Review of Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) by Tom W — 23 Jan 2012
Running over two hours long, I wouldn't say it was a drag, but it was starting to wear thin. However, that tends to be the fatal flaw of most war films that choose to focus on the emotional plights of several of the characters in the film.
An interesting counter-point to the US perspective but it also seemed heavily influenced by how the West tells it's war stories so who knows just how authentic this actually is. Was a little hard to warm to any of the characters, perhaps because there was this ever present "oh well I guess I'll just kill myself" element to every one of them.
Now, that might be historically accurate, who knows, but it doesn't help make any of the characters relatable. It also wasn't anywhere near as gory or as realistic as some modern day war films seemed to be, I'm not sure whether that is a good thing or not, put plainly, its no Saving Private Ryan which has gut wrenching set pieces.
All in all though, it was enthralling enough and at times beautifully shot.
This review of Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) was written by Tom W on 23 Jan 2012.
Letters from Iwo Jima has generally received very positive reviews.
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