Flags of Our Fathers & Letters from Iwo Jima

**Nukaew** · #1 (**permalink**) 03-08-2007, 01:49 PM

(If you don't like war movie read only blue & red sentences which is my opinion)

FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS

Flags of Our Fathers is a 2006 war film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis. It is based on the book of the same name (see Flags of Our Fathers) written by James Bradley and Ron Powers about the Battle of Iwo Jima and Raising the flag on Iwo Jima.

One of the most famous photographs in history was taken by Joe Rosenthal at the Battle of Iwo Jima, during the Second World War. The image shows five Marines and one sailor raising Old Glory on Mount Suribachi, and has become an enduring symbol of American heroism.

This picture showed America's success in Asain Pacific part of WWII.However, Iwo Jima was the cruel battle which the America's casualities was higher than Japanese's !!! Even 3 of 6 men in this pic died in this battle, not long from the day they raised the flag

Ridiculously, The word "Flags" is not "Flag" cause more than one flag raised .The flag in this famous picture was the second US flag on Iwo Jima, not the first one

Casts
Ryan Phillippe - John "Doc" Bradley
Jesse Bradford -Pfc. Rene Gagnon
Adam Beach -Pfc. Ira Hayes
John Benjamin-Hickey Keyes Beech
John Slattery - Bud Gerber
Barry Pepper - Sgt. Mike Strank
Jamie Bell - Pfc. Ralph "Iggy" Ignatowski
Paul Walker - Sgt. Hank Hansen
Robert Patrick - Col. Chandler Johnson
Neal McDonough- Capt. Dave Severance
Melanie Lynskey - Pauline Harnois/Gagnon
Thomas McCarthy - James Bradley

Synopsis***spoiler***

Writer James Bradley (Tom McCarthy) knew that his father, John "Doc" Bradley, had served in World War II and been one of the men who raised the American flag in the iconic photo from Iwo Jima, and had long heard rumors that "Doc" had been some sort of war hero. But his father never wanted to talk about his war experiences, never owned a copy of the photograph, and refused to answer questions about the war. Only after John Bradley's death did James learn that his father had received the Navy Cross for valor. This discovery led James Bradley to seek out veterans who'd fought at Iwo Jima and ask them about what happened, and to do some research on the other five men who appear in the photo.

The flag raisers represented a cross section of America. There was Marine Sergeant Mike Strank (Barry Pepper) from Western Pennsylvania, Marine Corporal Harlon Block (Benjamin Walker) from South Texas, Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) an Arizona Native American, Marine Private First Class Franklin Sousley (Joseph Cross) from Kentucky, Marine Private First Class Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) of New Hampshire and Navy Hospital Corpsman John "Doc" Bradley (Ryan Phillippe) from Wisconsin.

James Bradley found that much of what the public "knew" about the photo and the battle was erroneous. Most Americans thought the flag was raised at the end of the battle, after the U.S. Marines had defeated the Japanese. The flag was really hoisted on the fifth day of a 35-day battle.

Iwo Jima was strategically important: it provided an airbase for Japanese aircraft to intercept long-range B-29 bombers and provided a haven for Japanese naval units in dire need of any support available. The capture of Iwo Jima would eliminate these problems and provide a staging area for the eventual invasion of the Japanese mainland. The distance of B-29 raids would be nearly halved, and a base would be available for P-51 Mustang fighters to escort and protect the devastating bomber raids. Hence, the Marines were sent to capture the island.

Marines deployed on Iwo Jima under attack by an enemy they couldn't see.The Battle of Iwo Jima was the first battle of World War II that took place on Japanese soil. Iwo Jima itself was part of the nation of Japan, so the Japanese soldiers stationed on the island believed they were fighting to defend their homeland from foreign invaders. The Japanese had no hope of victory, and they knew it. All they wanted was to inflict massive casualties on the invading Marines—and they had an ideal setup for doing just that. The Japanese forces had built a large network of tunnels throughout the island, which meant they could shoot at the Marines from safe, well-fortified positions. They could also make quick, bloody attacks on isolated Marines and then retreat to the safety of their tunnels. The American Marines on Iwo Jima were fighting an enemy they could rarely see. The only way to defeat the Japanese was to locate the entrances to their tunnels and bunkers, then slowly work close enough to toss in a grenade or stick in the muzzle of a flamethrower. This was slow, gruesome work, and the Marines lost more than 6,000 men before their task was complete.

Early in the battle, on the fifth day, the American forces captured Mount Suribachi. A contingent of Marines erected an American flag on the summit, and a photo was taken of the flag raising. Shortly afterward, Navy Secretary James Forrestal requested that the flag be sent to Washington as a souvenir. When this flag was taken down, a new one had to be put up. Strank, Block, Sousley, Hayes, Gagnon and "Doc" were the men assigned to raise this second flag. While they did, photographer Joe Rosenthal took a snapshot. A few days later, Rosenthal's snapshot was published in newspapers all over the United States. Most Americans who saw the photo believed it commemorated a great American victory, but victory was still weeks away. The bloody battle raged on at Iwo Jima, and three of the flag raisers- Strank, Block and Sousley- were killed in action without being aware of the photo's widespread fame.

The photo gained symbolic status in America, and the War Department realized that the photo and the flag raisers could have great propaganda value. It took a little while to identify and locate the flag raisers,but once Hayes, Gagnon and Doc had been identified, they were brought back to the U.S.A. and sent on a tour to promote the war.

When the war ended, all three flagraisers chose to leave the armed forces. Hayes faced anti-Indian prejudice both during and after the war. He returned to his old Gila Native American reservation in Arizona, where he continued to drink heavily and sank into poverty. He was eventually found dead in a ditch, after a heavy drinking spree.

Gagnon returned to New Hampshire, where he spent the rest of his life holding a series of dead-end jobs. Having enjoyed his time as a celebrity, he was bitter at having little to show for it in the end, and angry that his 15 minutes of fame never led to wealth or great success in life. Many businessmen had given him their cards and told him to call them after the war for a good position, but they didn't want to know him.

"Doc" was the only flag raiser who lived a fairly happy, normal life after the war. He returned to his hometown in Wisconsin, married his grade school sweetheart, became a prosperous undertaker, and raised a seemingly well-adjusted family. But "Doc" had horrible memories of Iwo Jima (in particular, he'd seen how the Japanese had tortured and mutilated his best friend, "Iggy", and preferred to forget all about it). He stashed away all of his wartime memorabilia (including a Navy Cross that he'd received for racing through heavy fire to tend to wounded Marines), and never showed them to anyone. Doc Bradley never regarded himself as a hero, telling anyone who asked, "The only heroes were the ones who didn't come back." He never forgave himself for not being there to save Iggy. In the end, James Bradley finishes his story and tells the audience why his father and his friends felt uncomfortable being called heroes. The movie ends with a clip of the Marines and sailors swimming at a beach on Iwo Jima.

Adapted from : Flags of Our Fathers (film - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

My opinion for Flags of Our Fathers

-First of all , I have to tell you that I'm WW II mania.I watch History channel & many war movies.So my idea maybe weird
-Second, this movie is totally diferrent from Saving Private Ryan.In Saving Private Ryan, You can see the best D-day (Normandy) scene.While you see the real history & real emotion of 3 ppl who survived from this hell-on-earth island with only few bloody scenes.
-I know all the story of this island before I watched this movie.But I couldn't miss any second cause the point was not how the story would go on (everyone knew the fact that US win) but their facial's expression touched me.
-The scene that touched me** Doc( Ryan ) saw his friend Iggy in the cave of Japanese's army** .Clint eastwood didn't let us see what exactly happen to Iggy (escept you read the novel) but Doc's eyes & facial expression made us imagine.Imagine could be more cruel than the truth.
-Finally ,Doc's word : I'm not a hero.The heroes are the ones who can't return from that island this is the truth for WW II and the reason why Doc never showed his Navy Cross !!!

LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA

Letters from Iwo Jima (Japanese: 硫黄島からの手紙, Iwo jima kara no tegami) is a 2006 Academy Award and Golden Globe-winning critically-acclaimed war film whose cast includes Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya. Directed by Clint Eastwood, Letters from Iwo Jima portrays the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers. Letters from Iwo Jima is a companion piece to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers which depicts the same battle from the American viewpoint. The film is almost entirely in Japanese but was made by an American production company.

The film is based on the nonfiction books Picture Letters from Commander in Chief by General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (portrayed on screen by Ken Watanabe) and So Sad To Fall In Battle: An Account of War by Kumiko Kakehashi about the Battle of Iwo Jima. While some characters such as Saigo are fictional, the overall battle as well as several of the commanders are based upon actual people and events.

Casts
Ken Watanabe - Army Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi
Kazunari Ninomiya - Army Private First Class Saigo
Tsuyoshi Ihara Army - Lt. Colonel/Baron Takeichi Nishi
Ryo Kase - Army Superior Private Shimizu
Shido Nakamura - Navy Lieutenant Ito
Hiroshi Watanabe - Army Lieutenant Fujita
Takumi Bando -Army Captain Tanida
Yuki Matsuzaki -Army Private First Class Nozaki
Nae Yuuki -Hanako (Saigo's wife)

Synopsis ***spoiler***

The film begins in the present on Iwo Jima. Japanese archaeologists, exploring tunnels dug prior to the American invasion, find a site and the scene changes to Iwo Jima in 1944.

General Kuribayashi inspecting the island defenses in Iwo Jima.Private First Class Saigo, a baker conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army, and his platoon are grudgingly digging beach trenches on the island. Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi arrives to take command of the garrison, accompanied by his ADC, Lieutenant Fujita. Met by the island's naval commander, Rear Admiral Ohsugi, and the deputy army commander, Major General Hayashi, he immediately begins an inspection of the island defenses. In particular, he orders the men to stop digging trenches on the beach and begin tunnelling defenses into Mount Suribachi. Kuribayashi encounters Captain Tanida beating Saigo and his friend, Kashiwara, for their supposed disloyalty. Tanida is ordered to stop, with the reminder that a good commander uses his head more than his whip.

On another evening, Lieutenant Colonel Baron Takeichi Nishi, a famous Olympic gold medalist show jumper, now commanding the 26th Tank Regiment, joins Kuribayashi for dinner. The two men are cavalry officers who do not follow the fanatical militarism of many of their comrades. Nishi tells Kuribayashi that the prospect of the Imperial Japanese Navy supporting Iwo Jima is non-existent; much of the Japanese Combined Fleet under Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa has been destroyed at the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Kuribayashi evacuates the civilian population of Iwo Jima to mainland Japan. He clashes with some of his senior officers, including Hayashi and Ohsugi, who do not agree with his strategy of defending the inland areas instead of the beaches. Kuribayashi believes the Americans will quickly take the beaches.

Poor nutrition and unsanitary conditions take their toll on the garrison; many die of dysentery. Japanese troops begin using the caves as barracks. A young soldier, Superior Private Shimizu, arrives for duty on the island, replacing Kashiwara, who has died of dysentery. Saigo and his friends suspect that Shimizu is a spy sent from Kempeitai to report on "disloyal" soldiers.

The first American aerial bombings occur shortly after, forcing the Japanese to dig deeper into the volcanic island. Kuribayashi sends an ailing Admiral Ohsugi back to Japan, asking for and getting Rear Admiral Toshinosuke Ichimaru in his place. Almost all the aircraft on the island are withdrawn on orders from headquarters. The battle for Iwo Jima begins.

The Japanese beach defenses are quickly overcome and the attack turns to the defensive positions on Mount Suribachi. Tanida dispatches Saigo to carry a message to Mount Suribachi's commander, Colonel Adachi, requesting more machine guns. Saigo overhears General Kuribayashi, speaking over radio, ordering Colonel Adachi to tell his men to retreat northward, but Adachi instead gives Saigo a note ordering Captain Tanida and his men to commit suicide. Captain Tanida obeys this order, shooting himself in the head. One by one, most of the remaining soldiers, including Nozaki, kill themselves with their own hand grenades. Saigo, however, runs away and leaves the cave with Shimizu, convincing him that it is more productive to continue the fight rather than to die.

The two men flee through the tunnels, eventually encountering more troops who are ambushed by American troops. They come across several soldiers beating and killing a captured American soldier. Eventually they make it to another cave system commanded by Lieutenant Ito, the former commander of the island's naval air forces. Ito is about to behead them with his sword for leaving Suribachi, when General Kuribayashi appears and saves Saigo for a second time. Kuribayashi says that he ordered the retreat.

The soldiers from the caves attempt a futile attack against American positions. Nishi's men capture a wounded U.S. Marine, Sam, and Nishi orders his medic to give him aid despite the Japanese's dwindling medical supplies. Despite their efforts, the Marine dies. Nishi reads a letter the American received from his mother. They are reminded that the Americans are men like themselves, with families, hopes, and fears.

As a bomb hits Nishi's cave, he looks, trying to shoot U.S. Marines, who return fire. Nishi is badly wounded and blinded. Comrades try to bind his wounds, but finally Nishi commits suicide with his rifle.

Boy band singer and actor Kazunari Ninomiya as Private First Class Saigo.Shimizu divulges to Saigo that had been dishonorably discharged from the Kempeitai after five days' service because he refused to obey a superior's order to kill a family's barking dog. He was then reassigned to Iwo Jima. This causes Saigo's attitude towards Shimizu to soften considerably. Shimizu breaks down and fearfully asks Saigo to surrender with him. He flees the cave with another soldier, but before Saigo can follow, Lieutenant Okubo appears and shoots the other soldier for desertion.

Soon, Shimizu surrenders to a U.S. Marine patrol and finds himself in the company of another Japanese soldier who had surrendered. One of the American guards, who does not want to be burdened with POWs, later shoots them. The dead soldiers are discovered by the Japanese and Lieutenant Okubo points it out as a lesson for anyone else who wishes to surrender. Saigo puts Shimizu's senninbari on his dead body.

Saigo and the remaining survivors eventually meet up with Kuribayashi, who recognizes Saigo. One last attack with all the remaining men is planned. Kuribayashi orders Saigo to stay behind and destroy all the documents, including his own letters to his family. Kuribayashi saves Saigo's life a third time. Kuribayashi and his remaining troops launch their final, fateful attack, and Kuribayashi is critically wounded.

The loyal Fujita drags Kuribayashi away from the battle. The next morning, with defeat looming, Kuribayashi orders Fujita to behead him. However, as he raises his sword the lieutenant is shot dead by a US Marine. Saigo soon appears and Kuribayashi asks Saigo to bury him, "so that no one will find me." (Kuribayashi's body was in fact never found). Kuribayashi asks Saigo, "is this still Japanese soil?" Saigo assures him, "Yes, it is still Japan". Kuribayashi then shoots himself with the Colt 1911 that was given to him as a gift by American friends during his earlier stay in the United States. The American patrol arrives, claiming Kuribayashi's gun and Fujita's sword as war trophies.

Saigo is taken prisoner, but upon seeing Kuribayashi's gun tucked in a Marine's belt, swings wildly at the Americans with his shovel. Eventually Saigo is knocked unconscious with a rifle butt and taken on a stretcher to a U.S. aid station on the beach. He sees the sinking sun and grins weakly.

The scene shifts back to the Japanese archaeologists in the cave in 2005 who uncover the bag of letters written by Japanese soldiers on the island, never sent, that Saigo buried in 1945. As the letters fall from the bag, the voices of the fallen Japanese are heard reading from them.

Credit to Letters from Iwo Jima - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Why did the Japanese have to die for this island?

-Pride : This island is original Japanese's land which no foreigner could rule before 1944 & that time The emperor was a god in Japanese ppl 's idea!!!
-Its location : Every US airplanes that head to Japanese maindland had to pass this island.So the Japanese army on this island can send the 2 hrs before alarming to mainland. And there were 3 airbases so if the US got this island , they could reduce 50% of distance to invade Japanese mainland .Like Kuribayashi Said " One more day we can protect this island, one more day our children will be safe"

:snif: My Favorite Scene:snif:

-When Saigo was digging beach, His dialogue showed the cruelty of war : not every Japanes wanted this war as their goverment wanted!!!
Saigo: Damn this island! The Americans can have it.Nothings grow here.It smells.It's hot.There are too many damn bugs, and there's no water.
Other soldier : This island is part of Japan's sacred homeland!
Saigo:There is nothing sacred about this island.We should just give the island to the American then we can go home

-The last power: When all Japanese soldiers knew that they had to lose due to lack of ppl, ammunition, food, and water, they heard a song sung by children of Nagano, Kuribayashi's hometown"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"

-But my most favorite scene is not war scene at all. It's is the farewell party for Kuriyabashi in 1929 when he just finished his study( military field )in US
American lady :How do you feel if America & Japan fight in the war?
Kuribayashi: America is the last country that Japan will fight. But If it really happen I will serve my country.I will do as my belief
American gentleman: You mean your belief, or your nation's belief?
Kuribayashi : Are they different?

I don't know why I really like the dialogue in this scene!!!

Ratings
-I give them 5 stars.I can't give them separately cause you should watch both of them