Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

Recommended

USA

Feature Film

Director: Clint Eastwood

Writers: Iris Yamashita, Paul Haggis, Kuribayashi Tadamichi, Yoshido Tsuyoko

Cinematographer: Tom Stern

Composers: Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens

Cast: Watanabe Ken, Ninomiya Kazunari, Ihara Tsuyoshi, Kase Ryo, Nakamura Shido, Watanabe Hiroshi, Bando Takumi, Matsuzaki Yuki

A young conscript, wrenched away from his pregnant bride, finds himself on the island of Iwo Jima awaiting the imminent arrival of the Americans, but it’s not just the enemy that he must worry about but also the rampant, repugnant patriotism, imperialism, and “honour” of his fellow countrymen; however a kindly general’s surprising actions offer him a glimmer of hope, in Eastwood’s beautifully crafted but unrelentingly bleak companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers (2006). Iain.Stott