With the turning of the war, the island of Iwo Jima becomes of key significance for both sides. As the US forces approach the island, General Kuribayashi rearranges the tactics to hold them off. Predicting the point of attack for the US, the Japanese forces forgo the usual beach trenches and instead bed down within caves and tunnels to draw the enemy in and engage in such a way to reduce the advantage they have in numbers and fire power. The men prepare for attack and, as they are pushed back, become increasingly desperate.
Along with Flags of Our Fathers, I had intended to watch this in the cinema but missed it due to the speed it passed through. This is perhaps understandable due to the lack of awareness of Iwo Jima in the UK but perhaps it was also the same factors that saw it struggle in the US having subtitles, being a war movie and being from the point of view of "them". I suspect it is simply the lack of taste for any film that would not "support the troops" or a public that has enough war on its news without having more in its cinemas. Either way, it is a shame because this is a quality film and in many ways is stronger that its companion because it jumps around a lot less and focuses more on the conflict and less on the wider issues.
It is not an easy watch because it doesn't race along there is action but it is not exciting so much as it is numbing. Without a lot of emotional hoo-ha, Eastwood simply shows us men dying for what appears to be very little but yet he does this without portraying the losses pointless or worthless. The characters are as well developed as one could expect given the scale and they do provide a personal hook to draw the viewer in. Eastwood directs with respect and a refreshing lack of bias, the slow pace was not a real problem for me as the material was more than able to hold it up. The cast react well to this as well Watanabe enjoys his character a lot more than his other recent Hollywood outing in Last Samurai. The ensemble cast around him sees solid performances from Ninomiya, Ihara, Kase, Matsuzaki, Nakamura and pretty much everyone else.
Understandably not the film that the Saturday night crowd flocked to but it is an impressive and engaging film. In the material, performances and direction it is roundly solid and lacking needless flair or spectacle and the film is better for it emotionally even if it does contribute to the slow pace. An engaging war film then and yet another impressive directorial outing from Clint Eastwood who just seems to have gotten better with age.
Along with Flags of Our Fathers, I had intended to watch this in the cinema but missed it due to the speed it passed through. This is perhaps understandable due to the lack of awareness of Iwo Jima in the UK but perhaps it was also the same factors that saw it struggle in the US having subtitles, being a war movie and being from the point of view of "them". I suspect it is simply the lack of taste for any film that would not "support the troops" or a public that has enough war on its news without having more in its cinemas. Either way, it is a shame because this is a quality film and in many ways is stronger that its companion because it jumps around a lot less and focuses more on the conflict and less on the wider issues.
It is not an easy watch because it doesn't race along there is action but it is not exciting so much as it is numbing. Without a lot of emotional hoo-ha, Eastwood simply shows us men dying for what appears to be very little but yet he does this without portraying the losses pointless or worthless. The characters are as well developed as one could expect given the scale and they do provide a personal hook to draw the viewer in. Eastwood directs with respect and a refreshing lack of bias, the slow pace was not a real problem for me as the material was more than able to hold it up. The cast react well to this as well Watanabe enjoys his character a lot more than his other recent Hollywood outing in Last Samurai. The ensemble cast around him sees solid performances from Ninomiya, Ihara, Kase, Matsuzaki, Nakamura and pretty much everyone else.
Understandably not the film that the Saturday night crowd flocked to but it is an impressive and engaging film. In the material, performances and direction it is roundly solid and lacking needless flair or spectacle and the film is better for it emotionally even if it does contribute to the slow pace. An engaging war film then and yet another impressive directorial outing from Clint Eastwood who just seems to have gotten better with age.