Clint Eastwood: Letters from Iwo Jima

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writer: Iris Yamashita, Paul Haggis, Tadamichi Kuribayashi and Tsuyoko Yoshido

Plot: The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it. -IMDB.com


Cast                                                                    Character 

Ken Watanabe              ...                              General Kuribayashi
Kazunari Ninomiya     ...                                    Saigo
Tsuyoshi Ihara             ...                                    Baron Nishi
Ryo Kase                     ...                                    Shimizu
Shido Nakamura         ...                                     Lieutenant Ito
Hiroshi Watanabe       ...                                     Lieutenant Fujita
Takumi Bando            ...                                     Captain Tanida
Yuki Matsuzaki          ...                                     Nozaki
Takashi Yamaguchi   ...                                      Kashiwara
Eijiro Ozaki                ...                                     Lieutenant Okubo
Nae                             ...                                     Hanako

Thoughts:

Iwo Jima, the name of a place where people from the United State and from Japanese will never forget, is a barren island near Japanese mainland where in February 1945, one of the most significant battles in World War II had taken place (Geoffery 1996).

"Over the course of five weeks in February and March, 1945, an invasion force of 100,000 Americans (two thirds of them U.S. Marines) fought 22,000 entrenched Japanese infantrymen. Only 1,083 Japanese survived the battle, while 6,821 Americans were killed and 20,000 wounded." (Ebert 2007)

The film opens up with Japanese Archeologists searching the tunnels of Iwo Jima in 2005. They find something. Cut to 1945 where Saigo writes a letter to his wife, Hanako, telling her, "This is the hole that we will fight... and die in. Hanako, am I digging my own grave?"

General Kuribayashi, played by Ken Watanabe, in his mind says he is determined to serve and give his life for his country. Saigo says the Americans can have the island since it's too hot and nothing grows there. The Japanese soldiers build fortifications to defend their island. 

General Kuribayashi wants the artillery moved to Mount Suribachi and to higher ground off the beaches. He studies the map at night. A superior officer doesn't like Saigo's practice shooting so he says he will make him clean the platoon's boots. The General disagrees with that saying he should clean their guns instead. The General is more practical and sympathetic. 

An Olympic gold medalist, Baron Nishi, in horse jumping is on the island. He is said to woo the ladies quite effectively. He talks to General Kuribayashi and they admire each other a lot following each other's work. Nishi bought his horse in Italy and was difficult to train since the horse was so head strong. Nishi feels he is the same way. He says they are a perfect match. 

At dinner Kuribayashi and Nishi discuss the war and Nishi says the best thing to do is sink the island to the bottom of the sea. General Kuribayashi says to forget about fortifying the beach and to start digging tunnels and fight till the end. 

"Poor nutrition and unsanitary conditions take their toll; many die of dysentery including Kashiwara. The troops begin using the caves. Kashiwara's replacement, Superior Private Shimizu, arrives for duty. Saigo suspects that Shimizu is a spy from the Kempeitai sent to report on disloyal soldiers." Wikipedia.org

Saigo complains about the food and reveals he ran a bakery in Omiya with his wife, Hanako. The Kempeitai took their food and metal for supplies for the war. In flashback to the time he and Hanako were together a military officer tells him he has been drafted for war. His wife cries and begs for him to be able to stay. They refuse politely.

General Kuribayashi is insistent on defending Iwo Jima until their last man is dead. The other officers believe General Kuribayashi is better suited being behind a desk than commanding the army. 

One of the officers shows a picture of American medics to the troops and says they should target them. 

The fighting begins as American planes drop bombs on targets and shoot at the artillery guns. Nishi finds his horse badly injured. American ships have left Saipan and are on their way to Iwo Jima. 

General Kuribayashi gives a speech to the soldiers and tells them each one of them is not allowed to die until they have killed 10 enemy soldiers. He says do not expect to go home alive. Soldiers bow and honor a Buddhist shrine. 

One officer is relentlessly cruel to Saigo probably because he is young and physically weak. An American soldier with a flame thrower takes out a machine gun nest. Many of the Japanese soldiers commit suicide by grenade blast. 

A soldier named Ito almost beheads Shimizu and Saigo but General Kuribayashi saves their lives. He doesn't see the need to kill good soldiers just because they left their post. Headquarters denies reinforcements and tells Kuribayashi to fight honorably and die for his country. After a Japanese soldier shoots an American they bring him in the cave and are ordered by General Kuribayashi to treat him. Nishi wants to question the American for information. He tells him he was in the Olympics and they seem to get along find despite both being enemies. The American says he's from Oklahoma and his name is Sam. 

Sam eventually dies from his gunshot wound and Nishi reads the letter out loud from his mother asking him to come home safely. Nishi kills himself because he goes blind in combat.  Shimizu reveals he thought the Americans were savages but the American's mother's words were the same as his mothers words. He wants to fight for the general and his country. 

Shimizu pretends to have dysentery and another soldier joins him in trying to escape to surrender. One is shot by another Japanese soldier who knows they will surrender. 

American Marines take Shimizu and another Japanese soldier and make them prisoners of war. They are both shot by an American soldier. General Kuribayashi says let that be a lesson to anyone who wants to surrender. 

The remaining men from Suribachi make it to General Kuribayashi. He tries to offer them water but he doesn't have any. A soldier gives Saigo a cup to dig worms to eat. He hasn't eaten in 5 days. That is how desperate they are. 

General Kuribayashi  hears over the radio children from his hometown singing a patriotic song for him. He tells Saigo to burn his documents and chest and that everything happens in threes which means he will save his life a third time. Saigo does as he is ordered. Fujita is ordered by General Kuribayashi  to behead him after he is badly injured. Instead Fujita is shot by an American sharpshooter. General Kuribayashi  asks Saigo to bury him so that nobody will find him. The General shoots himself. 

Saigo is surrounded by Americans and is taken to the POW beach. "Back in 2005, the archaeologists complete their digging, revealing the bag of letters that Saigo had buried, and open it. As the letters spill out, the voices of the Japanese soldiers who wrote them resound." (Wikipedia.org)

Final Thoughts:

I thought the film was great. It's sad to see General Kuribayashi not get to be buried the proper way but I guess those things happen. The film was balanced and sympathetic to both Japanese and Americans in the war as soldiers take orders whether they like them or not. I hope I didn't get any of the plot details mixed up or recalled them incorrectly.

Trivia:

Most of the young cast knew nothing about the incidents on Iwo Jima as it is not taught in Japanese schools. -IMDB.com

Works Cited:

Emerson, Jim. "Letters from Iwo Jima." Rogerebert.com. Chicago Sun-Times. Web. 6 April 2019. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/letters-from-iwo-jima-2007
Parker, Geoffery. “Battle of Iwo Jima.” History.com. Ed. Robert Cowley. A&E Television Networks. Web. 15 Mar. 2016. <http://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/battle-of-iwo-jima>.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0498380/?ref_=ttfc_fc_tt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letters_from_Iwo_Jima