Ryder Lund HUMA10:00 to 11:20 TR Title: Letters from Iwo Jima Year: 2006 Language: Japanese Director: Clint

t Eastwood Actors: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara Foreign Film

This film takes place during World War II on a small island that stands between Japan and the American military. The Japanese Imperial Army is desperate to keep this island away from American hands for it would give them to best spot possible for long ranged missile strikes and therefore will force most of the men stationed on the island to dig tunnels, trenches, and caves to help defend it when the Americans arrive. On this island is a man who has been drafted against his will to serve for his country and die for his country is not only fighting against the American forces but also his own cruel Military Officers. The story revolves around him as he fights to survive this battle and return to his wife who was pregnant when he left for war. Throughout the movie he writes letters to his wife where he describes how the battle for Iwo Jima is going and to see how she is doing with the baby and to also say good-bye when the American invasion begins. What I think the social issue the movie is trying to poke at is the way they treated the soldiers of the Japanese army. The main character and his friends were drafted to help serve their country and when they landed in Iwo Jima they were put into slavery and forced to dig caves and shelter for their Commanding Officers while they sleep in the unfinished trenches. You really get to see how the Japanese people have been treated by their own military. They work the soldiers like dogs then expect them to be able to fight without proper training or exercises with the new trenches and tunnels they just got done making. The film greatly shows the point of view of the Japanese Military during World War II and how they were struggling to keep their heads in the game and how unprepared they were for invasion. The movie also shows the power struggle within the Japanese military as the General put in charge of the Island of Iwo Jima is started to make his subordinates feel some resentment and resistance toward him as he throws away traditional Japanese strategies. I would have to think that the context of the film was just how poorly the Japanese Military operated during World War II compared to the United States of America. All the trenches they built were almost completely

useless due to air plane strikes and the tunnels and caves slowly began to break away due to bombings. One quote the main character says in the film is [a letter to his wife] we soldiers dig. We dig all day. This is the hole that we will fight and die in. Am I digging my own grave?. Even the General who knew this whole war was a terrible mistake stated that America was the last country in the world that Japan should fight. The whole film goes on to prove both men right on their quotes. What kind of audience was Director Clint Eastwood trying to go for? I thought at first that this film would be more for the Japanese people and it is but I think it is targeting Americans just to show us that there are two side of every coin and even though Japan started out like they really wanted in this war when the real ones who are being made to fight his war dont. This movie itself is a response to another Clint Eastwood movie called Flags of Our Fathers which told the story of American soldiers who fought in the battle of Iwo Jima but now this movie shows us the other side of that and that is what I think is the meaning of this film. The meaning of showing us that once again there are two sides to every coin. You cant go off and believe one story without hearing the other sides story. There are people on both sides of this war who didnt want to be there, were mistreated, forced in to hard labor for war efforts, and were expected to die above all else for their country and for their honor. I think the overall message for this film and its companion film is that war is hell no matter what side of the playing field is. That there are people out there who are willing to risk and give up everything to protect their country. My response to this message is that I would have to agree with it. Ive never been to war and Ive never witnessed war with my own eyes but that doesnt mean that I dont know how much suffering goes on during war. I respond this way because I have studied much about both World War I and World War II to know how many people died who didnt deserve to and who didnt need to either. Yes I think without a doubt that this film has changed the way I look at war. I think this film has made me try to think of what the other side is feeling during war time. It has made me think that they are fighting for a similar cause wither it be the Germans fighting to turn Germany back into a successful country, even though they did go a little over board with that, or the Russians fighting to sustain their way of life, even though it was for communism, which all happened during the exact same war, World War II, and that every side fighting is just as afraid as the other side is and that we are all in the same boat when it comes to war. The cultural differences that noticed throughout the film varied between our American lifestyle versus their Japanese lifestyle. For one example they seem to have a much stronger authority code than we do. They always obey their commanding officers and never show any spite or anger toward their officers. Even when they know they are being treated unfairly that they still listen and obey every command which leads me to their punishment system. In the event that someone disobeys their command and insults their officer then the punishment is almost always death and you will be replaced. They always speak in formal dialogue and not in

any form of slang and always listen to their elders too. One thing I noticed that back in that day women had a purpose in their world so there wasnt much of fighting over womens rights because they were raised to follow a certain path to support the men. What I learned about history in this film is that Japan has always regretted fighting the U.S. and still thinks to this day that we are the last country that they should go to war with. Another thing I learned is how disciplined they trained their soldiers. They were trained to kill themselves in case of capture and even the air plane pilots were trained to Kamikaze once out of ammo, fuel, or if they had been hit and were going down anyways. Its a great film and one of the reasons why its great is because its a World War II film that doesnt involve the Nazis but the Japanese Imperial Military and their battle against The United States. The techniques that Clint Eastwood used to film this movie were very good and clever but most of them have been used before. One thing I liked is the make-up work for the film. It really helps show how they looked and felt during battles. You could see blood, tears, and even sweat on the officers faces once the Americans started to invade. The lighting outside of the caves and tunnels looked as if they were trying to show how miserably hot it was outside while the soldiers were building the trenches. I did love the way they made the atmosphere on the island feel like death was coming and they all knew it and were trying to accepted it. The setting really felt and looked like it was on a Japanese island and that war had gone through it for months. The music was pretty good too and really helped complement the battle scenes to make it more dramatic. I think you assign foreign films to help show us different cultures in different countries. You cant really get a feel for another culture in a film if its filmed in your native country and spoken in your native tongue which I thought made it the movies better. This assignment has really expanded my mind into thinking about other cultures and lifestyles and thats what humanities is.