Letters from Iwo Jima

Letters from Iwo Jima

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Clint Eastwood
Produced by Clint Eastwood
Steven Spielberg
Robert Lorenz
Written by Paul Haggis (story)
Iris Yamashita (screenplay)
Tadamichi Kuribayashi
Tsuyuko Yoshido (book)
Starring Ken Watanabe
Kazunari Ninomiya
Tsuyoshi Ihara
Ryō Kase
Nakamura Shidō
Music by Kyle Eastwood
Michael Stevens
Clint Eastwood (uncredited)
Cinematography Tom Stern
Editing by Joel Cox
Gary D. Roach
Studio Malpaso Productions
Amblin Entertainment
Warner Bros. Pictures
DreamWorks Pictures
Distributed by United States:
Warner Bros. Pictures
International:
DreamWorks Pictures
Release date(s) December 9, 2006 (2006-12-09) (Japan)
December 20, 2006 (2006-12-20) (United States)
Running time 141 minutes
Country United States
Language Japanese/English
Budget $19 million[1]
Box office $68,673,228[1]

Letters from Iwo Jima (硫黄島からの手紙 Iōjima Kara no Tegami?) is a 2006 war film directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood, and starring Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya. The film portrays the Battle of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and is a companion piece to Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers, which depicts the same battle from the American viewpoint; the two films were shot back to back. Letters from Iwo Jima is almost entirely in Japanese, but was produced by American companies Warner Brothers, DreamWorks, Malpaso Productions, and Amblin Entertainment. After the box office failure of Flags of Our Fathers, DreamWorks sold the United States distribution rights to Warner Brothers, who had the international rights.

Letters from Iwo Jima was released in Japan on December 9, 2006 and received a limited release in the United States on December 20, 2006 in order to be eligible for consideration for the 79th Academy Awards. It was subsequently released in more areas of the U.S. on January 12, 2007, and was released in most states on January 19. An English-dubbed version of the film premiered on April 7, 2008. Upon release, the film garnered considerable acclaim and did much better at the box office than its companion.

Contents

Plot

In 2005, Japanese archaeologists explore tunnels on Iwo Jima, where they find something in the dirt.

The film flashes back to Iwo Jima in 1944. Private First Class Saigo is grudgingly digging trenches on the beach. A teenaged baker, Saigo has been conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army despite his youth and his wife's pregnancy. Having promised to return home after the war, Saigo complains to his friend Private Kashiwara that they should let the Americans have Iwo Jima. Overhearing them, an enraged Captain Tanida starts brutally beating them for, "conspiring with unpatriotic words." At the same time, General Tadamichi Kuribayashi arrives to take command of the garrison and immediately begins an inspection of the island defenses.

Kuribayashi orders Captain Tanida to stop beating them, and instructs him to deny lunch rations to Saigo and Kashiwara instead. After completing his inspection, Kuribayashi receives bad news from Lt. Col. Baron Takeichi Nishi, an Olympic gold medalist show jumper. The Japanese Combined Fleet, upon which the island had been depending for support, has been destroyed in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Disgusted, Kuribayashi tells Nishi, "Imperial Headquarters is not only deceiving the people, but us as well."

The next day, Kuribayashi orders the garrison to begin tunneling defenses under Mount Suribachi. He explains that the United States military will take the beaches quickly, and that only subterranean defenses have a chance for holding out. Kuribayashi's subordinate officers are outraged and regard these strategies as a betrayal of bushido. With Nishi's support, however, the tunnels begin to be dug.

Poor nutrition and unsanitary conditions take their toll, and many soldiers die of dysentery, including Kashiwara. Kashiwara's replacement, Superior Private Shimizu, arrives for duty. Saigo is certain that Shimizu has been sent by the notorious military police, or Kempeitai, "to report on treasonous thoughts."

In February 1945, the first American air raids occur, causing significant casualties. A few days later, U.S. Marines land. Kuribayashi waits until the landing beach is filled with Marines and orders his men to open fire. The Marines suffer heavy casualties, but, as Kuribayashi predicted, the beach defenses are quickly overcome. The attack then turns to the tunnels below Mount Suribachi. While delivering a request to Colonel Adachi, Saigo overhears the Colonel pleading with Kuribayashi for permission to lead his men in a banzai charge. Kuribayashi refuses to permit this, however, and instead orders the Suribachi garrison to retreat to the north caves. Adachi, however, regards this as cowardice.

Ignoring the General's orders, Adachi orders his officers and men to commit suicide. Although Saigo explains Kuribayashi's orders to the contrary, Captain Tanida cuts him off, screaming, "Escape is the coward's way!" At Tanida's order, the soldiers of his unit detonate hand grenades against their stomachs. Captain Tanida too commits suicide by shooting himself in the head. Saigo, however, convinces Shimizu that they would better serve the Emperor by continuing to fight. Leaving the corpses of their comrades, they find two other soldiers, but one gets incinerated by a Marine with a flamethrower. They also witness a captured Marine being beaten and bayoneted to death.

Saigo and the survivors of Mount Suribachi try to flee with Lieutenant Colonel Oiso at night, but they run into Marines, who wipe out all except Saigo and Shimizu. They report to Lieutenant Ito, an Air Force officer and hardline believer in bushido, announcing that they have arrived from Suribachi. Ito screams, "You survived Suribachi? How dare you!" He raises his katana to summarily execute them, but Kuribayashi arrives and reprimands Ito for attempting to needlessly kill two soldiers. To Ito's horror, Kuribayashi confirms that he has given the order to retreat to the north caves. "Fight for your fallen brethren," he tells Ito, "until the end."

Calling Kuribayashi, "a weak American sympathiser," Ito plans a mass banzai charge against U.S. positions. When the Lieutenant demands his obedience, Col. Nishi, accuses Ito of needlessly hazarding the lives of his men. Nishi orders Ito to either obey Kuribayashi or hand over his command. Instead, Ito leads his men toward the American lines. Then however, he orders them to join Nishi. Ito then straps three land mines to himself and walks toward the battle zone, intending to throw himself under a tank.

The next morning, Okubo, Nishi's executive officer, shoots a Marine named Sam, who is subsequently captured. To the surprise of his men, Nishi orders them to use their scarce morphine to treat Sam's wounds. After Sam's death, Nishi finds a letter from the Marine's mother and reads it aloud in Japanese.

Then, a shell hits the cave entrance and Nishi is blinded. He orders his men to regroup with Kuribayashi. As they depart, Nishi orders Lieutenant Okubo to leave him a rifle. Left alone, Nishi removes the bandage from his eyes and fingers for the trigger. Moments later, Okubo and the soldiers hear a gunshot as Nishi kills himself.

Saigo announces that he is going to surrender and dares Shimizu to denounce him. To his surprise, Shimizu reveals that he was dishonorably discharged from the Kempeitai after five days of service. He had refused to kill a family's dog for his commander, who was simply annoyed by its barking. Deeply moved, Saigo tells Shimizu, "at least now only the enemy hates you." Shimizu and Saigo plan to flee, but Saigo is detained at the last minute. Shimizu surrenders to a Marine patrol and finds himself with another Japanese POW. The American patrol moves on, leaving them guarded by two Marines. As Shimizu and his fellow POW discuss their plans for after the war, the two Marines grumble about having to guard them. Finally, one of the Marines summarily executes Shimizu and the other POW. The two bodies are found by Lieutenant Okubo, who cites them as a lesson against surrender. Weeping, Saigo wraps Shimizu's senninbari over his corpse.

Meanwhile, Lieutenant Ito, desperate and malnourished, breaks down and returns to the caves. When found by a Marine patrol, he surrenders without incident.

Later, Saigo and the rest of Okubo's patrol run across a crossfire point. Several men, including Okubo, are killed in the process. They rendezvous with General Kuribayashi, who is impressed to learn that Saigo has come all the way from Mount Suribachi. Kuribayashi is amazed to learn that he has twice saved the Private's life, and then comments that things always come in threes. After gathering the rest of his men, the General orders Saigo to stay behind and burn all documents and letters during the final attack rather than join the fighting, thus saving his life a third time. Saigo, however, cannot bring himself to burn his comrades' letters to their families and buries them instead.

Attired as a common infantryman, Kuribayashi launches a final charge at the head of his surviving soldiers. The Marines and the Japanese engage in a fierce hand-to-hand battle to the death. Kuribayashi, however, is mortally wounded when shrapnel is lodged in his legs. Fujita, the general's loyal adjutant, drags him away. The next morning, as the Marines finish off the surviving Japanese, Kuribayashi orders Fujita to behead him. As a weeping Fujita raises his katana, he is shot dead by a Marine sniper.

Private Saigo arrives and the dying General orders his last soldier to bury him where the enemy will never find his body. Then, Kuribayashi draws his M1911 pistol— a gift from an American officer friend before the war. He asks Saigo, "Is this still Japanese soil?" Saigo responds, "Yes, this is still Japan." The General fatally shoots himself and a weeping Saigo drags Kuribayashi's body away for burial.

Meanwhile, a group of Marines find Fujita's body. The leader of the patrol, a Marine Lieutenant finds Kuribayashi's pistol and tucks it in his belt as a trophy. They search the area and find Saigo with his shovel. Seeing Kuribayashi's pistol in possession of the enemy, an enraged Saigo begins swinging his shovel at the Marines. However, the Lieutenant orders his men not to shoot him. Instead, he knocks Saigo out with a rifle butt and has him sent by stretcher to the POW camp. Awakening, Saigo glimpses the sun setting over the black sands of the beach and smiles grimly.

The film ends with the Japanese archaeologists finding the letters that Saigo had buried.

Cast

Actor/Actress Role
Ken Watanabe General Tadamichi Kuribayashi
Kazunari Ninomiya Private First Class Saigo
Tsuyoshi Ihara Colonel/Baron Takeichi Nishi
Ryō Kase Superior Private Shimizu
Shido Nakamura Lieutenant Ito
Hiroshi Watanabe Lieutenant Fujita
Takumi Bando Captain Tanida
Yuki Matsuzaki Private First Class Nozaki
Takashi Yamaguchi Private First Class Kashiwara
Eijiro Ozaki Lieutenant Okubo
Nae Yuuki Hanako, Saigo's wife
Nobumasa Sakagami Admiral Ohsugi
Masashi Nagadoi Admiral Ichimaru
Akiko Shima Lead Woman
Luke Eberl Sam, wounded American Marine (credited as Lucas Elliot)
Jeremy Glazer American Marine Lieutenant (who arrests Saigo and takes him to the POW camp)
Ikuma Ando Ozawa
Mark Moses American Officer (who gave Kurabayashi an M1911 pistol before the war)
Roxanne Hart Officer's wife

Style and themes

Letters from Iwo Jima is particularly noted for its portrayal of the everyday life of Japanese foot soldiers while waiting for battle. The film consistently brings up massive themes involving death, suicide, and hope. The film suggests of mass suicides by soldiers, who have been brainwashed into dying for the Emperor. In one scene in particular, Private Saigo witnesses the mass suicide of his entire squad. Another trait which the film has been heavily noted for, is its depiction of both good and evil existing on both sides, something that is rare in most war films. In addition, there is also hope, which remains with Saigo even in the grittiest situations. The film makes a point to prove that something such as hope can remain with somebody even in the darkest times, and even when soldiers are being told that they certainly die. This aspect of the film generated considerable controversy in Japan, as well as the brutal methods that the officer corps use toward those under their command. Despite this controversy, the film was still a major success in the country, critically and financially.

The film is portrayed in a grainy style, which is quite common in war films. However, some critics noted the absence of the "shaky camera," a strong trait which many directors use as a tool to "bring out the realism" in the situation, mainly in the battle sequences. Instead of using that technique, a dark, gloomy, and all around bleak atmosphere is maintained, which was used to help generate the feel of the situation of darkness and despair, two prolific subjects in the film. This replaced the need for "high realism" as director Clint Eastwood did not want to go overboard as he felt other war film directors have done.

Production

The film was originally entitled Red Sun, Black Sand. Although the film is set in Japan, it was filmed primarily in Barstow and Bakersfield in California. All Japanese cast except for Ken Watanabe were selected through auditions. Filming in California wrapped on April 8, and the cast and crew then headed back to the studio in Los Angeles for more scenes before Eastwood, Watanabe and a skeleton crew made a quick one-day trip to Iwo Jima for some on-location shots. Principal photography finished in late 2006.

The filmmakers had to be given special permission from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government to film on Iwo Jima, because more than 10,000 missing Japanese soldiers still rest under its soil. The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) operates a naval air base on Iwo Jima, which is used by the United States Navy for operations such as nighttime carrier landing practice. Civilian access to the island is restricted to those attending memorial services for fallen American Marines and Japanese soldiers.

The battleship USS Texas (BB-35), which was used in closeup shots of the fleet (for both movies) also participated in the actual attack on Iwo Jima. The only character to appear in both Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima is Charles W. Lindberg, played by Alessandro Mastrobuono.

Source

The film is based on the non-fiction books "Gyokusai sōshikikan" no etegami ("Picture letters from the Commander in Chief")[2] by General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (portrayed on screen by Ken Watanabe) and So Sad To Fall In Battle: An Account of War[3] 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.

Home media release

Letters from Iwo Jima was released on DVD by Warner Home Video on May 22, 2007. It was also released on HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Furthermore it was made available for instant viewing with Netflix's "Watch Instantly" feature where available. The film was rereleased in 2010 as part of Clint Eastwood's tribute collection Clint Eastwood: 35 Films 35 Years at Warner Bros.. The Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition DVD is also available in a Five-Disc Commemorative Set, which also includes the Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition of Flags of Our Fathers and a bonus fifth disc containing History Channel's "Heroes of Iwo Jima" documentary and To the Shores of Iwo Jima, a documentary produced by the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps.

The English dubbed version DVD was released on June 1, 2010.[4] This version was first aired on cable channel AMC on April 26, 2008.[5]

Reception

Critical response

In the United States

The film was critically acclaimed, and well noted for its portrayal of good and evil on both sides of the battle. The critics heavily praised the writing, direction, cinematography and acting. The review tallying website Rotten Tomatoes reported that 178 out of the 195 reviews they tallied were positive for a score of 91% and a certification of "fresh."[6] Lisa Schwartzbaum of Entertainment Weekly, Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles Times, and Richard Schickel of Time were among many critics to name it the best picture of the year. In addition, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone and Michael Phillips of the Chicago Tribune both gave it four stars, and Todd McCarthy of Variety praised the film, assigning it a rare 'A' rating.

On December 6, 2006, the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures named Letters from Iwo Jima the best film of 2006.[7][8] On December 10, 2006, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association named Letters from Iwo Jima Best Picture of 2006. Furthermore, Clint Eastwood was runner-up for directing honors.[9] In addition, the American Film Institute named it one of the 10 best films of 2006. It was also named Best Film in a Foreign Language on January 15 during the Golden Globe Awards. It had been nominated for Best Film in a Foreign Language; and Clint Eastwood held a nomination for Best Director.

CNN's Tom Charity in his review described Letters from Iwo Jima as "the only American movie of the year I won't hesitate to call a masterpiece."[10] On the "Best Films of the Year 2006" broadcast (December 31, 2006) of the television show Ebert & Roeper, Richard Roeper listed the film at #3 and guest critic A. O. Scott listed it at #1, claiming that the film was "close to perfect." Roger Ebert awarded the film a perfect score (4 out of 4 stars) and raved about it as well. James Berardinelli awarded a 3 out of 4 star review, concluding with that although both 'Letters' and 'Flags' were imperfect but interesting, 'Letters from Iwo Jima' was more focused, strong and straightforward than its companion piece.

On January 23, 2007, the film received four Academy Award nominations. Eastwood was nominated for his directing, as well as Best Picture along with producers Steven Spielberg and Robert Lorenz. It was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay. The film took home one award, Best Sound Editing.

The film also appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2006.[11]

In Japan

The film was far more commercially successful in Japan than in the U.S., ranking number 1 for five weeks, and receiving a warm reception from both Japanese audiences and critics. The Japanese critics noted that Clint Eastwood presented Kuribayashi as "caring, erudite commander of Japan's Iwo Jima garrison, along with Japanese soldiers in general, in a sensitive, respectful way." [12] Also, the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shinbun noted that the movie is clearly "distinguishable" from previous Hollywood movies, which tended to portray Japanese characters with non-Japanese actors (e.g., Chinese-Americans, and other Asian-Americans). Consequently, incorrect Japanese grammar and accents were conspicuous in those former films, jarring their realism for the Japanese audience. However, most Japanese roles in 'Letters from Iwo Jima' are played by native Japanese actors. Also, the article praised the film's new approach, as it is scripted with excellent research into Japanese society at that time. According to the article, previous Hollywood movies describing Japan were based on the stereotypical images of Japanese society, which looked "weird" to native Japanese audiences. Letters from Iwo Jima is remarkable as the movie tries to escape from the stereotypes.[13] Owing to the lack of stereotypes, Letters from Iwo Jima was appreciated by Japanese critics and audiences.[14]

Since the movie was successful in Japan, it has been also reported that there has been a tourist boom on the island of Iwo Jima.[15]

Several non-U.S. reviews, such as that of the Independent of the United Kingdom, took offense at the characterization of good officers as solely those having had experience in the U.S. Those viewers believed that these characteristics make it an American film presenting a vision of the Japanese that reflects American cultural values and perceptions, in stark contrast to its framing in the American press as a film in the "Japanese point of view".[16]

Despite rave reviews, the film only grossed $13.7 million domestically in the United States. Foreign sales of $54.9 million helped to boost revenue over production costs of $19 million.[1]

Awards and nominations

Academy Awards record
1. Best Sound Editing
Golden Globe Awards record
1. Best Foreign Language Film

Won

Nominated

General top ten

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Letters from Iwo Jima". Box Office Mojo. http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=lettersfromiwojima.htm. Retrieved July 5, 2009. 
  2. ^ Kuribayashi, T. (Yoshida, T., editor) "Gyokusai Soshireikan" no Etegami. Shogakukan, Tokyo, April 2002, 254p, ISBN 4-09-402676-2 (Japanese)
  3. ^ Kakehashi, K. So Sad To Fall In Battle: An Account of War (Chiruzo Kanashiki). Shinchosha, Tokyo, July 2005, 244p, ISBN 4-10-477401-4 (Japanese) / Presidio Press, January 2007, 240p, ISBN 0-89141903-9 (English)
  4. ^ "Letters From Iwo Jima (Ws Sub Dub Ac3 Dol Ecoa) (2006)". amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003ASLJPY. Retrieved March 20, 2010. 
  5. ^ "Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima Now in English (2008)". AMC (TV channel). http://blogs.amctv.com/movie-blog/2008/04/clint-eastwood-iwo-jima.php/. Retrieved March 20, 2010. 
  6. ^ "Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)". Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/letters_from_iwo_jima/. Retrieved August 23, 2009. 
  7. ^ "Eastwood's 'Letters' named 2006's best". CNN. Archived from the original on December 17, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20061217141116/http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/06/film.nationalboard.ap/index.html. Retrieved December 6, 2006. 
  8. ^ "Awards for 2006". National Board of Review of Motion Pictures. http://www.nbrmp.org/awards/past.cfm?year=2006. Retrieved December 7, 2006. 
  9. ^ "Awards for 2006". Los Angeles Film Critics Association. Archived from the original on December 20, 2006. http://web.archive.org/web/20061220014321/http://www.lafca.net/Home/News/2006_lafca_awards_winners.html. Retrieved December 10, 2006. 
  10. ^ "Review: 'Letters from Iwo Jima' a masterpiece". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/Movies/12/22/review.letters/index.html. Retrieved January 9, 2007. 
  11. ^ "Metacritic: 2006 Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Archived from the original on December 13, 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20071213004758/http://www.metacritic.com/film/awards/2006/toptens.shtml. Retrieved January 8, 2008. 
  12. ^ "Letters from Iwo Jima" (PDF). http://www.fccj.or.jp/files/February_issue.pdf#search=%27iwo%20jima%20haruko%20watanabe%27. 
  13. ^ {{Asahi Shinbun, December 13, 2006: それまでのアメリカ映画では、日本を描いた作品や日本人の設定でありながらも、肝心の俳優には中国系や東南アジア系、日系アメリカ人等が起用されたり、日本語に妙な訛りや文法の間違いが目立ち、逆に英語を流暢に話すといった不自然さが目立つことが多かったが、本作品ではステレオタイプな日本の描写（文化や宗教観等）や違和感のあるシーンが少なく、「昭和史」で知られる半藤一利も、細部に間違いはあるが、日本についてよく調べている.}}
  14. ^ http://www.kinejun.com/
  15. ^ 映画「硫黄島2部作」で…硫黄島ブーム 小笠原新聞社 2006年12月19日
  16. ^ Barber, Nicholas (February 25, 2007). "Review: 'Letters from Iwo Jima'". The Independent (London). http://arts.independent.co.uk/film/reviews/article2298399.ece. Retrieved March 7, 2007. 

Further reading

External links

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