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Letters from Iwo Jima was a great movie. Definitely one of the best movies of the year, but you can’t help leaving the theatre in an incredibly somber mood. Clint Eastwood approaches this film with an objective, war is war and the effects of it are the same on both sides. No one is able to escape what war does to a person’s life, family or home. In the case of Iwo Jima, neither side was fighting within their own country’s borders, yet everyone who was there fought as if it were. Iwo Jima is a small, uninhabitable, Japanese occupied island in the Pacific that was in a critical position for both sides. The US needed the island to be within reach of Japan and its surrounding territories, and the Japanese couldn’t let that happen.

The first image of the film is the black sand of the beaches of Iwo Jima and the desolation of the island. The Martian-like landscape is the setting for most of the film and there is almost no trick photography needed to add to the bleakness of its surroundings. The island has nothing to offer but volcanic rock, harsh weather and a dearth of drinkable water. It easily conveys a sense of hopelessness and despair. As the movie starts, Japanese soldiers are digging trenches in the black beaches on the island. One of the first notable features to the movie is the incredible disparity between the regular infantry soldiers and the officers. The infantrymen appear to be very similar to US soldiers. They have the same types of jokes, hopes and fears. The officers on the other hand are far more harsh and demanding than American officers are depicted since World War II. They do not seem bothered by beating or even killing men under their command for “treasonous thoughts” or other misdeeds. This stands as one of the main and probably largest themes of the movie. The large separation between the United States’ western democratic beliefs and Japan’s eastern Imperialism is contrasted with the almost insignificant differences between the soldiers who are just serving their duty to their country. General Kuribayashi, played wonderfully by Ken Watanabe, comes in to take over the troops and quickly alienates himself from the other officers while re-deploying the troops into the hills and mountains surrounding the beach. Kuribayashi has a more modern view of war and honor, but still possesses a strong sense of duty towards his country. He is willing to die for Japan, but he does not believe in the suicide or executions of his men. He wants his soldiers to fight till they die, not kill themselves out of shame. There is a great scene that shows Kuribayashi with some American officers when he was living in America that contrasts his ideological integrity along with his devotion to his country very well.

One of the most remarkable pieces in the film is a grizzly suicide scene where some of the Japanese soldiers hold primed hand grenades to their chests. One of the Captains who doesn’t see eye to eye with Kuribayashi disobeys his orders not to force suicide on his troops. These men have been bombarded with Imperialist codes of honor and legend for so long that they “know” this is what a soldier must do when they are defeated. Still, the overriding feeling through the whole scene is fear. All of the soldiers are afraid to kill themselves even though they have no other option afforded to them. If they don’t kill themselves, their superior officers will do it for them. Even the Lieutenant finally shows this same fear when his turn comes. All of these men are afraid to die and not see their homes and families again. War is war, it’s the same for both countries and the people in it.

Grade: A