4/25/2021 0 Comments Netflix Letters From Iwo Jima
Eastwoods charcoal-colored aesthetic casts a pall of doom over his storys ill-fated protagonists, as well as visually complements his tales belief in the falsity of black-and-white worldviews.Anns Warehouse Is a Triumph of Production Over Performance Confessions of a Drag Legend: Charles Busch on The Confession of Lily Dare Review: Timon of Athens Takes Arms Against the Ravages of Wealth Under the Radar 2020: The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes, Not I, More Books Adam Naymans Paul Thomas Anderson Masterworks Honors PTAs Ambiguities Bestiary Poetically Raises a Coming-of-Age Tale to the Level of Myth Glenn Kennys Made Men: The Story of Goodfellas Is a Stellar Anatomy of a Film The Appointment Is a Bitterly Comic Unburdening of a Conscience For Stephen King, As Well As His Fans, If It Bleeds Is a Coming Home Film Review: Letters from Iwo Jima Clint Eastwoods charcoal-colored aesthetic casts a pall of doom over his storys ill-fated protagonists.Published 14 years ago on December 11, 2006 By Nick Schager Photo: Warner Bros.
Share Tweet Letters from Iwo Jima A s a companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwoods Letters from Iwo Jima inevitably shares many of its predecessors thematic concerns. ![]() Detailing the efforts of General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) to rally his outnumbered military forces for a futile defense against the American invaders, the film, in ways both subtle and forthright, reflects the concerns of its Allied Forces-focused forerunner, as it investigates the empirical chasms separating on-the-ground grunts and on-high officials, the socioeconomic divides found within regimens, and the cultural and generational tensions that colored the campaigns management and execution. When disillusioned Imperial soldier Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya) has a letter for his wife edited by a postman who knows that its critical comments wont ever make it past censors, Letters from Iwo Jima even slyly alludes to Flags portrait of the militarys systematic distortion and denial of wartime truths. Nevertheless, whereas the two films similarities are numerousalso extending to their use of framing stories (here, Japanese archaeologists unearthing letters written by the fallen) and interest in self-sacrificeit is Letters departures from its precursor that make it a superior, if still somewhat flawed, work. Adapted from Kuribayashis collection of correspondences Picture Letters from Commander in Chief by Iris Yamashita (story by Yamashita and Paul Haggis), Eastwoods latest historical saga more or less chronologically recounts the twin travails of Kuribayashi and Saigo, the former an iconoclast whose time spent in America gives him a personal insight into the enemy, and the latter a young husband and expectant father who, while digging beach trenches that may prove to be his grave, insubordinately proclaims that hed just as soon hand the island over to the Americans. Throughout, the narratives fundamental discord between a soldiers eagerness to adhere to traditional conceptions of honor and duty on the one hand, and a desire to practically assess and confront the current circumstances on the other hand, will play out both around and within these two men, their loyalty to country and custom complicated by their strategically rational and emotionally selfish and relentless survival instincts. Netflix Letters From Iwo Jima Series Of TunnelsRumored to have been given his unfavorable post only because another turned down the job, Kuribayashi arrives at Iwo Jima and immediately rankles the conformist officers under his command, his unconventional plan to concentrate troops not on the beachfront but on the mainlandand, specifically, in a series of tunnels he has dug into the landscapes scraggly hillsforeshadowing his forthcoming refusal to accept hara kiri as an honorable response to defeat. By prizing tactical ingenuity over outmoded Bushido-era philosophies, Kuribayashi proves himself a modern thinker in a static intellectual environment, a state of mind uneasily allied with his desire, lamented upon while discussing his fondness for steed-mounted cavalry with former Olympic horse rider Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara), for the good old days. Such a shaky equilibrium between modern and old-fashioned impulses doesnt initially plague Saigo, who merely yearns for a way out of the impending clash. By the time desertion and surrender become viable options, however, the skeptical soldier comes to a minor revelation regarding the definition of honora term many of his superiors disgracefully wield as a blackmailing agent, but which he (as did Flags trio) eventually learns has to do with both judicious allegiance to the cause and selfless commitment to ones comrades. As Saigo, Ninomiya displays not only fine comedic instincts but also palpable fear and confusion in the face of wars horrors, while Watanabe dramatizes his characters inner struggle with regal dignity, lacing his commanding and quietly heroic portrayal with a sadness born from being deserted by one family (the military, which failsrefuses to provide air and sea support) and the knowledge that hell never see his other, flesh-and-blood one. Alas, both performances are occasionally undercut by Yamashitas scripting, which commences with deft lucidity but, as the sappy flashbacks (replete with narration taken from various mens letters home) and edifying conversations mount, slowly reveals the lack of subtlety thats become Haggiss signature. Rigidly patriotic Shimizu (Ry Kase), a member of the elitist Kempeitai military police unit, is looked upon suspiciously and disdainfully by his new cohorts, yet the best the film can do to resolve this class hierarchy-infused friction is a simplistic memory scene in which hes shown to actually be the kind of noble, stand-up guy who wouldnt comply with orders to shoot an innocent dog. Such crudity intermittently substitutes for nuanced drama, as with General Kuribayashis recollection of a U.S. Shimizus realization that Americans arent cowards and savagesand, in fact, are very much like himselfis articulated in the most aggravatingly obvious language possible. Although American soldiers are largely faceless in Letters (as were the Japanese in Flags ), the idea that the two sides soldiers were kindred spiritsyoung, scared, desperate to reunite with families, and used as pawns in service of a larger causepermeates the proceedings. Its a notion rooted in Eastwoods humanism, but despite being true on an individualif not politicallevel, the sentiment is sporadically handled with clumsiness, epitomized by Nishis rescue of a wounded American fighter named Sam (Lucas Elliott). After giving the Yank his squadrons final doses of morphine, Nishi and Sam convivially chat about Douglas Fairbanks and Mary Pickford (whom the Japanese Olympian once had over for dinner), their shared interests a lesson in cross-cultural resemblance that becomes more blunt when, later on, a note written to Sam by his mother is read aloud to a group of Japanese soldiers, their slack-jawed facesand the ensuing epiphany it sparks in Shimizuinelegantly making clear the films were all alike inside ethos. Especially given that the omnipresent specter of Flags makes such points implicit, the screenplays devotion to communicating its opinions first softly and again, in the third-act, explicitly results in hints of the didacticism that bogged down Flags. At what point do these shortcomings, frequently attributed to Haggis, ultimately also partially fall on the shoulders of Eastwood, who has now collaborated with the Crash filmmaker on three projects in three years The directors choreography of both battlefield chaos and quiet, reflective moments have a workmanlike polish thats aided by his funereal theme music and Tom Sterns near-black-and-white cinematography (splashed with yellow fireballs and crimson blood), the latter of whichas with a nocturnal skirmish in which Americans and Japanese appear as indistinguishable silhouettes, or in the visual contrast of Kuribayashis Colt.45 with his officers samurai swordswordlessly conveys his tales overriding preoccupations. ![]() ![]() Yet in spite of its cases of explanatory handholding, there remains a stirring potency to Letters exploration of loyalty, responsibility, and nobility.
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