Flags Of Our Fathers (2006)

In February, 1945, one of the fiercest battles of the Pacific theater of World War II occurs on the tiny island of Iwo Jima. Thousands of Marines attack the stronghold maintained by thousands of Japanese, and the slaughter on both sides is horrific. Early in the battle, an American flag is raised atop the high point, Mount Suribachi, and a photograph of the raising becomes an American sensation. As a powerful inspiration to war-sick Americans, the photo becomes a symbol of the Allied cause. The three surviving flag raisers, Rene Gagnon, John Bradley, and Ira Hayes, are whisked back to civilization to help raise funds for the war effort. But the accolades for heroism heaped upon the three men are at odds with their own personal realizations that thousands of real heroes lie dead on Iwo Jima, and that their own contributions to the fight are only symbolic and not deserving of the singling out they are experiencing. Each of the three must come to terms with the honors, exploitation, and grief that they face simply for being in a photograph.



Trivia: The scene in which a sailor falls from a ship and is left in the water as the fleet steams toward Iwo Jima actually happened. The incident is described in of Iwo by Richard Wheeler, himself a veteran of the fighting. Quote: 'According to Coast Guardsman Chet Hack of LST 763: "We got the man-overboard signal from the ship ahead of us. We turned to port to avoid hitting him and threw him a life preserver, but had orders not to stop. We could not hold up twenty-four ships for one man. Looking back, we could see him waving his arms, and it broke our hearts that we couldn't help him. We hoped that one of our destroyers or other small men-of-war that were cruising around to protect us would pick him up, but we never heard that they did." Shot back-to-back with Letters from Iwo Jima. The Japanese government would not permit filming of combat scenes on Iwo Jima, so scenes were filmed in Iceland which also has black sand beaches due to volcanic activity. For the companion film Letters from Iwo Jima the black sand found in Barstow, CA was used-along with special effects-to substitute for Iwo Jima's black sand.


If you hadn't noticed I didn't include my catch phrase "hilarity ensues". I did this out of respect for my grandfather and the men who fought on that small barren rock in the Pacific. My grandfather was stationed on one of the landing crafts that participated in the landings. He made it back, many didn't. He would have turned 100 last week. This movie really has a lot to say about defining a hero. The three surviving members of the flag raisers that return don't consider themselves heroes and they struggle with the fact that everyone else does. When this movie came out a lot was made of the fact that it seemed disjointed and hard to follow sense it didn't have a straight forward sequential timeline but bounced back and forth. I was expecting that so it didn't bother me at all, it was more like the three guys were remembering what had happened and we were in on it. One thing it really didn't do is convey the horrors on that island. I think in that respect Letters From Iwo Jima did a better job, though it was nothing compared to some recent war movies like Saving Private Ryan or the miniseries Band Of Brothers (if you haven't seen this, please do, it is well worth it). But in retrospect, the story really wasn't about the fight, it was about the soldiers. And one more thing about heroes, every single man and woman that puts on a uniform to defend our country is a hero in my eyes.