American History

Movies are simply not made to entertain a particular audience. Historical movies like The Letters from Iwo Jima prove to us that we are given the option to understand facts from history not only through books but through movies as well. Full-length films enable its viewers to transport through time and experience history first hand  the cries of soldiers and their defeat, the blasting sound of grenades, the battle itself and in the end - learn

The Letters of Iwo Jima is a war film based on an important historical event and was shown in theaters last 2006. The film primarily tackled the Battle of Iwo Jima, a segment from the Second World War between Japan and the United States and was waged in the island of Iwo Jima in Japan (Morison 2002).  The film is biased to show the perspective of the Japanese during the war. The Japanese Imperial Army forces and their heroism was highlighted and illustrated throughout the movie.

The review of the film can be made through a detailed study of the external and internal aspects of the film.  The external aspect refers to the outside factors that contributed in the making of the film (the director and producer, the actors, historical relevance and basis) and the internal aspect refers to all that was inside the film (the scenes and its background settings, the characters emotions, the message the film wants to present). The film was directed and co-produced by Clint Eastwood (an American), while most of the main and supporting actors were Japanese.  The movie also has a Japanese subtitle because it is intended for American as well as Japanese viewers.  It is rare for a movie to have a foreigner as director who aims present a film from the perspective of a different nationality.  The American audience was able to appreciate the film due to the scenes where American soldiers showed their loyalty and determination to win the battle. On the other half, the Japanese audience applauded when the film was able to depict the ordeals of their ancestors during the war. The setting of the movie took place on Japanese island of Iwo Jima, making the movie more realistic and giving the audience a feel of history. The film was able to show viewers different emotions in the scene where the Japanese were supposedly losing the war and a lot were dying, and at the same time having the island as their last defensive position against the American forces (Morison 2002).

The scenes and its background were exactly patterned with to show the past period.  The film was able to depict the scenes from the battle through careful crafting of the settings for the said scenes.  It was said that the Governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara was able to convince Eastwood to shoot on Iwo Jima (Ryuganji Movie Website) to make the movie more realistic.  The bunkers and tunnels of Iwo Jima, which still stands today is seen in the movie and contributed a lot in making the audience know and feel how it was to be a soldier in battle during the olden times.   The emotions of the actors shown in the movie can be described as being true to its very essence.  Since most of the actors were Japanese, they were able to easily relate with the movies theme. This is because most of their ancestors participated and took part during the Second World War and they feel like they owe their present stature to their ancestors.  Also, the portrayal of Japanese traits and customs were surely present in the movie, in particular the ritual of hara-kiri than to face and taste defeat from the enemy was given importance in the film to show the audience a bit of Japanese culture. The movies message is also clear  it is not always who has won in a battle sometimes it the journey towards winning and defeat that actually marks history.

It can be said that their portrayal of the actual scenes and events during that period were historically accurate, though some were scrutinized by movie critics and historians.  One of these events is the depiction of the Japanese military police to appear cold-blooded especially when shooting criminals. Aside from this, the introduction of terms like rifle and jeep  was used in the film as seen in history books (Official Association for the Advancement of Unbiased View of History Weblog).  In the movie, we see the portrayals of two people, the Americans and the Japanese, and because of this, we cannot help but compare the two during the course of the film.  In the onset, it can be predicted that since the director is an American, it is expected to see notable characteristics of Americans (heroism, courage, and honor) that is usually seen in American war movies.  They were instead portrayed as having the same characteristics as the Japanese, like the shooting of a captured Japanese soldier in cold blood.  Aside from this there were also scenes in which positive traits were showed, like the treatment of prisoners of war (POW) and the handling of injured enemy soldiers by both the Americans and the Japanese soldiers.

In summary, The Letters from Iwo Jima was able to illustrate and give the audience another perspective about the said historical event which some readers could easily miss when reading books. In turn we are given additional knowledge and perspective not only regarding the battle itself but also with regards to its participants (both the Japanese and the American soldiers). In reading historical books, we are given facts from a battle  the participants, the location, the number of estimated deaths, etc. In watching historical movies, we learn about the sentiments of the participants, we see right before our eyes how a beautiful island is destroyed by bombs in minutes and we are able to see the heroic emotion of those have who died. Movies warm our hearts and make us appreciate history to a whole new level.