Letters From Iwo Jima

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Letters From Iwo Jima was absolutely stunning. I loved Flags of our Fathers but this was just far more emotional and had great acting from everyone. It is beyond words, if you haven't seen it, you need to.
 
I want to see it so bad, but its not playing anywhere around me :( i liked Flags of Our Fathers as well. Eastwood is a great director.

EDIT: Found a theater playing it, but its supposed to snow later today, and i can't go out. ****in bullshit.
 
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waiting as I type this to see letters. the 20 minute pre show thing is on now. I can't wait to see the film. i'll post my thoughts afterwards.
 
just got back. phenomenal film. best of 06. i love the departed, but in all honesty it has to take silver for 06. clint eastwood has made a masterpiece. it was shot beautifully, acted superbly, and i really want Ken Wantanabe to be nominated for best actor. go out and see this film
 
Give Clint the Statue. Wow.

Eastwood does Kurosawa. Need I say more?

I was speechless afterward ... and on a first date. I hope she didn't mind the silence.
 
just saw it last night.. it's very good.

I have seen most of Kurosawa's core films... what links to Kurosawa do you guys see in this film though?
 
While of course Kurosawa films are "Japanese", they are also heavily influenced by "western" films (geographical, not cowboys) and I saw more traditionalist Japanese style than Kurosawa in Letters From Iwo Jima.

While I enjoyed the film, it is not "great" imo.
 
his choice of shots and the traditional japanese style of shooting. and even the story telling and the speeches it was great.
 
chromeboy007 said:
I have seen most of Kurosawa's core films... what links to Kurosawa do you guys see in this film though?
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Well there were a bunch of short Asian guys running around doing stuff for one thing.

Kidding, of course.

I found much of the shot composition to be reminiscent of Kurosawa. The desaturation added to that impression, of course, as did the landscape - rocky terrain, sick little trees, etc. Throw in the interesting faces for some of the supporting actors and the lessons of bravery and honor and doing what it right becuase it is right and you have a pretty solid AK movie in my mind.

The scenes that stuck out the most for me as AK-like were ....

The early scene digging trenches on the beach where our reluctant hero laments their fate and is overheard by an officer.

The commander makes his adjutant run back and forth on the beach and follows him through the "sites" of his walking stick.

The soldiers waiting in the cave and debating whether the new guy is a spy for the officers.

The piss pot sequence. A bit of comic relief before for sh!t hits the fan.

The officer who straps the land mines to his body and goes out to wait for a tank ... and waits ... and waits.

The demise of the Olympian.

The flashback to the dog execution.

The suicide of the commander and his burial.

Taken as a whole this film appeared to be very strongly influenced by Kurosawa. As it should have been.
 
yeah lucas screw wipes for everyone. lol you see the last star warts? he used the clock swipe and the blinds swipe lol ****!
 
ravinesedge said:
I want to see it so bad, but its not playing anywhere around me :( i liked Flags of Our Fathers as well. Eastwood is a great director.

EDIT: Found a theater playing it, but its supposed to snow later today, and i can't go out. poo pooin bullshi*.
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you mean Hell has, umm... uh-oh.
 
The thing that was funny to me about this was the acting of the Americans. The acting was magnifcent in this until the Americans appeard. For example, when Shimizu surrenders and the two soldiers are left to watch the surrendered soldiers.

Still, a great film and I'd love to see it win at least one Oscar but I have a feeling that "The Queen" or "Dreamgirls" will be the big ones, for that I spit!
 
Hairy Lime said:
Throw in the interesting faces for some of the supporting actors and the lessons of bravery and honor and doing what it right becuase it is right and you have a pretty solid AK movie in my mind.
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Yeah.. I thought the scenes that remind me the most of Kurosawa were:

The scene where Watanabe argues with one of his generals. The "Maybe digging is futile, maybe the island is futile, maybe the war is futile..." speech - reminds me very much of the scene in Seven Samurai where Mifune lashes out at the other six because samurai pick on farmers, and in Hidden Fortress towards the end when the captured Princess gives a speech about how she learned the lessons of real life on her journey. It seems like every Kurosawa film has a morality speech. Ran is the best, the servant has a butch of these sharp lines:

Kyoami: Man is born crying. When he has cried enough, he dies.

Hidetora: I am lost...
Kyoami: Such is the human condition.


Another AK moment was when Saigo and Shimizu discuss how the American soldiers are just like themselves.

The last one for me was the final attack scene when they got to do some hand to hand battles. It was so dark I couldn't tell which ones were American and which ones were Japanese.
 
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