Flags of Our Fathers

Clint Eastwood is known for a gritty, edgy cinematic style that has become the hallmark of his Oscar winning films. His story-telling stands out, making a human statement amidst all the glitz and the glamour. This war epic, set in 1945 takes the Eastwoodian tradition a step ahead with a story told from the heart. Flags of Our Fathers is based on the memoirs of James Bradley, son of Doc Bradley, who shot to fame after his heroic deed of being one of the six soldiers who hoisted the American flag atop Mt.Suribachi on the island of Iwo Jima.

The taking of the island was a crucial turning point in the war. For America, it was symbolic of the triumph of the millions who had pinned their hopes, and money on the war that had, for long, seemed to go nowhere. And it was a lone picture, taken by Associate Press Joe Rosenthal of the six soldiers, or rather their backs, that made America look up and take notice. In all fairness, the photograph was as confusing and wrong a moment in history as the hypocritical media circus that followed it. Rosenthal had not even made it to the top of the mountain when the original flag was hoisted by soldiers who had risked their lives to conquer it. One of the Big Daddies who stayed behind while his young soldiers fought wanted the flag for his office. It was a second, bigger flag that was put up by another set of soldiers who arrived the next day that was photographed by Rosenthal. As fate would have it, it was these six soldiers who shot to fame, and not the real heroes.

The US Government saw the ray of hope, a massive potential for a fund-raising campaign in that one single picture. A retired captain (Harve Presnell) tells James Bradley, If you can get a picture, the right picture, you can win a war." The three young soldiers realize this as their mates battle and lose their lives on the field while they tour their country, repeatedly labelled heroes: all for hoisting a flag.

Within days the U.S. government calls the 3 surviving flag-raisers back to the mainland: Doc Bradley (Ryan Phillippe), a Navy Corpsman called upon to help the Marines raise the flag; Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford), a "runner" who happened to bring the flag to the mountaintop; and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach), an Indian who is the most uncomfortable at finding himself a national hero. The rest of the movie captures the rise and fall of the three surviving heroes as the government and media project the picture as a prop for their war bonds campaign.

The story moves back and forth in time. And on several levels. There are shots of a bloody battlefield, interspersed with scenes where the three reluctant heroes are being celebrated by the government and a public with no idea of the unmentionable horrors they have gone through. In between, it cuts back to recent times where we see a young James Bradley interviewing people who knew his father.

The tale is perceptively crafted by ace cinematographer Tom Stern, who uses washed out colors and monochromatic flashbacks to weave a visually stunning story of valor, hope, camaraderie, and futility of war.

The movie has enough poignant, thought provoking moments to give you several days worth of introspection and intrigue. As a huge Navy task force steams toward Iwo Jima, a careless marine on a troop transport falls overboard. His young friends jeer and hoot, but quickly fall silent as they realize no one will stop to rescue their friend bobbing helplessly in the waves as one marine says, So much for no man left behind.

In another scene, a Japanese soldier lies dying next to a critically injured Yank, the two men now linked in death. While searching the deep caves of the islands, the American soldiers stumble across the horrific discovery that the surviving Japanese are committing suicide with their grenades. The Indian soldier Ira faces persistant racism despite his hero status. This is made even more noticable when a bar owner refuses to serve hin drinks even while he is campaigning as a war hero.

The disorientation felt by Bradley and the other two surviving flag-raisers becomes more and more evident as they battle their newly acquired national hero status. They cant get over the nagging realization that the campaign was less than honest - they knew the true heroes of Iwo Jima included the dead and mangled men they left behind. They try desperately to rid themselves of the Hero label: the most tragic being Ira, who wastes away and is found dead on an open barn.

The last scene shows the soldiers joining their friends in a childlike revelry in the sea. The movie closes with an elegant re-stating of the fact we already know - that men don't fight for a cause, or for glory, but for the guy next to them in the foxhole. And that the heroes we make are the heroes we need. That true heroes die fighting to save their friends, not pausing a moment to think, to know, to celebrate.