Flags of Our Fathers (USA) (DreamWorks) (2006) ***1/2Year: 2006iMDB
Director: Clint Eastwood Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, John Benjamin Hickey
Clint Eastwood tackles an ambitious project this year: telling the story of the battle of Iwo Jima from dual perspective throughout two different movies: Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima.
Flags of Our Fathers tries to walk a thin line: present the true face of war, applaud the heroism of the American marines and show the manipulative side of the politics of the time. In a time where funding for the war was running thin, the picture of six marines raising the American flags on top of the Iwo Jima mountain, instilled renewed hope in the war victory and was exploited to the maximum by one of the most effective fund-raising campaigns in government history. Little did it matter that the flag in the picture was only the second flag raised that day, or that the names of those that raised the flag were getting mixed up.
The movie has the chance to be powerful, but the characters in the story get easily mixed up and after a while you don't know who should really be given credit for the photo, who shouldn't or whether it should really matter. The war heroes are almost forgotten as the war ends and they try to capitalize on the fame that they were enjoying while the government was needing them as spokespersons. There are many strong aspects in the movie, but in the end it is too long and loses focus.
Posted by TheCasualCritic on December 31, 2006 06:40 PM | TrackBack