Just watched the two Eastwood companion pieces back to back. One is really good and then the other one is so good that it makes the other one look weak in comparison. Letters is just incredible, something where you can see it's Eastwood's work and something that only he could make, but it also feels like much more beyond that, and that is not meant as a malice to his other movies. Not really something I can put to words myself, which is exactly why a Clint series is needed! If not all of it then at least one starting from Unforgiven!
Are there any good WW2 Movies from the Japanese Perspective? The American ones make them inhuman savages that are beyond any understanding (sort of like an orc in a LOTR). The Japanese ones make them noble warriors stuck in a tragic war. I feel like neither of these are very interesting or true.
I liked Letters from Iwo Jima because you got to see that a lot of them were messed up, caught up on the "bushido" stuff, a lot were just people who wanted to go home, the general and colonel baron were both noble, but they were the exception not the norm among the officers. Also I liked how they weren't fearless (like how many American movies make them out to be). They were still super afraid of dying but a combination of peer pressure and bravery compelled them to give up their lives.
I don't advocate for any of the atrocities the Japanese committed during the war, please let's just keep this focused to good movies that fit the criteria above.
I had not seen this film so I decided to watch both this and Flags Of Our Fathers over the last couple of days. Flags Of Our Fathers I liked, itโs a good and well made film but Letters From Iwo Jima is something else, itโs a great piece of Filmmaking.
What Eastwood delivers with his companion film is superb, told from the Japanese perspective and almost entirely subtitled i think it should go down as one of Eastwoodโs finest achievements as a director.
The characters are brilliantly written and through various flashbacks we see their stories and care about each and every one of them. Wantanabe is great and thatโs no surprise but the two performances from both Ninomiya and Nakamura give the film its heart.
Thoughts on the film?
Hi everyone. I find the concept of portraying the same events but from two different viewpoints in two separate movies very compelling. Not sure what the right term would be for this, so I just called it "siblings".
Of course this has been done countless times inside one single movie where you see the same events being portrayed from the perspective of various characters (e.g. Pulp Fiction, The Usual Suspects), but I am looking for this being separated into two (or more) full movies.
Looking forward to your answers.
Does anyone know were I can watch/download Letters from Iwo Jima?
Hi all! Can someone help me with audio description?
I have a favorite movie called "letters from iwo jima". It is audio described. Here is the link from audiovault if you want to listen: http://www.audiovault.net/download/5443 I believe the audio description is beautifully done (considering that 90% of the language is japanese). But I have a big problem that for some unknown reason I noticed just today (after 2 years of listening). The narators are just too loud. Like for example, if the characters are speaking, a narator translates it to english, but the problem is the original japanese voice is drowned out. My questions are:
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What do you think of the balance between the describer and the movie? Is it good in your ears?
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Is there a way to lower the describer's voice?
Maybe it's just my earphones. I certainly have not noticed this before. But I ask you all just to confirm if I am right.
Thanks all!
Title says it all but here it goes. Obligatory not today but when I was in high school.
It's summer break. My dad is home with my twin and me and we want to watch some historical movies. We decide to watch some Clint Eastwood because why not, and we had never watched Letters From Iwo Jima until that point. My dad says sure and we plug it in.
Spoiler alert; it's really raw and depressing. My twin and I are half Japanese so seeing the Japanese side of that battle was really heart-wrenching. I say, "Let's watch an animated movie next... something more cheerful." Everyone agrees. Here's the fuckup.
I plug in Grave Of The Fireflies. If you've never seen it, it's a fantastic film by Isao Takahata (friend and fellow artist of Hayai Miyazaki) about two children who are left orphaned after American air raids on Japanese soil. It follows their trials and tribulations through their survival. It's also really, REALLY sad. We all cried.
So the movie is over. We are crying and hoping that the depress-fest is over. Dad, tears in his eyes, looks over to the tv and then to us and says,
"Someone please plug in My Neighbor Totoro."
We complied. Still feel it form time to time. But at least Ma had a good laugh.
TL;DR Watched two depressing movies back to back about WWII and suffered for it.
