Dan's Papers - November 3, 2006 - Flags of Our Fathers

Atten'chun! I'm standing up and saluting Clint Eastwood for his brave WWII film Flags of Our Fathers, which does not simplistically aggrandize war as an act of bravery. If I had a naval fleet, I'd give him a 21-gun salute for not retiring at age 76 and instead, doing his best works, eclipsing directors who've conformed to high-budget, flash-in-the-pans who cater to box office receipts.

Flags tracks the tribulations besetting three of the men who helped raise the flag on Iwo Jima, immortalized by an iconic photo, during the battle for the island that lasted more than a month. It was the most deadly battle of that war; 6,821 Americans and more than 18,000 Japanese lost their lives. (The complete director, Mr. Eastwood, is preparing another Iwo Jima film for the Japanese, Letters from Iwo Jima, from their own fighters' viewpoints. It will be released next year.) As in its literary source, the film describes three narratives, the intensive combat for the eight square-mile island, and the preparation for that battle and the after-effects thereof on the three surviving flag-raisers, who are sent back to the States as poster boys for publicity stunts, presumably, to sell War Bonds and were used by every ambitious politician, corporate big-shot or just plain "celebrity" as accessible, media-friendly heroes. It did not take long for the "heroes" to feel uncomfortable (to say the least) in the midst of all the red, white and blue, glory-profiteering because they survived when so many of their comrades did not.

Eastwood's film, as adapted by William Broyles Jr. and Paul Haggis from the book by James Bradley (son of one of the three iconic figures who survived) and Ron Powers, has a complex structure from which Eastwood does not flinch. He doesn't contrive popular rah-rah-rah, easy flag-waving for thrilling cinematic climaxes. In Flags, war just rages, horrifically, it does not allow movie-going young men or women to conjure up dreams of glory. Comparisons to Saving Private Ryan, are a given. Steven Spielberg's brilliant movie virtuously presented, in opening scenes, a tremendously crushing picture of violence. However, having made its shocking cinematic statement, it slid too readily into the standard 40s and 50s war movie in color. Ironically, when Clint went to acquire film rights, Spielberg had gotten there first. They struck a deal, Spielberg would co-produce and Eastwood direct. Was there friction? I don't know. Eastwood has no doubt cut profits with his unstinting desire to let everyone know that there are no heroes. Each individual, forced to kill, only wanted to stay alive. And when they did, life became an indescribable hell, comparable only to their experience at war.

Flags of Our Fathers opens with a spectacular recreation of the Mt. Suribachi flag raising. Spectacular because as the flag moves upward, you think that you hear applause, and you do. The camera pulls back to reveal the scene staged at a rally in Chicago's Soldier Field. It is totally fake, except for three men, "Doc" Bradley (so perfect for Ryan Phillippe), Ira Hayes, a Native American (an especially affecting performance by Adam Beach) and Rene Gagnon, an enterprising sort who saw this as a passport to riches,(played by Jesse Bradford). Eastwood references the original photo, taken by AP photographer Joe Rosenthal (Ned Eisenberg), a great deal. President Roosevelt ordered the three back for a publicity tour in 1945. Whether they were the ideal choice for this duty was questionable. The tour took a heavy toll on the men, Hayes especially, who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and alcoholism, and Bradley, who steadfastly refused to talk about his experiences with anyone, not even his family.

The heavily edited, checker-board patterning allows for a saga-like sweep of action and emotion that gathers deep insight and a power packed punch that can leave you stunned, haunted and questioning.

Guy-Jean de Fraumeni is the producer/writer/director of award-winning European and American feature films. He has been a judge at major film and TV award competitions, including the Oscars, the Emmys and various film festivals. Sarah Halsey assists him.