Flags of our Fathers
Clint Eastwood’s most recent directorial project Flags of our Fathers is a sombre, meditative fact-based war film concerning the battle for Iwo Jima in World War II, and how three soldiers came to be regarded as heroes simply for appearing in a photograph which showed them raising the American flag. This photograph proved to be excellent morale raising propaganda back in the States, and was even turned into a famous memorial statue in Washington DC after the war.
The film tells the story of John Bradley (Jesse Bradford), Rene Gagnon (Ryan Phillippe), and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach), three of the soldiers who appeared in the photograph. Following the battle to secure Iwo Jima, they are ordered to return to the States to help raise money to cover the ever escalating costs of the war by giving interviews and appearing at functions where they are endlessly praised as heroes.
Bradley is ambivalent about his new found celebrity status, and simply sees his task as following orders. Gagnon attempts to take as much advantage of the publicity as he can, as does his fiancé Melanie (Pauline Harnois). But Hayes feels guilt-ridden and slides into alcoholism because he cannot see why he should be regarded as any more of a hero than his comrades simply because he appeared in the photo.
The fascinating facts surrounding the actual flag raising are later revealed as it becomes clear one of the soldiers in the photo who later died was misidentified. Furthermore, for complicated reasons, the actual flag raising was done twice, which is what led to the confusion over exactly who was in it. These factors all contribute to Hayes increasing despair, and ultimately when the war is won, his tragic fall into obscurity provides the most interesting dramatic arc of the film. One particularly poignant moment sees him being refused alcohol in a bar in spite of his status as an all American hero, because he is a Native American.
The film is structured in rather awkward flashbacks, and certainly feels too long. A framing device involving Bradley’s son investigating his father’s life seems tacked on and as a result falls flat emotionally.
On the plus side, performances are all good, especially from Ryan Phillippe and Adam Beach. There are also some good bit parts from the likes of Robert Patrick, Barry Pepper and Jamie Bell. The battle scenes are both epic and appropriately gritty. Steven Spielberg, who acts as producer on this film, redefined the look of the war film with Saving Private Ryan, and visually this continues the trend of fierce graphic violence, muted colours, and hand-held camerawork. But Eastwood tries to make the film his own by introducing swooping shots of the battleships and warplanes which give the film a more epic feel. He doesn’t succeed entirely, and the mixture of old-school war epics and post Saving Private Ryan documentary realism feels a bit like attempting to mix oil and water.
On the whole, Flags of our Fathers is a modest success. It’s good, but not as powerful or moving as it should be, and at times veers dangerously close to the “worthy-but-dull” category. Its insights into the nature of heroism are interesting, but not terribly profound. It makes the obvious points that it was a necessary evil to make heroes out of those men, but that war is hell, and the real heroes are those who died. I am looking forward to seeing Letters from Iwo Jima, Eastwood’s companion piece due out next year, which apparently tells the story from the side of the Japanese. By all accounts, it is a far more interesting picture than Flags of our Fathers.
But if you do see this, see it on a big screen, and stay for the closing credits which contain photographs from the actual battle for Iwo Jima. These are far more haunting than anything Eastwood has staged.
Simon Dillon, December 2006.
