| FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS |
 2006 - USADirector: Clint Eastwood
- Reviewed by Linda
The subject is an excellent one, and an especially timely one. Six men hoisted the flag at Iwo Jima, but only three survived long enough to be immediately pulled from battle as soon as the photo became a media sensation. The men are shipped home where they go on a publicity tour to help sell war bonds to fund a war that has dragged on too long for the country. John "Doc" Bradley (Ryan Phillipe) is the almost saintly soul of the trio, and, as a medic, being captured in the photo is the least heroic of the things he did in battle. Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford, with his ever-present smirk) swaggers the most in the attention, but probably is the least deserving to be in the limelight. And Ira Hayes (Adam Beach), a Pima Indian, is probably the most interesting of the bunch, both for the public and us as moviegoers, as he struggles with alcohol and the jarring attention. The film flips back and forth in time, not only before, during, and after the battle (the flag was actually raised on the 5th day of a 36-day bloody conflict), but there is a modern narrative thrown in of a young man interviewing WWII veterans. The interview scenes are confusing, as it is unclear who the interviewer is, and even more muddy who the men are. Some of them we never find out, and they all have the same rumbling-voiced way of telling their stories. Sure, I know that Flags was based on a book written by the son of Doc Bradley, but these interludes only proved distracting and unnecessary in this medium. Don't get me wrong, there are great things about this movie. I was agog at images of the Allied armada in formation heading towards the island. Sure it is CGI, but it looks fantastic, as do some of the initial battle scenes where you can see the rockets shooting from the elusive Japanese bunkers buried in the hilltop. Also appropriately jarring (in a completely different way), is the grotesque media circus that follows the young soldiers later on their war bond tour. The audience will have the same discomfort as the soldiers, seeing the now-famous image carved into ice-cream sculptures, then covered with blood-red strawberry sauce. But for as many well-done moments, there just as many that fall kind of flat. Part of the problem is that the characters don't have much depth. Doc is the solid do-gooder. Rene is the shifty one. And Ira is the poor drunk. But not much is developed otherwise, and we are left wanting to know more about these young men... anything more. I can understand that Eastwood probably faithfully stuck to the reality of the characters, but cinematically it just wasn't enough. The characters weren't three dimensional, and the actors weren't left with much to do. Faring the best is probably Adam Beach as the forlorn Ira Hayes. We are teased with more of a story behind Ira, because of his unusual background, and his sad fate, so it is a shame that we (and the actor) weren't given more. By the time Flags of Our Fathers wraps up, it seems like we've seen several different endings, and even several different movies. The topic is noble, but the movie is frustrating. I was more moved by the actual photographs of the event over the closing credits than the movie itself. Maybe it will work better as a companion piece to Letters From Iwo Jima, but as a stand-alone World War II film, Flags falls short of classic. DVD NOTESThis initial quickie release is as bare-bones as you'll get for a DVD. There are a couple of previews for other Oscar contenders (including, unsurprisingly, Letters From Iwo Jima), but otherwise there are only the basic audio and subtitle setup options. There isn't even a chapter menu! Luckily though, you can fast forward through chapters... so they are there at least. Real fans of the movie might want to wait until the version with all the bling is released, as it inevitably will. Otherwise you'll just be suckered into buying the movie again in a few months. |
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There is so much that is important and respectful and moving about Flags of Our Fathers, that the fact that it is kind of an uneven mess makes it all that much more disappointing. The film takes an iconic image—that of the five Marines and one Navy man hoisting the American flag on Mount Suribachi during the World War II battle of Iwo Jima—and dissects it from all possible angles, before, after, and during. The idea is fascinating, even more so because Eastwood has also made a companion film from the Japanese perspective, Letters From Iwo Jima, which will follow Flags in release. Flags strips down the "heroism" of war, both real and media-hyped. Because of the topic, I was expecting to be sobbing by the end (like I did during Clint's last film Million Dollar Baby)... but I was disappointed to find that my eyes remained dry.
