Review: Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
An exceptional war movie that many have not seen!
Director: Clint Eastwood
Starring: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryō Kase and Shidō Nakamura
Right from the opening shot, you can see the mastery of the director Clint Eastwood. The quote early in the movie “This is the hole we will dig and die in” perfectly captures the true essence of war. Ultimately, there is no side right or wrong in a war. The soldiers are fighting for their countries and ultimately, it’s their lives that are on stake. The movie being shot entirely in Japanese captures the emotions of the soldiers perfectly and the viewers can better understand their plight as well. The viewers get to witness how war was fought back then.
Commander general Kuribayashi having studied the way of the Americans is the right candidate to lead the Japanese soldiers to victory. He cares for the lives of his fellow soldiers and knows that the end result of war is just more destruction of humanity. The turmoil of war is captured beautifully and as the movie continues, you slowly start caring for the soldiers and hope that there would be another way to solve this conflict other than war.
The grey color tone used throughout complements the movie rather well and gives a real feel to the imminent war at hand. It is made aware to the viewers that the Japanese are clearly outnumbered and have no other option but to fight with no real support from the imperial government in regime. As they say when you are pushed into a corner you fight with everything you have.
The movie is slow paced and if you want to see non-stop action then this is not the right movie for you. The director invests time and energy for you to understand the dynamics of war, politics, the people involved and how their lives are eventually affected by a war they did not choose to fight or be a part of.
When a woman in the movie says, “we have sent all our sons and husbands to war”, you can’t help but feel for them as deep down we know that most of the men will never be coming back home.
The war scenes are quite intense and keep you glued to the screen. War does not spare anyone; it ends when there is nothing more to destroy. The Japanese soldiers are honorable and give their all despite knowing that none of them will be escaping from this war. The war scenes leave a lasting impact on the viewers and will stay with you long after the movie has ended.
Letters from IWO Jima is the best movie directed by Clint Eastwood and is my all-time favorite war movie as well. The movie is currently streaming on HBO max and hence I would recommend for my viewers to watch this beautifully crafted movie that will continue to resonate with everyone.
Before ending my review, here is a beautiful song from the movie (Translated in English)
On the waves of the Pacific,
Down south from the Imperial city
a small lonely islands floats.
The fate of our imperial country
Lies in the hands of this island,
Iwo Jima.
As long as we stand,
We shall feel safe,
As the imperial land shall forever be at peace.
We shall fight with pride
and honor at any price,
Our proud island, Iwo Jima
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