| Overall Grade: |
A+ |
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| Story: |
A |
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| Acting: |
A+ |
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| Direction: |
A+ |
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| Visuals: |
A+ |
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Absolutely Superb! Must Be Nominated For Best Film
by Peter (movies profile)
Aug 23, 2007
95
of
100 people found this review helpful
It is so rare that an American audience has the chance to experience a war film from the perspective of the "other side."
Having lived and studied in Japan, I was able to contrast my American education of what happened during Iwo Jima, with the opinions and writings of my Japanese friends and colleagues (many of which have family members who were soldiers during World War II). As a result, when I heard about this movie, I was very interested to see how Mr. Eastwood would choose to portray the Japanese perspective of the war.
Before I get into my general review, I must comment that I was extremely pleased to see that 99% of the film is in the Japanese language as well as uses real, grade A Japanese actors. This alone helped the viewer really feel like they are behind the Japanese front line as well as make a connection with the characters. Also, being able to understand Japanese, hearing the actors in their native language really helped convey the actors' emotions, as there are just certain nuances which cannot be conveyed if the actors were to have spoken English. Fear not, however, as the subtitled translation is excellent (some of the best I have seen) and do a more than sufficient job of conveying the trials and tribulations of the Japanese soldiers during that time.
Letters From Iwo Jima finally gives an American audience a small glimpse into the world of Imperial Japan during World War II, and more specifically, the Japanese soldiers who fought to defend the island. Although there are some historical inaccuracies, I felt the film was very successful in expressing the Japanese soldiers' ambivalent emotions of patriotism to their country, as well as the reality that they were going to die fighting a war, which by that time, could not be won.
More importantly, however, there were some very powerful scenes in the movie that work to break many stereotypes that many Americans have about the Japanese during that time, and many Japanese have about Americans during that time. In many American history books, the Japanese are often portrayed as cold, heartless, and emotionless villains. Although there are instances of this stereotype being true, Letters From Iwo Jima takes bold steps to show that, just as there were merciless killings of prisoners of war on both sides, there were also those soldiers who felt that the prisoners of war should be treated fairly. I feel that Mr. Eastwood really took a risk here as most Americans like to believe that American soldiers were kind to all prisoners (not historically accurate) and most Japanese were brutal to all of theirs (also not historically accurate). This movies shows that there were both, respectable soldiers as well as despicable soldiers on both sides of the conflict.
Also, Letters From Iwo Jima gives a very human aspect to the Japanese soldiers by showing, through their letters, that they, like their American counterparts, just wanted to end the war and go home to their family. They were not the merciless, suicidal robots that many people like to imagine, but simply were human beings fighting for their country and for a cause which, regardless if the believed in or not, had to respect. I was very pleased at the courage of Mr. Eastwood, and he should be commended for this.
The acting in this movie by the three main characters was brilliant. Although Tsuyoshi Ihara and Kazunari Ninomiya played their roles quite well, and effectively conveyed the emotional dilemma of their respective characters, Ken Watanabe was unquestionably the star of the show. Watanabe's performance was, in a word, phenomenal. It would be a shame if he were not at least nominated for best actor for his role of General Kuribayashi. Watanabe effectively portrayed the conflicting emotions of patriotism and devotion to one's country, with those of knowing you are fighting a battle which cannot be won and would lead to certain death. Watanabe also masterfully does the extremely difficult task of showing compassion and respecting his soldiers, while still instilling in them patriotism and courage to fight for their country without showing signs of weakness. Letters From Iwo Jima truly shows that Watanabe is not only one of, if not the most, talented Japanese actors, but is one of the top actors in the world.
I highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in this period of world history as it truly is a masterpiece. |
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