Flags of Our Fathers (film)

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Flags of Our Fathers
Directed by	Clint Eastwood
Produced by	Clint Eastwood Steven Spielberg Robert Lorenz
Written by	Book: James Bradley Screenplay: William Broyles, Jr. Paul Haggis
Starring	Ryan Phillippe Adam Beach Jesse Bradford
Music by	Clint Eastwood
Editing by	Joel Cox
Distributed by	USA: DreamWorks Paramount non-USA: Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	October 20, 2006 (USA)
Running time	132 min
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$55,000,000 ([1])
Followed by	Letters from Iwo Jima
Official website
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Flags of Our Fathers is an Academy Award-nominated 2006 film directed by Clint Eastwood and written by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis. It is based on the book of the same name written by James Bradley and Ron Powers about the Battle of Iwo Jima and Raising the flag on Iwo Jima. The film stars Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, Jamie Bell, John Slattery, Paul Walker, Barry Pepper, Robert Patrick, Joseph Cross, Stark Sands, Neal McDonough, Tom Verica, and Melanie Lynskey.

Eastwood also directed a complementary film on the battle from the Japanese viewpoint. Titled Letters from Iwo Jima, it was released in Japan on December 9, 2006 and in the United States on December 20, two months after the release of Flags of Our Fathers on October 20, 2006.

This is a film about the Battle of Iwo Jima and tells the story of how the three surviving flag-raisers were used as propaganda tools by the United States government to lift the morale of the American people. It also shows the effects of war on the veterans and how they suffered from memories of the war for the rest of their lives.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Critical reception 3 Cast 4 Trivia 5 References 6 DVD 7 External links

[edit] Plot

One of the most famous photographs in history was taken by Joe Rosenthal at the Battle of Iwo Jima, during the Second World War. The image of five Marines and one sailor raising Old Glory on Mount Suribachi has been reprinted countless times, and has become an enduring symbol of American heroism. But while almost everyone has seen the photo, few Americans really understood what it represented, and fewer still knew who the men in the photo were.

Writer James Bradley (Tom McCarthy) knew that his father, John "Doc" Bradley, had served in World War II, and had been one of the men who raised the American flag in the iconic photo from Iwo Jima, and had long heard rumors that "Doc" had been some sort of war hero. But his father never wanted to talk about his war experiences, never owned a copy of the photograph, and refused to answer questions about the war. Only after John Bradley's death did James learn that his father had received the Navy Cross for valor. This discovery led James Bradley to seek out veterans who'd fought at Iwo Jima and ask them about what happened, and to do some research on the other five men who'd appeared in the photo.

The flag raisers represented a cross section of America. There was Marine Sergeant Mike Strank (Barry Pepper) from Western Pennsylvania, Marine Corporal Harlon Block (Benjamin Walker) from South Texas, Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) an Arizona Indian, Marine Private First Class Franklin Sousley (Joseph Cross) from Kentucky, Marine Private First Class Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) of New Hampshire and Navy Medical Corpsman John "Doc" Bradley (Ryan Phillippe) from Wisconsin.

James Bradley found that much of what the public "knew" about the photo and the battle was erroneous. Most Americans thought the flag was raised at the end of the battle, after the U.S. Marines had defeated the Japanese. In reality, the flag was hoisted on the 5th day of a 35 day battle, and three of the Americans who raised the flag would be dead before the battle ended.

Iwo Jima was strategically important: it provided an airbase for Japanese aircraft to intercept long-range B-29 bombers and provided a haven for Japanese naval units in dire need of any support available. The capture of Iwo Jima would eliminate these problems and provide a staging area for the eventual invasion of the Japanese mainland. The distance of B-29 raids would be nearly halved, and a base would be available for P-51 Mustang fighters to escort and protect the devastating bomber raids. Hence, the Marines were sent to capture the island.

The Battle of Iwo Jima was the first battle of World War II that took place on Japanese soil. Iwo Jima itself was part of the nation of Japan, so the Japanese soldiers stationed on the island believed they were fighting to defend their homeland from foreign invaders. The Japanese had no hope of victory, and they knew it. All they wanted was to inflict massive casualties on the invading Marines- and they had an ideal setup for doing just that. The Japanese forces had built a large network of tunnels throughout the island, which meant they could shoot at the Marines from safe, well-fortified positions. They could also make quick, bloody attacks on isolated Marines and then retreat to the safety of their tunnels. The American Marines on Iwo Jima were fighting an enemy they could rarely see. The only way to defeat the Japanese was to locate the entrances to their tunnels and bunkers, then slowly work close enough to toss in a grenade or stick in the muzzle of a flamethrower. This was slow, gruesome work, and the Marines lost more than 6,000 men before their task was complete.

Early in the battle, on the fifth day, the American forces captured Mount Suribachi. A contingent of Marines erected an American flag on the summit, and a photo was taken of the flag raising. Shortly afterward, Navy Secretary James Forrestal requested that the flag be sent to Washington as a souvenir. When this flag was taken down, a new one had to be put up. Strank, Block, Sousley, Hayes, Gagnon and "Doc" were the men assigned to raise this second flag. While they did, photographer Joe Rosenthal took a snapshot. A few days later, Rosenthal's snapshot was published in newspapers all over the United States. Most Americans who saw the photo believed it commemorated a great American victory, but victory was still weeks away. The bloody battle raged on at Iwo Jima, and three of the flag raisers- Strank, Block and Sousley- were killed in action without being aware of the photo's widespread fame.

The photo gained symbolic status in America, and the War Department realized that the photo and the flag raisers could have great propaganda value. It took a little while to identify and locate the flag raisers (since there had been two different flag raisings each done by a different group of men, there was some confusion), but once Hayes, Gagnon and "Doc" had been identified, they were brought back to the U.S.A. and sent on a public relations tour to promote the war effort. They were wined and dined, and treated like celebrities. Gagnon loved the attention and his newfound fame, but "Doc" was uncomfortable in the spotlight, and Hayes was showing signs of combat stress. Hayes began drinking heavily, driven by guilt over surviving when so many of his friends had been killed.

When the war ended, all three flagraisers chose to leave the armed forces. Hayes returned to his old Gila Indian reservation in Arizona, where he continued to drink heavily and sank into poverty. He was eventually found dead in a ditch, after a heavy drinking spree.

Gagnon returned to New Hampshire, where he spent the rest of his life holding a series of dead-end jobs. Having enjoyed his time as a celebrity, he was bitter at having little to show for it in the end, and angry that his 15 minutes of fame never led to wealth or great success in life.

"Doc" was the only flag raiser who lived a fairly happy, normal life after the war. He returned to his hometown in Wisconsin, married his grade school sweetheart, became a prosperous undertaker, and raised a seemingly well-adjusted family. But "Doc" had horrible memories of Iwo Jima (in particular, he'd seen how the Japanese had tortured and mutilated his best friend, "Iggy", and preferred to forget all about it). He stashed away all of his wartime memorabilia (including a Navy Cross that he'd received for racing through heavy fire to tend to wounded Marines), and never showed them to anyone. Doc Bradley never regarded himself as a hero, telling anyone who asked, "The only heroes were the ones who didn't come back." He never forgave himself for not being there to save Iggy. In the end, James Bradley finishes his story and tells the audience why his father and his friends felt uncomfortable being called heroes. The movie ends with a clip of the Marines and sailors at a beach on Iwo Jima and going swimming.

[edit] Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews with the review tallying website rottentomatoes.com reporting that 125 out of the 170 reviews they tallied were positive for a score of 74% and a certification of "fresh."^[1]

The film made the top ten list of the National Board of Review. Eastwood also earned a Golden Globe nomination for Directing. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards - for Best Sound and Sound Editing. Film critic Richard Roeper said "Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers stands with the Oscar-winning Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby as an American masterpiece. It is a searing and powerful work from a seventy-six-year-old artist who remains at the top of his game." and "Flags of our Fathers is a patriotic film in that it honors those who fought in the Pacific, but it is also patriotic because it questions the official version of the truth, and reminds us that superheroes exist only in comic books and cartoon movies." [2]

The film has been criticized for essentially expanding a single chapter of the book into a whole movie for political purposes. As a result, some critics described the film as "fiercely anti-war. Eastwood has made it now for a reason."[3]

Instead of a linear storyline like the book, the film is shown through a series of flashbacks. Paul Haggis, the screenwriter of the film, has stated that it could not be told as a straightforward movie because the book was "too big and too good".^{[citation needed]} "The ambitious script ... 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. .... That would be the parallels to the Iraq War and the lies being perpetrated in the name of blind patriotism. That would be the honor due the soldiers who fight in the face of death on foreign shores and then face disdain at home .... Eastwood's film [is] a fierce attack on wartime hypocrisy and profiteering, is also an indelibly moving salute to the soldiers who don’t deserve to walk alone for following their own sense of duty."[4]

The movie has been criticized for omitting black soldiers, drawing the ire of a small number of veterans groups. [5] In fact, black Marines are seen in scenes where the mission is being outlined, and during the initial landings - where a wounded black Marine is being carried away. During the end credits historical photographs taken during the Battle of Iwo Jima also show black Marines. This makes the film historically accurate, as although black soldiers fought in the battle, they were restricted to auxillary roles such as ammunition supply. This means that they would not have been involved in the major assaults on the island but would have solely taken part in defensive actions.[6]

[edit] Cast

Actor	Real Life Role
Ryan Phillippe	John "Doc" Bradley
Jesse Bradford	Rene Gagnon
Adam Beach	Ira Hayes
John Benjamin Hickey	Keyes Beech
John Slattery	Bud Gerber
Barry Pepper	Mike Strank
Jamie Bell	Ralph "Iggy" Ignatowski
Paul Walker	Hank Hansen
Robert Patrick	Colonel Chandler Johnson
Neal McDonough	Capt. Dave Severance
Melanie Lynskey	Pauline Harnois/Gagnon
Tom McCarthy	James Bradley
Chris Bauer	Commandant Alexander Vandegrift
Judith Ivey	Belle Block
Myra Turley	Madeline Evelley
Joseph Cross	Franklin Sousley
Benjamin Walker	Harlon Block
Alessandro Mastrobuono	Lindberg
Scott Reeves	Lundsford
Stark Sands	Walter Gust
George Grizzard	Old John Bradley
Harve Presnell	Old Dave Severance
Len Cariou	Old Keyes Beech
Christopher Curry	Ed Block
Bubba Lewis	Belle's Young Son
Beth Grant	Mrs. Gagnon
Connie Ray	Mrs. Sousley
Ann Dowd	Mrs. Strank
Mary Beth Peil	Mrs. Bradley
David Patrick Kelly	President Harry S. Truman
Jon Polito	Borough President
Ned Eisenberg	Joe Rosenthal
Gordon Clapp	General "Howlin' Mad" Smith
V.J. Foster	Major on Plane
Kirk B.R. Woller	Bill Genaust
Tom Verica	Lieutenant Pennel
Jason Gray-Stanford	Lieutenant Schrier
Matt Huffman	Lieutenant Bell
David Hornsby	Louis Lowery
Brian Kimmet	Sergeant 'Boots' Thomas

[edit] Trivia

The person singing in the opening sequence was believed to be Clint Eastwood by some viewers. In the end credits the singer is listed as "Don Runner". Since Eastwood's mother's last name was Runner, this could be a pseudonym or relative of Clint Eastwood.

Filming took place in Chicago, Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Iwo Jima (for only two weeks) and in Sandvík, Iceland. Iceland was chosen for the filming due to the characteristic black sand found on the beaches, similar to Iwo Jima.

Barry Pepper's character Mike Strank is offered a promotion to keep him out of heavy fire by Captain Dave Severance, his company commander. Severence reasons that "you've been through this before." Coincidentally, Barry Pepper had stormed the beaches of Normandy in Saving Private Ryan as the sniper, Pvt. Daniel Jackson.

Iwo Jima was digitally recreated for use in the film.

[edit] References

[edit] DVD

The DVD was released in the US by Paramount Home Entertainment on February 6, 2007. It is devoid of any special features.

A Two-Disc Special Collector's Edition DVD is currently scheduled for release on May 22, 2007. It will also be released on HD DVD, and Blu-ray formats.

[edit] External links

• Flags of Our Fathers Official Movie Site.
• Find the Best Movies Flags of our Fathers Trailer, Review, Rating
• Flags of Our Fathers Reviews at Metacritic.com
• Flags of Our Fathers at the Internet Movie Database
• Flags of Our Fathers Trailer
• Interview: Clint Eastwood Flags Of Our Fathers
• 3-D Stereo Photograph of Iwo Jima Flag-raising - From The Tampa Tribune and TBO.com
• eFilmCritic.com interview with James Bradley about "Flags of Our Fathers"
• eFilmCritic.com interview with Barry Pepper about "Flags of Our Fathers"
• Flags of our Fathers at Rotten Tomatoes
• Flags of Our Fathers filming locations at the TheyFilmHere.com

Films directed by Clint Eastwood

Play Misty for Me • High Plains Drifter • Breezy • The Eiger Sanction • The Outlaw Josey Wales • The Gauntlet • Bronco Billy • Firefox • Honkytonk Man • Sudden Impact • Pale Rider • Heartbreak Ridge • Bird • White Hunter Black Heart • The Rookie • Unforgiven • A Perfect World • The Bridges of Madison County • Absolute Power • Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil • True Crime • Space Cowboys • Blood Work • Mystic River • The Blues: Piano Blues • Million Dollar Baby • Flags of Our Fathers • Letters from Iwo Jima