Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers (WGA):

Iris Yamashita (screenplay)
Iris Yamashita (story) ...

Release Date:

12 January 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Tagline:

From the director of "Flags of our Fathers" comes the completion of the Iwo Jima saga

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.

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Island | Japanese Army | Battle | Invasion

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 16 wins & 15 nominations

Cast

Ken Watanabe	...	General Kuribayashi
Kazunari Ninomiya	...	Saigo
Tsuyoshi Ihara	...	Baron Nishi
Ryo Kase	...	Shimizu
Shido Nakamura	...	Lieutenant Ito (as Shidou Nakamura)
Hiroshi Watanabe	...	Lieutenant Fujita
Takumi Bando	...	Captain Tanida
Yuki Matsuzaki	...	Nozaki
Takashi Yamaguchi	...	Kashiwara
Eijiro Ozaki	...	Lieutenant Okubo
Nae	...	Hanako
Nobumasa Sakagami	...	Admiral Ohsugi
Luke Eberl	...	Sam (as Lucas Elliot)
Sonny Saito	...	Medic Endo (as Sonny Seiichi Saito)
Steve Santa Sekiyoshi	...	Kanda

Also Known As:

Red Sun, Black Sand (USA) (working title)
Cartas desde Iwo Jima (Argentina) (Peru) (Spain) (Venezuela) [es]
Lettres d'Iwo Jima (Canada: French title) (France) [fr]
Dopisy z Iwo Jimy (Czech Republic) [cs]
Grammata apo to Iwo Jima (Greece) [el]
Iô-Jima kara no tegami (Japan) [ja]
Iwo Jima'dan mektuplar (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Kirjad Iwo Jimalt (Estonia) [et]
Kirjeitä Iwo Jimalta (Finland) [fi]
Lettere da Iwo Jima (Italy) [it]
Letters from Iwo Jima (Germany) [de]
Letters from Iwo Jima (Denmark) [da]
Listy z Iwo Jima (Slovakia) [sk]
Listy z Iwo Jimy (Poland) [pl]

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic war violence.

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | Canada:14A (British Columbia) (re-rating on appeal) | Canada:18A (British Columbia) (original rating) | Ireland:15A | Singapore:NC-16 | Norway:15 | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Brazil:14 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Australia:MA | USA:R (certificate #43136) | Argentina:16 | Sweden:15 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Portugal:M/16 (Qualidade) | Spain:13 | South Korea:15 | Malaysia:18SG (DVD) | Peru:14 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Denmark:15 | South Africa:16 | Netherlands:16 | France:U (with warning)

Filming Locations:

Iceland

Company:

Amblin Entertainment

Trivia:

Ken Watanabe read actual letters sent by Imperial Japanese Army Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi to his family from Iwo Jima while preparing for his role.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: All the motor vehicles have the steering wheel on the left. Japanese vehicles, like the British, have the steering wheel on the right, as they keep to the left side of the road.

Quotes:

General Tadamichi Kuribayashi: If our children can live safely for one more day it would be worth the one more day that we defend this island.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The O'Reilly Factor: (2008-06-20)" (2008)

Eastwood Has Done It Again...

At the age of 74, Clint Eastwood became the oldest person to win the Best Director Oscar for "Million Dollar Baby". With his new movie; "Letters From Iwo Jima," it looks like he might set the record even higher.

In "Flags of of our Fathers" we look into the horribly graphic War World II from the American point of view. In the movie which was filmed back to back with "Flags of our Fathers," in "Letters to Iwo Jima" we see it how it was for the opposing Japanese side.

Letters from Iwo Jima is a truly incredible, yet horrifying experience. The film seemingly pulls the audience into the middle of the war, with explosions and bullets going off everywhere, and disturbing screams of agony coming from the wounded soldiers. The film can be confusing at times, with the Japanese language and sudden attacks and explosions, but things are all cleared up at the end.

Eastwood has really outdone himself this time, at the age of 76 years he has created one of the best (if not the best) war films in history. During the two and a half hours not once did I look at watch, nor did the film begin to drag. Letters from Iwo Jima is a true masterpiece, possibly even the best film of 2006.

9.5/10