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I saw Flags of Our Fathers last night. For those who don’t know, the movie and book are about the most historic image from WWII: the raising of the US flag over Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima. The book was written by James Bradley, son of John Bradley, the corpsman (Navy medic) who helped raise the original flag.
The movie depicts some of the fighting on Iwo Jima and the living conditions of the soldiers and does an excellent job giving the viewer a sense of the immensity of the invasion. After the flag raising, the photograph gave fame to the remaining flag raisers, John Bradley, Ira Hayes, and Rene Gagnon and shows how the US government used the men for raising money for the 7th War Bond drive. It really gives an excellent sense of not only the soldiers lives, but the motivations of the government at the time: they needed money to continue the war effort. So you see the propaganda bit, but intertwined with that is the personal struggle of Ira Hayes and how each of the men dealt with life after Iwo Jima.
It really shows the tragedy of Ira Hayes and the relations of the US government with Native Americans.
Clint Eastwood directed the movie, along with another movie from the viewpoint of the Japanese soldiers at Iwo Jima. That movie, “Letters From Iwo Jima”, will be released in Tokyo in December and in early 2007 in the US. I’m planning on seeing it as well.
I recommend this film to everybody! It has history, emotion, action, and tragedy all mixed into one film about a major event that helped shape today’s world.
