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Flags of Our Fathers suggested that the Japanese front line on the beach at Iwo Jima, like the first American troops to land, was doomed before the battle even began. Letters from Iwo Jima, the second film in Clint Eastwood's two-part exploration of the major World War II battle, confirms that suggestion and explores the meaning of their predicament. Letters looks at the battle from the Japanese view, and it shows us the truth was even worse: The general in charge thought there was no point in even setting up a line on the beach, but compromised with other commanders who simply said it was unheard of not to have men on the beach when defending an island. Meanwhile, with 22,000 troops and little hope of reinforcements to counter what would be a much bigger American force, that general knew Japan could not win the battle anywhere on the island.
Brilliantly played by Ken Watanabe, General Kuribayashi is a dedicated soldier doing the best he can to carry out a doomed mission. He has compassion for his troops and once lived and made friends in America. At the same time, he's fiercely determined to keep fighting, saying every day he does is one more day the mainland of Japan will be safe. Kuribayashi is at the heart of the film, along with draftee Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a new father who just wants to get home alive to meet his baby girl. Letters follows them from the preparation for battle through the gradual diminishing of the Japanese force. But it's not a typical war movie any more than is Flags. This is a story of men facing death, a hard two hours and 21 minutes that pays off, when it does, with subtle performances and thought-provoking twists.
Taken together, Letters and Flags are a study in war and its representation. There are parallels both prosaic and fascinating: In Flags, a commander worries that the Navy couldn't bombard the island longer in preparation for the landing; in Letters, the Japanese troops just wish the Americans would invade and stop the unnerving bombardment. In Flags, because Mt. Suribachi has been won, capped by the famous flag-raising, soldiers bereft of their buddies are expected to celebrate like conquering heroes. In Letters, because Suribachi has been lost, some Japanese officers expect the soldiers who fought there to kill themselves out of shame. The realities of the war are misrepresented on both sides for propoganda purposes.
Letters is a better film than Flags because it's more consistent in tone, playing out almost entirely on the island. But it's also a daring project for any filmmaker, let alone an American. Eastwood and writers Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis make Kuribayashi a sympathetic character in some ways despite the fact that he knowingly sent thousands of men to their deaths. He's presented as not just a unlucky general following orders, but a man tragically honor-bound to serve both his country and his men. It's possible to disagree with his choices, particularly in a nation now paying the price for an unnecessary war gone wrong, but Kuribayashi's motives are pure. Like Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby, it's a film about a man living with the costs of his actions, though Kuribayashi doesn't suffer the same sort of personal regret that plagued Eastwood's characters. Also like those films, Letters reflects on a dying world. A flashback to a dinner party where U.S. Army officers present the visiting Kuribayashi with a prized handgun has an innocence that suggests pre-World War I Europe. Another Japanese officer on Iwo Jima, who was an equestrian medalist at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics wears an ascot and a wistful sense of loss. More so than in Flags, Eastwood portrays Iwo Jima as the dawn of the postwar era.
For an American, it's interesting and very enlightening to see the war from the opposite perspective, especially early in the film as the backstory is laid down. But once the 35-day battle is well under way and the Japanese are hidden in caves, only coming out sporadically and mostly at night, Letters is slow going. Still, it regularly rewards the viewer's patience. Both of these films shed new light on a period of history that heavily shaped today's world. If you can only make time for one of them, Letters should be it.