Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

Storyline:
The island of Iwo Jima stands between the American military force and the home islands of Japan. Therefore, the Imperial Japanese Army desperatly tries to prevent it from falling into americans' hands and providing a launching point for an invasion.
In the lower echelons, a young soldier named Saigo, a poor baker whose wife is pregnant, strives with his friends to survive the harsh regime of the Japanese army itself, all the while knowing that a fierce battle looms.
When the American invasion begins, the japanese army finds strenght, honor, courage and horrors beyond imagination.

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writers: Iris Yamashita, Paul Haggis, Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Tsuyoko Yoshido
Stars: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara
IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt

Year: 2006
Genre: Drama, History, War
Country: Japan

Trailer:


Review:
You won't even notice the almost two and a half hours passing by. The movie surely keeps you focused on it the whole time.
Make no mistake, this is not an action war movie with lots of blood baths. Letters from Iwo Jima will pull the humanity out of the monster that is war.
Unlike typical war movies, you'll get the chance to watch the story told by the Japanese side. You'll get to know how brave and patriotic they were. Such patriotism was several times shown as excessive sometimes reaching the absurd, but you'll never get the idea that they were stupid men who just ran into the american army like kamikazes.
In the meanwhile, touching scenes showing the japanese army's strenght and courage are also the reason of why this is such a great movie.

Personal Rating: 8/10

Posted in: 2006,Drama,History,Japan,War