Review of Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) by Joshua H — 26 Feb 2010

I believe I am in the minority on my belief that we have been force fed a diet of Clint Eastwood movies, over recent years, that we are told are major works by a major talent. Yes Mystic River was pretty good. Million Dollar Baby lost a little with repeat viewings. Flags of our Fathers seemed a little disjointed to me. But Letters From Iwo will be his Raging Bull, his Schindler's List, his Godfather. It is the closest thing to a perfect film put out in the past 15 years. The story is told with an understated beauty that we should be so lucky to see in movies pushed out over the past generation. The acting of Ken Watanabe will leave you actually feeling sympathy for a generation of Japanese we have never understood nor ever tried to understand. Actor Tsuyoshi Ihara who plays a Japanese tank commander with personal ties and emotional attachments to America, as did Watanabe's character. This movie momentarily borders or the melodramatic, but is deftly guided by Eastwood in what is by far his greatest work.

If you are in the mood for a good war movie, this is for you. If you are in the mood for a tear jerker, this is for you. If you are looking for that rarest of movies, a sub-title film that you become absorbed in, this is for you. This movie belongs in the same sentence with Goodfellas, Saving Private Ryan, and L.A. Confidential as the best movies of our generation that failed to be awarded the Academy Award for Best Picture.