copperbeech: blog 
copperbeech's blog
film ~ flags of our fathers
Published Jan 28, 2008
I think it's very difficult to create this sort of film, based on such charged material in a timeframe when the public was blind to the machinations of the man behind the curtain. Based on the book of the same name, in an effort to raise funds for the war, the government conscripts the aid of three soldiers who were photographed raising the flag on Iwo Jima to tour the nation and use their experiences as propaganda to bolster the public view of the government. Aside from the personal conflicts the soldiers have at being used thusly, they experience moral conflicts regarding the way in which the flag actually was raised. The names and details included did not reflect the event accurately, and the soldiers were forbidden to let this fallacy be known. Narrated by one of the surviving soldiers to the son of another survivor, the film tells the story of these men and that of the men who died at Iwo Jima.
Common to the many war genre films that have saturated the market the last few years, this film delves into the brutal realities of war, the effects it has on soldiers, and the political agendas driving mass death. In this regard it is not terribly original, but carries the torch in raising the awareness that win or lose, war takes a terrible toll on all involved. The film is rather graphic in some scenes. One of its more original angles, however, are its intense examinations of the treatment of Native Americans in the military at that time. Adam Beach stole the film for his portrayal of Ira Hayes, the Pima man who finally spoke the truth of raising the flag.
While I feel that Eastwood directed a great film, the editing in it was quite choppy. I enjoy nonsequential revelation as much as anyone, but the transitions were quite rough and in the end the storytelling suffered for it. The acting was superb, the cast conveyed wonderful chemistry. This film's success lies in its honest delivery of the message that society creates heroes of people who just want peace.
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