From someone else, the "Flags of Our Fathers"/"Letters from Iwo Jima" pair of films shot back-to-back - American vs. Japanese stories of the bloody World War II struggle for a small, barren island - could easily turn into a nationalistic or anti-war statement. From Clint Eastwood, there is no propaganda of any kind, only an unblinking, deeply moving presentation of the truth... "ours" and "theirs." It is amazing how similar those once-warring truths appear when shown under Eastwood's microscope.

Amazing too is this "foreign film" from Hollywood - with a Japanese cast, in Japanese (and English subtitles), the Americans being distant shadows, except for some brief (but highly significant) scenes. The film should have been made by the Japanese, but they'd have a hard time equaling Eastwood's work. The lean, poignant script is the work of a Japanese-American, Iris Yamashita (written in English, translated to Japanese), based on the book "Picture Letters from Commander in Chief," by Tadamichi Kuribayashi, the Japanese commanding general on Iwo Jima.

More than 20,000 Japanese troops holding the island and about 7,000 of the overwhelming force of some 100,000 invading Americans perished in the 40-day battle, but in Eastwood's treatment, not a single shot is fired in the first 45 minutes. Instead, there is a magnificent setup of the hopeless situation of the Japanese troops, suffering under the brutal treatment of their officers, doomed to die without the possibility of reinforcements.

The arrival of Gen. Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe, in yet another acting triumph) - an intelligent, warm-hearted man, who actually knows the "American devils" from personal experience - changes the situation, both the atmosphere, and the preparation for the battle. The general's unconventional strategy created the 40-day miracle; without his presence, Japanese resistance would have been wiped out in a week or two.

There are other memorable central characters: a dashing cavalry officer (Tsuyoshi Ihara); a clever, resourceful young baker, determined to return home to his wife and newborn (Kazunari Ninomiya); a former member of the feared and hated military police (Ryo Kase); and in contrast with Gen. Kuribayashi's humanity, a cardboard zealot officer, the manifestation of what has been "typical" for the American viewer (Shidou Nakamura).

The battle scenes are stunning, technically and emotionally, showing war as it "really is," not in the phony Technicolor splendor of the vast majority of the genre; in fact, most of "Iwo Jima" is in black and white. (And, just as in case of his "Unforgiven," "Million Dollar Baby" and "Mystic River," Eastwood wrote the music score for this as well.)

Eastwood's handling of the story's complexities is simple and straightforward. The opening and closing scenes create a meaninful frame for the story, but the scene just before the end - cannot be specific without spoiling the story - introduces a fascinating twist to it, something that actually takes a bit of thinking to understand fully. The same goes for "Iwo Jima" as a whole: it will stay with you and you will have to stay with it long after the popcorn goes cold.

Janos Gereben

Related links:
IMDB: Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)