Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers (WGA):

William Broyles Jr. (screenplay) and
Paul Haggis (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

20 October 2006 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama | History | War

Tagline:

A Single Shot Can End The War

Plot:

The life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, a turning point in WWII.

Plot Keywords:

Iwo Jima | Heroism | WWII | Soldier | Pacific Ocean

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 10 wins & 13 nominations

Cast

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	...	Captain Severance
Melanie Lynskey	...	Pauline Harnois
Thomas McCarthy	...	James Bradley (as Tom McCarthy)
Chris Bauer	...	Commandant Vandegrift
Judith Ivey	...	Belle Block
Myra Turley	...	Madeline Evelley

MPAA:

Rated R for sequences of graphic war violence and carnage, and for language.

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

UK:15 | Singapore:NC-16 | Finland:K-15 | Australia:MA | USA:R (certificate #42983) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Ireland:15A | Netherlands:16 | Philippines:R-13 (MTRCB) | Norway:15 | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Spain:18 | Portugal:M/12 | South Korea:15 | Argentina:13 | Peru:14 | Argentina:16 | Brazil:16 | New Zealand:R15 | Sweden:15 | Malaysia:18SG (DVD)

Filming Locations:

Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

Jared Leto turned down a key role in order to commit his time to his band, 30 Seconds to Mars.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: Petty officer Badley's white uniform is post war. You can see two slits for the pockets. Pre-war dress whites had such pockets, but with a blue yoke and cuffs. Postwar dress white uniforms have them as well. During WWII, a simple patch pocket of the Undress White uniform was used, dress whites being discontinued for the duration.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Soldiers: Corpsman! Corpsman! Corpsman! Corpsman! For God sakes, corpsman! Corpsman! Corpsman!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The O'Reilly Factor: (2008-06-09)" (2008)

Soundtrack:

Knock Knock

An amazing accomplishment

I've always felt that when you fictionalize a story about war, you dishonor the memory of so many people who have a compelling story to tell by choosing to make something up instead *cough*privateryan*cough*.

The problem with war movies about real people is that you have to deal with complexities of character and plot that the genre simply doesn't lend itself easily to.

So when the story at hand aims to pose questions like "what does it mean to do the wrong things for the right reasons" and tries to debunk the popular myth of herodom, there's very little margin for error.

Enter Clint Eastwood. Never one to shy away from challenging stories, this is a much bigger effort than his usual understated character dramas. On the one hand, it doesn't "feel" like a Clint Eastwood movie, but on the other, it feels at home in his themes of used-up heroes -- the person behind the larger than life persona. These are complex characters in very difficult situations, and he presents them in a way that's straightforward and non-judgmental, so we're left to decide the answers to the film's central conflicts ourselves.

To a person, the cast is up to the challenge. It's hard not to admire Ryan Phillippe for a restrained and thoughtful performance, but the real kudos go to Adam Beach. Almost every aspect of Beach's character is cliché, with one minor exception - that's really the way Ira Hayes was. So the challenge was to portray Hayes as a real person despite the cliché, and the result is one of the most heartbreaking and troubling performances in the film. Here's a guy who is portrayed as a hero, who really has no answers at all.

There's a lot not to like about the film. It's not "entertaining" per se, in the same way that any war memorial in DC is not entertaining. Nor is it a particularly approachable film. What it lacks in popcorn-munching entertainment value, it replaces with gravitas. This is an important film, about an important time. It's status as a valuable history lesson is secondary to it's reflections on human nature and our society. As such, it deserves to be seen, and contemplated, and appreciated.

I can't wait for Letters From Iwo Jima (the companion piece, also from Clint Eastwood, told from the Japanese point of view.) Taken together, the scope of this project is breathtaking.