Two war dramas directed by Clint Eastwood. ‘Flags of Our Fathers’ (2006) is based on the book by James Bradley and Ron Powers. In February 1945, even as victory in Europe was finally within reach, the war in the Pacific raged on.

One of the most crucial and bloodiest battles of the war was the struggle for the island of Iwo Jima, which culminated with what would become one of the most iconic images in history: five Marines and a Navy corpsman raising the American flag on Mount Suribachi. But the surviving flag raisers had no interest in being held up as symbols and did not consider themselves heroes; they wanted only to stay on the front with their brothers in arms who were fighting and dying without fanfare or glory. ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’ (2006) is based on the book ‘Picture Letters from Commander in Chief’ by Tadamichi Kuribayashi.

The island of Iwo Jima stands between the American military force and the home islands of Japan. Therefore the Imperial Japanese Army is desperate to prevent it from falling into American hands and providing a launching point for an invasion of Japan. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) is given command of the forces on the island and sets out to prepare for the imminent attack.

General Kuribayashi, however, does not favour the rigid traditional approach recommended by his subordinates, and resentment and resistance fester among his staff.

Critic Reviews for Flags of Our Fathers

• *“Eastwood's two-film project is one of the most visionary of all efforts to depict the reality and meaning of battle.” * – Roger Ebert , Chicago Sun-Times
• “[Flags] fits into Eastwood's late-in-life agenda – to make violence, even in self-defense, seem soul-killing, and to expose the gulf between reality and myth. After this, how can we ever again make our peace with the iconography of war?” – David Edelstein , New York Magazine/Vulture