Jima is an American film told in a foreign language. The war film set in Japan's island, Iwo Jima, is headed by Ken Watanabe who has successfully crossed over from Japan to North America.

Iwo Jima is intriguing alone for its creative team, headed by acclaimed Hollywood heavyweights, Executive Producer and Co-Writer Paul Haggis, and the once cigar chewing, trigger-blazing, "go ahead, make my day," Clint Eastwood. The odd coupling of two famous Hollywood powerhouses and a quiet and seemingly foreign film has never before been seen. But is it a love match?

Entertainment 6/10

In the general terms of what a film means to be "entertaining," Iwo Jima unfortunately doesn't succeed. As mentioned once before, it is a quiet film and it does not have the same level of non-stop violence that we call action and expect from war films. The character studies are the standout feature of the film and though rather slow-moving, has genuine heart. The voiceover narrative of various characters and their letters written for back home, help guide along and flesh out the noble and true soldier, General Kuribayashi (Watanabe), the compassionate Shimizu (Ryo Kase), and the everyman Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya). In combination with the letters, the histories of these men are also carried out through the sometimes awkward and idyllic flashback sequences.

Unlike past Eastwood films, Iwo Jima suffers from its tedious pace along with a roundabout plot, where the only goal is to survive the futile war. The first forty five minutes of the film is a steady climb to the anticipation of the war itself. And in contrast to most war sagas, Iwo Jima takes the fight inside, and portrays the terror and turmoil among the Japanese soldiers who resort to any means possible to escape their own grave.

In the scheme of Hollywood however, Iwo Jima is without a doubt, for a more "arthouse" crowd than the blockbuster goers of say, M:I:III. As a result of its slow pace and thin motives, Letters may do little to keep audiences interested for its full 140 minutes.

Innovation 8.5/10

If there is one reason to check out this film, it should be for its cinematography. The muted colour palette, blown out whites, and crushed blacks aids in putting the viewer right where these soldiers were. The blinding whites, like the bright and unflinching sun, and the heavy and difficult shadows, emulate the lack of light to light your way. These lighting effects are wonderful in enhancing the "hell is war and war is hell" sentiment of the film, as well as providing us with a new, subtle, and yet unique look at cinematography. Among the now popular techniques of vignette + colour scheme, heavy grain and oversaturated colours, and emulated super 8 film grain, Iwo Jima provides a fresh take on the play of light on film.

The crossover element between Hollywood and foreign film is also rather unique and refreshing. It opens the doors for more stories regardless of language and location. After the once central location of America, it is nice to see the decentralization of Hollywood. With the fall of Tom Cruise and the pan and focus onto arthouse films, Hollywood is gladly drifting away from the formulaic marquee names and over-the-top budgets in favour of artistic merit. Now that Hollywood has also decentralized language it is time to abandon the term "foreign" (which only denotes "not American" which then in turn often gets tagged with "therefore not as good") and open its arms to films from all corners of the world.

Emotional Resonance 7/10

The one thing I've come to expect from Eastwood are tearjerkers. Not the The Notebook, mushy, cry-me-a-river tearjerkers, but the honest, painful and bittersweet tears such as Million Dollar Baby. However, Letters only seemed to take me halfway there. It may be a consequence of the tiresome pace of the film but there was something that kept me from investing in these soldiers fully. It may have been the inevitable outcome or the futility of it all, but crying itself also seemed equally futile. Of course the flow of tears cannot in any circumstance be the telltale sign of an emotionally wrought film. Iwo Jima was filled with moments of tragedy, heartache, and hope, but it still seemed as if Eastwood was holding back slightly. I really believe he could have pushed the characters further, which in turn would push us into the right direction emotionally.

Social Context 9/10

The facelessness of the enemy/Americans creates a double-edged sword in the political nature of the film. It makes the enemy both cowardly and easily forgettable. It was definitely an interesting contrast that Eastwood had made between the Japanese and the Americans. The sympathetic viewpoint was clearly aligned with the Japanese as they were portrayed as compassionate, conflicted, and human. The Americans on the other hand, were in some ways superhumanly villainous. Ruthless, crude and remorseless was the main image that we were given. However the facelessness of the Americans make them easy to forget and more importantly easy to forgive. As they came onto the islands in droves, the Japanese clearly did not stand a chance fighting this losing battle. The enemy had become nothing more than the word "Americans." Conversely, the political implication is possibly severe. I think it unnecessary to delve into detail but the overall portrayal of the American soldiers as almost entirely heartless, from the perspective of American filmmakers, is actually much needed since it speaks for a group of Americans that do not necessarily have a voice.

Recall 7/10

The artistry and craftsmanship is the standout of Eastwood's latest directorial effort. Though epic in scale, it is in fact, rather quiet in nature and therefore deserves a look. If the artistic merit of the film does not stay with you, the unsettling images of the disasters of war are sure to.

Overall 75%

Limited Release Date: December 20th, 2006
Limited (Toronto) Release Date: January 12th, 2007
Running Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Director: Clint Eastwood
Producers: Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz & Steven Spielberg
Executive Producer: Paul Haggis
Screenplay: Iris Yamashita
Director of Photography: Tom Stern
Editor: Joel Cox & Gary Roach
Music: Kyle Eastwood & Michael Stevens