Letters From Iwo Jima

I watched Letters of Iwo Jima last night. What a great movie! I love anything that has to do with the Pacific War. It's the key to understanding anything, really, about the Japan you see today.

(To get a quick but thorough understanding, I highly recommend reading John Dower's Embracing Defeat. It reads like a story and explains the whole US-Japan love affair that took place in the immediate post-war really, really well. John Dower's an MIT historian, one of the best Japan hands out there.)

But anyway, Iwo Jima. There was some amazing actors by people I had not known about before, like Kazunari Ninomiya (who plays Saigo). Saigo's character is interesting because, while he understands  the ultra-nationalistic fever Japan's swept by he's also thoughtful, strategic, and not so crazy about the idea of dying for his country. Not necessarily the kind of qualities that the Imperial Army looked for in its soldiers, but it ends up taking him further than any of the other guys in his squadron. His character's a bridge between the Japan we know today and the Japan that perished in the war. (You'd be hard pressed to find any Japanese youth that are half as in love with the country as they were back then. People can hardly name the Emperor these days, let alone die for him.)

It's beautifully shot, too, amazing you can get that kind of scenery by just shooting in black-and-white-and-green, or whatever they used to get that cool tint.

Go see it, it's totally worth the $10.

Comments

[Jenna]

Kazunari Ninomiya is from the Japanese band Arashi. I'm glad you liked the movie Lisa.

[Alyssa]

I just saw this over the weekend too. I thought it was very well done.

tte yuuka.. it really bothered me how the erai hito had no problem cutting off their subordinates' heads.. onnaji team desho?