Flags of our Fathers (FOOF) accompanies Letters from Iwo Jima (LFIJ.) Having seen the latter companion film first, it only made sense to watch this film too.
John "Doc" Bradley (Ryan Philippe,) Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) and Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) are three of the six men who raised the flag on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima, on day five of the American's successful invasion, during the last few months of WW2. When their three colleagues subsequently die, Doc, Hayes and Gagnon are sent back home to raise money for the war effort. However, none of the three see themselves as heroes.
FOOF and LFIJ have their similarities. They tell similar stories from different perspectives and they're both directed by Clint Eastwood. However, LFIJ made it onto the top 1000 films of all time whereas FOOF didn't. LFIJ was subtle, nuanced and complex, but FOOF had all the subtlety of a sledge-hammer to the face.
A lot of that was down to the writing. FOOF was penned by Paul Haggis who also wrote the less-than-subtle Crash. It is no secret that the US treats it veterans appallingly. Sure when they're winning wars, the US is happy to spend billions on them, but as soon as they return home with PTSD and missing limbs, all that support evaporates. Just look at how many homeless veterans litter the streets of the USA.
Although this was an important point to address, it was far too on the nose. These three PTSD-suffering veterans are forced to raise money for a cause they no longer believe in. They're made to re-enact the flag-planting on a giant papier-mache mock-up of Mount Suribachi in front of a stadium of fans. This was supposed to be a comment on how badly military veterans are being exploited, but the real kicker, for me, came when the veterans were given little marble replicas of their flag-raising effort accompanied by either chocolate or strawberry sauce. Naturally, the strawberry sauce looked like blood.
Out of the three leads, I thought Adam Beach was the best, although that isn't saying much. Ira Hayes has intense PTSD; he is most resistant about going on the bond drive. To drown his sorrows, he turns to drink. And to top everything off, he is of the Pima tribe and faces intense discrimination despite his hero-status. But Adam beach played the role with gravitas and sympathy. He was certainly better than Ryan Philppe who scowled his way through the film. And Jesse Bradford was as bland as a ham sandwich.
FOOF was definitely a dud in Eastwood's directing repertoire. It was watchable enough, but quite rightly did not deserve a place on the top 1000 films of all time.
I found it hard to follow the story unlike Eastwood's other Iwo Jima film. It was still a worthy piece of film making. Adam Beach impressed me. But I much preferred Letters from Iwo jima.
ReplyDeleteIt is a devastating criticism of the way the US government made heroes of its soldiers in order to fund the war and to encourage other young men to volunteer in its service. And then discard them. But it's also a universal criticism. All nations behave in the same way.
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