![]() ![]() flag on the Pacific island of Iwo Jima, Febru- and the immortal photograph that lifted the heart and spirit of a nation at war. Here is the true story behind perhaps the most famous moment in American military history - the raising of the U.S. Through a hail of machine-gun and mortar fire that left the beaches strewn with comrades, the American Marines battled to the island's highest peak. To maintain military secrecy they journeyed in the dead of night. There were no cheering crowds to see Mike, Harlon, Ira, Doc, Rene and Franklin off as they departed Camp Tarawa. It is a trip that brings out the truths of both that symbolic act, and their lives during war. When Joe Rosenthal's photograph of the event becomes a symbol of hope for the families at home, the three surviving men are pulled from combat and sent on a tour across America to raise desperately-needed bond money. That would be the honor due the soldiers who fight in the face of death on foreign shores and then face disdain at home.Summary: The story of the five Marines and one Navy corpsman that were forever immortalized as a symbol of WWII by raising the American flag at the battle of Iwo Jima. That would be the parallels to the Iraq War and the lies being perpetrated in the name of blind patriotism. That would be the ferocity of battle, edited by Joel Cox and shot in desaturated hues by Tom Stern to show what Eastwood sees as the brutal darkness of it. ( Jarhead) and Crash Oscar winner Paul Haggis jumps back and forth in time in ways that could have been a jumble if Eastwood wasn’t so adept at cutting a path to what counts. The ambitious script by William Broyles Jr. Johnny Cash and Bob Dylan both covered a song about him: “He died drunk one mornin’/Alone in the land he fought to save/Two inches of water in a lonely ditch/Was a grave for Ira Hayes.” Flags of Our Fathers needed to be a sprawling epic to take in all these stories. Hayes, a Pima Indian bruised by racism in and out of battle, numbed his pain with booze. He’s a lock for a supporting-Oscar nomination. Phillippe’s hauntingly implosive performance makes it clear why Bradley hardly spoke of the war to his family in later years, prompting his son to write the book.Īs Hayes, Beach ( Windtalkers) burns up the screen, finding the soul of his tormented character. Phillippe draws us in with a nuanced portrait of a man who bravely administers first aid to soldiers under fire but can’t find words for the horror he’s seen, including the death of his friend Iggy (Jamie Bell). Eastwood wants the reticent Bradley to be our eyes into the film. As Bradley, Phillippe (building on strong supporting turns in Crash, Gosford Park and Igby Goes Down) provides the quiet emotional center the story needs. Bradford ( Happy Endings) deftly uncovers the doubt lurking under Gagnon’s surface charm. ![]() ![]() Gagnon, 19, adjusts better to fame than the others, mistakenly believing that being a good propagandist will win him jobs after the war. As the soldiers struggle to get the flag aloft, you can almost hear cheering. It was the second flag-raising that day, but the only one caught on camera. The bloody 1945 battle on Japan’s volcanic island left 6,800 Americans dead, but the public was rallied by a photo, taken by Joe Rosenthal, that became an iconic emblem of World War II: five Marines and one Navy corpsman (Bradley) planting Old Glory on top of Mount Suribachi in the midst of the carnage. ![]() An amazing feat, since Eastwood is tied to the nonfiction best seller that James Bradley wrote about his father, John “Doc” Bradley, the last survivor among the six soldiers who raised the flag on Iwo Jima. Even when the plot of his new Flags of Our Fathers steers him toward Saving Private Ryan rah-rah and “Greatest Generation” sentiment, Eastwood holds the line.įlags of Our Fathers is a film of awesome power and blistering provocation. At seventy-six, he’s doing risky work while his contemporaries retire or, worse, conform. Since winning his first directing Oscar, for 1992’s Unforgiven, Eastwood has been on a creative roll with the unsparing Mystic River and Million Dollar Baby (Oscar number two). If you like movies that spew clichés, Clint Eastwood will not make your day. ![]()
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