Another World War II movie? I couldn't help but think that every story in every shade and angle possible from D-Day to Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal has been told not once, but multiple times. But be forewarned: Letters from Iwo Jima is something entirely different from the large repertoire of WWII films.
The film opens with a modern-day discovery of letters to and from Japanese soldiers. The letters were buried deep in the foxholes dug throughout the island during the war and provide various perspectives into the soldier's experiences.
The screenplay was written in Japanese by Iris Yamashita and is entirely in its native language with English subtitles. The film has received Academy Award nominations, including achievement in directing, best original screenplay and best motion picture of the year. Clint Eastwood received help from movie guru Steven Spielberg for co-producing the film with him, but directing kudos are given to Eastwood alone.
Letters from Iwo Jima takes place in the final stages of the Second World War, and Iwo Jima is Japan's last hope for winning a war they were severely losing. Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, played by Ken Watanabe, is put in charge of the small volcanic island that the significantly more powerful American troops would soon attack.
The film also points out that Americans weren't the only ones with the wrong idea about their enemies. At one point in the film, General Kuribayashi salvages an American soldier who had been shot in the chest and when he dies, the general reads aloud for his surviving soldiers a letter from the American's mother.
What I really respected about this film was its brutal honesty in portraying both the Japanese and American troops. I think that I realized that the insight in Letters from Iwo Jima was completely original when I found myself sympathizing for the Japanese, something I've never managed during a WII movie.
Letters from Iwo Jima is a film that makes you think, demolishes any and all stereotypes about WWII Japanese soldiers and gives a sensitive portrayal of an unheard and maybe ignored point of view.
Grade: A
-- Reviewed by Nicole Sciotto
