Title:
Flags of Our Fathers
Director:
Clint Eastwood
Cast:
Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach
Writing Credits:
William Boyles Jr. (screenplay), and
Paul Haggis (screenplay)
James Bradley (book), and
Ron Powers (book)
Before we go to the review, I would like the reader to see the following photograph to better understand what this movie is all about:
A photo is worth more than a thousand wordsSome of you might be quite familiar with the photo above. It is a photo of six American soldiers raising the American flag at Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima. I think it is one of the most memorable photo in this century.
Those of you might think that this movie is 'just another war movie'. But knowing Clint Eastwood and his previous works ('Mystic River', 'Million Dollar Baby'), I was quite sure that it was more than just a war movie. As some of you who have seen Eastwood's previous works can attest, he puts more emphasis on the characters and the story.
Sure, there is good war action to be found in this movie. And having Steven Spielberg as one of the producer is a good enough indication for that (some of you may be familiar with Spielberg's previous works such as 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Band of Brothers'). However, this story is not just about the action happening during the time of the flag raising. The story is more about the lives of the six people who raised that flag, and what was going on behind the war. So, do not be fooled. This movie, aside from being a war movie, is also as much as a drama movie as 'Mystic River' and 'Million Dollar Baby' are.
The movie, a very thought-provoking one, focuses on the story of three of the flag raisers: John 'Doc' Bradley (James Bradley's father, the writer whose book, which has the same title as the movie, is used as one of the materials for the movie's story), Rene Gagnon, and Ira Hayes. In general, it showed us how the photo came about, and what the event (the flag raising, the campaign to raise fund for war based on that fateful photo, and also the war in Iwo Jima) truly means for these three people and how they feel about it. There is a narrator (or more, because I think there are several narrators actually, the veterans of Iwo Jima who got interviewed by James Bradley) during the course of the movie who comes and goes, and the story is told with a discontinued time line style, showing flashbacks here and there during the course of the story.
There is a lot to be told about this movie. There is the story about the war propaganda and how they use that photo as a promotion for the 'victory bond', the method they use to gather funding for the war. There are also the great action sequences which, once again I would like to mention, are greatly influenced by Steven Spielberg's previous works. There are also the great performances by the actors, especially Adam Beach who played Ira Hayes. However, what really stands out in this movie is how the three soldiers really feel about the war (especially for Ira Hayes) and their views toward the war propaganda. And this is where the movie really shines. It told the harsh truth, a sad truth in my opinion, but the truth nonetheless. And what is more, the time line, the story, the flashbacks, they are all presented in this movie in such a way to really bring out the thoughts and feelings of these three soldiers. And what is excellent, is that the movie did not take sides. It just let each persons who viewed it to determine what the story really mean for them.
Clint Eastwood did a really good job in bringing out the humanity behind the photo and presenting it in this movie. The acting was great (a big applause for Adam Beach, again, who played Ira Hayes), the cinematography was excellent, and the story was great. And talking about not taking sides, Clint Eastwood is directing this movie back-to-back with another movie titled 'Letters from Iwo Jima', which will tell the story of the battle in Iwo Jima but from the perspective of the Japanese. And I can't wait to see that one also.
In the end, 'Flags' is a very thought-provoking movie. It is certainly not the pop-corn kind of movie (think Spiderman, X-Men), and deserves a lot of thought.
Those of you might think that this movie is 'just another war movie'. But knowing Clint Eastwood and his previous works ('Mystic River', 'Million Dollar Baby'), I was quite sure that it was more than just a war movie. As some of you who have seen Eastwood's previous works can attest, he puts more emphasis on the characters and the story.
Sure, there is good war action to be found in this movie. And having Steven Spielberg as one of the producer is a good enough indication for that (some of you may be familiar with Spielberg's previous works such as 'Saving Private Ryan', 'Band of Brothers'). However, this story is not just about the action happening during the time of the flag raising. The story is more about the lives of the six people who raised that flag, and what was going on behind the war. So, do not be fooled. This movie, aside from being a war movie, is also as much as a drama movie as 'Mystic River' and 'Million Dollar Baby' are.
The movie, a very thought-provoking one, focuses on the story of three of the flag raisers: John 'Doc' Bradley (James Bradley's father, the writer whose book, which has the same title as the movie, is used as one of the materials for the movie's story), Rene Gagnon, and Ira Hayes. In general, it showed us how the photo came about, and what the event (the flag raising, the campaign to raise fund for war based on that fateful photo, and also the war in Iwo Jima) truly means for these three people and how they feel about it. There is a narrator (or more, because I think there are several narrators actually, the veterans of Iwo Jima who got interviewed by James Bradley) during the course of the movie who comes and goes, and the story is told with a discontinued time line style, showing flashbacks here and there during the course of the story.
There is a lot to be told about this movie. There is the story about the war propaganda and how they use that photo as a promotion for the 'victory bond', the method they use to gather funding for the war. There are also the great action sequences which, once again I would like to mention, are greatly influenced by Steven Spielberg's previous works. There are also the great performances by the actors, especially Adam Beach who played Ira Hayes. However, what really stands out in this movie is how the three soldiers really feel about the war (especially for Ira Hayes) and their views toward the war propaganda. And this is where the movie really shines. It told the harsh truth, a sad truth in my opinion, but the truth nonetheless. And what is more, the time line, the story, the flashbacks, they are all presented in this movie in such a way to really bring out the thoughts and feelings of these three soldiers. And what is excellent, is that the movie did not take sides. It just let each persons who viewed it to determine what the story really mean for them.
Clint Eastwood did a really good job in bringing out the humanity behind the photo and presenting it in this movie. The acting was great (a big applause for Adam Beach, again, who played Ira Hayes), the cinematography was excellent, and the story was great. And talking about not taking sides, Clint Eastwood is directing this movie back-to-back with another movie titled 'Letters from Iwo Jima', which will tell the story of the battle in Iwo Jima but from the perspective of the Japanese. And I can't wait to see that one also.
In the end, 'Flags' is a very thought-provoking movie. It is certainly not the pop-corn kind of movie (think Spiderman, X-Men), and deserves a lot of thought.
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