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By WAYNE KLEIN
An examination of the cost
of war and heroism on our humanity, Clint
Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" on the surface
plays like Steven Spielberg's "Saving Private
Ryan" redux. Of the two films "Flags" is the
better one although it loses momentum at the end
and if it had come first I suspect that "Flags."
"Flags" allows us a glimpse into the cost of
heroism to our humanity beyond the corrosive
effects showing in even more explicit detail the
post-traumatic stress syndrome that brewed within
the veterans of the World War II. Eastwood's film
doesn't break out the patriotic party favors that
Spielberg's more conventionally written drama did;
instead the director goes cuts right to the core
brutality and raw animalism of combat in a searing
way that very few films that done.
Focusing on the three surviving heroes of the flag
raising at Iwo Jima, Eastwood's film follows Pima
Indian Marine Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) , Navy
corpsman John "Doc" Bradley (Ryan Phillipe) and
opportunist Marine runner Rene Gagnon (Jesse
Bradford) interpolating their experience at Iwo
Jima along with their reception in the States at
various rallies to raise War Bonds. The flag
raising (actually it was the second flag raised
the first men who raise the flag are given no
credit and remain anonymous after the event)
occurs 5 days into the campaign to take the small
sulfur covered island Eastwood juxtaposes these
sequences popping forward and backward in time as
deftly as Christopher Nolan did in his film "The
Prestige."
While the message of the film gets muddled at
times and the film runs out of steam a half hour
before its conclusion, Eastwood's film still packs
considerable talent and demonstrates a director
who in his 7th decade takes as many risk as
director's half his age. While it might not be the
best film of the year (although with its bookend
"Letters from Iwo Jima" it certainly is a
contender for the title) , it's a stirring and
flawed film that would have worked better with
more character development (considering how much
time "Doc" is onscreen he remains little more than
a cipher and he's one of the main characters).
Eastwood's point about heroism sometimes being
little more than a constructed photo opportunity
and that the true sacrifice gets lost in the
publicity is noble but his themes get muddled in
this presentation. The film also jumps back and
forth in creating a diffuse narrative without a
true purpose and the result is that the structure
of the film undermines the film's ability to build
momentum and give us a sense of these faceless
individuals who suddenly represent the face of
victory. It robs the film of all meaning as the
credits roll. While that certainly was part of the
theme of Eastwood's film, giving us characters
that have little depth creates a large void at the
heart of the film that isn't easy to overcome. The
resulting film has a weighty, lofty, important
message but character that can deliver it with
impact.
The original theatrical presentation's color
scheme is captured and conveyed perfectly in this
top notch transfer. Images are crisp and sharp
with no analog artifacts (no surprise) whatsoever.
The audio mix effectively conveys the chaos of war
during the action sequences and the crowds that
followed the trio of heroes after they are whisked
away from the island to serve as poster boys for
American heroism. Eastwood provides a
complimentary music score that is arranged with
the assistance of his son Kyle Eastwood.
There are no special features. Why? Because
there's a double dip down the road once "Flags"
companion feature "Letters" turns up on home
video. It's unfortunate that fans are going to be
so cynically exploited by Paramount but not a
surprise.
An exceptional film "Flags of Our Fathers" is
powerful, gruesome and a clear eyed view of the
insanity of war and what the survivors went
through after they returned. It's a marvelous
looking film and the integration of the CGI images
are seamless giving this film eye popping
production values. Eastwood has lost none of his
skill and continues to develop as a richer, deeper
film director with time tackling new subjects with
a zest and invention of men (and women) half his
age. I can't recommend the movie as a purchase but
it is a solid rental despite its obvious flaws. |
