Letters From Iwo Jima

I recently did a Q&A with Iris Yamashita who is an author and screenwriter and she wrote the screenplay Letters From Iwo Jima and gave it to Clint Eastwood. Letters From Iwo Jima is about the Battle of Iwo Jima from the point of view of the Japanese side. My grandfather and I watched it together last night and we were impressed with it. It was actually my second time watching it, but my first time watching and paying attention to it. The first time I watched it and didn’t pay attention I was a 17 year old going on 18 in USA History who didn’t appreciate war movies and was more focused on working on an art project while the movie was on. Now as a 31 year old my perspective has changed. 

Perspective & Story Telling

I loved that this movie humanized some of the Japanese soldiers. It showed that characters like Saigo did not want to go to war but obviously didn’t have a choice. The movie is also a reminder of how awful war is no matter what side you’re on. I enjoyed the fact that we saw flashbacks of Saigo a fictional soldier played by Kazunari Ninomiya & the real General Tadamichi Kuribayashi played by Ken Watanabe of their lives before they went to battle. I also love the witty line Kuribayashi tells the commander about to whip Saigo and his friend, A good officer uses his head not his whip. I felt bad for Kurbayashi when he told an American friend of his that The US would be the last place Japan would go to war with.

Overall

I recommend the movie. It is seeing history from another perspective without obviously defending what Japan did. Thank you Iris Yamashita for writing the screenplay that Clint Eastwood put on the screen! I can’t wait to do our Q&A next year discussing you writing the screenplay to this movie as well as your upcoming audio series.