Flags of Our Fathers/Letters from Iwo Jima

Flags of Our Fathers is based on a book by James Bradley, whose father John Bradley was one of the three (of six) surviving soldiers who raised the second flag on top of Mount Suribachi on day 4 of the battle of Iwo Jima. The surviving three members are then sent back to America to raise money for the war effort.

The movie jumps backward and forward in time from present day to pre-invasion to mid-battle to the war bond tour to the 50s and struggles to find a cohesive narrative. It does follow the writer James Bradley as he interviews for the book, but flashbacks also occur with his post-traumatic stress disorder father as well as drunken flashbacks with co-flagraiser Ira Hayes, a stereotypical drunken Indian written with all the subtlety and insight that we've come to expect from screenwriter Paul Haggis (that's sarcasm, folks).

The movie tries hard to be Saving Private Ryan with modern day family emotion, the randomness of the battle scenes, and desturated color scheme. It also want to be The Thin Red Line with the use of extended cameos (Paul Walker, Jamie Bell, etc.). There are some strong scenes, not least of which is John Bradley (Ryan Phillippe) finding his friend's body tortured to death. Director Clint Eastwood chooses not to show the body, only Phillippe's reaction, which is surprisingly effective. The recreation of the flag-raising is also performed well, almost matter-of-factly. Photographer Joe Rosenthal doesn't realize he's just taken one of the most famous pictures ever. But in the end, the powerful moments can't completely overcome the clunky structure and Eastwood's typical languid pacing.

The problem with Letters from Iwo Jima is different. The movie takes place more linearly with occasional flashbacks. The flashbacks stall any momentum the film has without ever really adding anything to the characters or story. Told in Japanese (with subtitles), the story centers on 2 Japanese soldiers, General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) and Saigo, a private. The movie begins as they prepare for the American attack and continues throughout the battle of Iwo Jima nearly entirely from the Japanese perspective.

Eastwood shamelessly uses feces and fart jokes and just as shamelessly tries to draw sympathy using a horse and a dog in separate scenes. No, really! It's not quite as ridiculously manipulative as Maggie's family in Million Dollar Baby, but it's pretty awful.

But the worst part of Letter from Iwo Jima for me is its depiction of the American soldiers. They are shown killing Japanese men who have surrendered and pose no threat. I don't doubt that this happened, but like a famous video in Iraq, the reality (and accurate history, as if Eastwood gave a damn) is that Japanese soldiers would often pretend to surrender only to become suicide bombers or kill in other ways. Worse still, when an American is captured, he is given morphine and treated well. In the actual battle, it was more likely for him to be castrated and defecated on before being tortured to death.

The music in both movies (by Clint in Flags and his son Kyle in Letters) is simple, repetitive and ultimately grating. Please, someone give Clint some money to hire an actual composer.

Eastwood spent over two hours trying to humanize the Japanese soldiers. Terrence Malick was infinitely more successful in The Thin Red Line in a couple of minutes. Letters from Iwo Jima is dishonest, shameless, manipulative, and protracted.

Flags of Our Fathers: B- Letters From Iwo Jima: C+

Medical mistakes: The American soldier treated well by the Japanese (I just threw up again) appeared to be directly shot in the heart, but lived for several hours. But maybe he had situs inversus.