Review of Flags of Our Fathers (2006) by Dan D — 20 Feb 2012

Clint Eastwood's captivating, intimate and involving portrait of the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman who landed on Iwo Jima island in 1945, and encountered death and unspeakable horrors, they raised the U.

S. flag on the island on top of Mount Suribachi, an Associated Press photographer snapped a picture of them raising the flag and the rest is history, it became the most reproduced picture all time. The men were labeled heros for the propaganda machine and put on display for a U.

S. war bond-selling tour. A stirring film that is often profound in its simplicity. The film's exceptional young cast all deliver superlative performances they included Ryan Phillippe, Barry Pepper, Jesse Bradford, John Benjamin, Jamie Bell, and Paul Walker, but special kudos must go to Adam Beach for his sensitive, heartbreaking portrayal of Ira Hayes which is the most memorable performance in the film, a Native American who is reluctantly made into a war hero, haunted and traumatize by his war experiences, and suffering with deep guilt of surviving after so many of his comrades were killed, it will lead to his choric alcoholism.

Eastwood's direction brilliantly captures all the hell of the battle of Iwo Jima, with intense close ups of realistic combat with troop platoons and the impressive aerial bombardments, as well as the U.

S. battleships shelling the island. A remarkable cinematic accomplishment by Eastwood that does not glorify war. Highly Recommended.