Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

Worthy effort, scattershot result

This is one of those movies of which each of the ingredients makes your mouth water, yet the sum of the parts leaves a slightly flat taste.
First of all, lets say, this is a film worth watching, with an interesting message, great cinematography and terrific acting. However, the decision to straddle two types of story weakens the stories impact, and the end result feels just a little too unfocussed to really work well.
The story follows 3 of the surviving men of the famous photo of raising the flag on Iwo Jima. The photo becomes an iconic image of victory, and the government seizes the opportunity to use the survivors to tour the US exhorting the public to buy War Bonds. To understand the film a little better, it is necessary to go in realizing that this is not a historical dramatization of the Battle of Iwo Jima in the traditional war movie sense, although scenes from that conflict are brutally realistically portrayed, in true post-Ryan terms. It really only shows those war scenes as scattered flashbacks of the veterans as they are paraded around America to help sell the war. In using the flashbacks to show the battle, we are being led to understand not what the moment of war itself is like, but how the memories of certain moments within a war can stay with you and haunt you, or in the case of Ira Hayes, drive you to drink. It's a different way of looking at the horror of war than we usually get - however the effect of that is weakened by layering another level of flashbacks to the same events, viewed as the son of one of the men interviews his fathers friends to find out more about what happened to him. It's an unnecessary complication which weakens the movie. A second theme is the obvious one about the role of propaganda - how the act of allowing a lie to sell the truth becomes its own form of corruption.
And so, we go bouncing between these two central ideas as we see how the 3 survivors react differently to their new found `fame'. The leads are all fine, and the cinematography as we have come to expect in an Eastwood movie is great - but the end result feels like it has just a little too much baggage to work efficiently - but flawed as it is, it is still worth a look.
June 29, 2008

Good war film footage but narrative flow was confusing

This film had both strengths and weaknesses but a few of the weaknesses kept the film from being a great production. The film is about the nature of heroism. It explores the question of what makes a hero, why do we need heroes, what happens to heroes? To some degree it also explores the concept of the fatal flaw of the hero, a classic theme in literature.

The story is about the battle for Iwo Jima and the famous photograph taken February 23, 1945 of 5 Marines and 1 Navy medic raising the US flag on Mt. Suribachi. This famous photograph by Joe Rosenthal became iconic and was a symbol for US victory. The narrative is around 3 of the surviving 6 men who are recruited to be heroes for the American public and to focus on sale of war bonds to further finance the war.

The transport of the troops to Iwa Jima and the battle scenes are the strongest part of the film. If the entire film had been about the full battle for Iwa Jima, it would probably have been a winner, based on the excellent portion of this film that focused on actual warfare. The advance of US troops from the beaches into the mountains and the determined struggle of the Japanese soldiers was excellent film-making. The terrible casualties were very realistically filmed and captured the horror of warfare. This third of the total film deserves 5 stars and is the strongest part of the entire film.

The film however explores the fate of 3 of the surviving men as they are pulled away from the war to become celebrity heroes and to sell war bonds. Here the film explores the fickle nature of idolatry and celebrity. Here we see the 3 servicemen treated in much the same way as the photograph. The public is interested in the surface, the image, and not in the nitty gritty details of reality.

Adam Beach, Ryan Phillippe, and Jesse Bradford play the 3 lead characters. Unfortunately the script does not allow them to become fully characterized and realistic to the audience. Adam Beach tries the hardest, as a Native American man who struggles against the lack of authenticity in the hero production business while comparing this falseness to the tragedy and loss that he and his friends experienced during the battle. He also struggles against a barrage of stereotypical racist impressions and encounters while also struggling with emerging alcoholism. He is the most fully articulated character in the film and Beach tries hard. Ryan Phillippe, who plays the Navy medic, plays more of the Everyman role, the average American middle-class male who absorbs everything around him but keeps the trauma internal until late in his life as a senior citizen his post-traumatic stress disorder emerges in nightmares and flashbacks. Jesse Bradford is meant to play an opportunist who gradually grows on the audience as his humanity begins to slowly emerge. His engagement to his home town girlfriend becomes a focus for the press. These three men manage celebrity in very different ways. The Native American has difficulty coping with the hypocrisy and glitz when he is feeling grief and loss. The Navy medic internalizes and copes outwardly, making compromises and rising to the occasion for what he sees as a greater good. We are not fully aware of Jesse Bradford's internal state. He seems to enjoy the celebrity and play the role for the cameras, but his internal response is never really explored.

The greatest weakness of the film however is the constant flashbacks and flash forwards between the war scenes, the scenes where the 3 fellows are made into heroes, the adaptations these men make after the war, and the final recollections of aged soldiers. These four time frames were shuffled together like a deck of cards and totally deconstructed the film for the viewers. A more basic narrative flow would have served the story much better.
June 29, 2008

A Thought Provoking Film

"Flags of Our Fathers' is a thought provoking historical film. It consists of two basic segments, scenes of the battle for Iwo Jima and the story of the War Bond Tour on which the survivors were sent.

The battle scenes are excellent. They skillfully depict the horrors which must be war. The Bond Tour segments tell a different story about how the "heroes" were treated by others and how they viewed themselves.

This movie is thought provoking in that it makes the viewer consider the nature and happenstance of "heroism" and its fleeting nature. The heroes did not consider themselves to be heroic and their post war lives were determined by their post-war actions, not their status as "heroes." In a sense, all on Iwo Jima were the heroes and a few were sent on tour. A movie that leaves one thinking is a worthwhile watch.
June 24, 2008

outstanding

Normally I wouldn't purchase a war film and there were a lot of reviews that were pretty negative but I took a chance and am glad I did. This film is not really about war but is a study of human frailty and what can happen when faced with something horrible and ugly such as battle. Many reviewers missed the boat on this film because they were looking for a lot of action and didn't see what was really before them. Some said it was too long and slow and yes it is a longer than average film but in no way did I find it slow and plodding. Some didn't like Clint Eastwoods attention to detail or the fact that there was a lot of back and forth between the present and past but this was needed to fully expose what these tree young men were going through mentally. At least one reviewer disliked the idea of the " drunkin indian ". Ira Hayes didn't become an alcoholic because he was native american, he turned to booze because he couldn't deal with the horrors of what he had to see and do during that war and because he hated being called a hero. Many soldiers turned to alcohol during the war, men of all ethnic groups. Several reviewers compared this film to Saving Private Ryan, big mistake. These films are completely different. This one is designed to make you stop and think about how these three men dealt with the after affects of war. If all you want is a lot of mindless action and shooting then perhaps this is not the film for you. I happen to think it was a good film and all the actors did an outstanding job. This one stands on it's own. June 12, 2008

Flag raising X2

This is a very well made movie but what movie has Clint Eastwood directed that was not! The movie is very interesting as we move through the flag raising.

I will say this, IWO JIMA, statue is my very favoite one in D.C. but knowing that the government tried to dupe the American people bothers me and tarnishes the feeling for the monument somewhat.

I recommend this movie especially to people who are interested particulary to history! It is one I will watch again and learn more each time I view it. June 10, 2008

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