Length: 141 mins
Released: 2006 (USA)
Genre: Drama, War
Rating: R-rating, graphic war scenes
Directed By: Clint Eastwood
Where I Got It: My Shelf (Gift from Daddy)
Letters From Iwo Jima was directed by the famous Clint Eastwood and produced by Steven Spielberg, Mr. Eastwood, and Robert Lorenz. Ken Watanabe (Inception, Memoirs of a Geisha) plays the famous General Kuribayashi, Kazunari Ninomiya (Yellow Tears) plays the lovable Saigo, Hiroshi Watanbe (The Last Samurai) plays the loyal Lieutenant Fujita, and Yuki Matsuzaki (Pirates of the Caribbean: Stranger Tides) as my favorite character: Nozaki.
The movie starts off in 2005 with a group of Japanese scientists/researchers (whatever they were) looking around in the caves of Iwo Jima. They suddenly find something, but while they dig for it time lapses back into 1944.
The movie focuses on the Japanese viewpoint before and during the Battle of Iwo Jima. Mostly, the movie follows General Kuribayashi and Private Saigo. The movie goes on to show the lives of soldiers stationed on the island that is the last stepping stone to the Japanese mainland. If the US gains control over this island, the US has a perfect spot to attack the Japanese mainland. These soldiers must defend this island until their last breathe or the war is pretty much over and their loved ones' lives are in jeopardy.
This movie still requires a box of Kleenex, even though I've seen this movie a handful of times now. I really love this movie. Even though I'm an American, I still love this movie more than a lot of my other favorite war movies. It's a different aspect of the war that consumed the entire world. Many people don't understand the Japanese at that time. They see them as evil-doers and savages, however they had been taught the same thing towards America. I really am grateful for Clint Eastwood and his crew for making this movie, even though you have to watch it and read the subtitles; unless you speak Japanese. I would love to learn the language.
This is defiantly the wrong movie to have favorites in, you should try to remain unemotionally attached to all of the characters. It's hard though, because Clint Eastwood forces you to become attached to a lot of the characters. SPOILER: Pretty much all the characters die, thats why. My favorite, Nozaki, even dies. There is only a couple characters that survive at the end. It's really sad, so thats why I say not to become attached to any of the characters. SPOILER ENDED. Even though this movie is a cry-fest I do recommend that everyone watch this movie. It's really hard to judge a movie like this, these characters really existed and the letters they wrote were real.
Out of five stars, I grant this movie 5 stars. I wish I could give this movie more. It had every emotion in it: happy, funny, sad, depressing, hopeful, revenge, anger, and etc. It's like a roller coaster for your emotions. Well, go out there and watch this movie! If you want to. ^.^
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| Saigo |
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| Nozaki |
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<3CaroleRae
