Letters from Iwo Jima review

 Number 362 on the top 1000 films of all time is the Japanese-language American-produced Letters from Iwo Jima.

General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) is granted the impossible task of defending the Japanese island of Iwo Jima from American invasion during the last few months of World War Two. One of his soldiers is Private Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya.)

In my Mystic River review, I hoped that Clint Eastwood would stick to directing rather than acting. And that's exactly what he did when he directed this film. It was an excellent portrayal of  a little-known part of World-War-Two told from the unfamiliar perspective of the Japanese. When Hollywood portrays WW2, they often have an unfair bias toward the war in Europe, being completely ignorant of the whole other war happening in the Pacific. Letters from Iwo Jima was also a sensitive, well-rounded and brave portrayal. For once, it is the Japanese, and not the Americans, who are shown as courageous heroes.

Letters from Iwo Jima was received well in Japan with much praise going toward its well-rounded characters who were real without being stereotypical. Private Saigo had no interest in the war; all he wants to do is to return home to his pregnant wife. But as the government took his baking equipment for the war effort, he has no choice but to fight. And Kazunari Ninomiya brought a very sympathetic character to life. It was hard not to root for such an underdog. But Ken Watanabe was equally good if not better. General Kuribayashi was a character who was fiercely loyal to his men.

Eastwood depicted the battle of Iwo Jima with sensitivity, gravitas and nuance. The feeling of doom is apparent, but so is the feeling of honour among the men. In one of the film's more disturbing sequences, a group of soldiers choose to commit honour suicides instead of surrendering or being taken prisoner.

Mostly filmed in Iceland, we see that the location is as stark and as a fraught as are the Japanese's chances of survival. Yet believing it to be the perfect place for the US to attack their homeland, they're prepared to defend it to the last man. And this preparation soon turned into desperation.

Eastwood earned himself yet another best film nomination with Letters from Iwo Jima. And it was well-deserved. This was an under-stated, but incredibly powerful film.