Letters from Iwo ima
Hi, im doing a project for film A2 at college on the representation of conflict in ww2 films. im looking for peoples opinions on the following questions-
-what do you make of a Hollywood film maker using an ''enemy'' point of view?does it work?why?
-do you still feel hatred towards the Japanses soldiers (if you are british or american) or has your hatred switched?
-does this film give a bias view?
-is there a sense oif trying to create an equal view over the both allies?
-can these types of films influence you views on war?
-what did you find most exciting/good about this film?
little and long answers will be both appreciated, thanks!
My pleasure – and what a great film it is! I've got the DVD and have now watched it several times. (Sadly – I still have great problems ﾂ"hearingﾂ" the rapid Japanese spoken ﾂ… but what the heck ﾂ…!) Here goes:
what do you make of a Hollywood film maker using an ''enemy'' point of view?does it work?why?
A great idea and why not? The only way you can come to terms with any situation regarding conflict is to try to look at both sides of the argument. (I confess that I can't always do that myself, as many people here are aware cough!)
Yes it worked admirably, in my opinion. It was, I feel, simply a matter of careful research and the application of the same. Eastwood always seems to have been a stickler for detail, and his attention in this regard came to the fore in this movie.
-do you still feel hatred towards the Japanses soldiers (if you are british or american) or has your hatred switched?
Sorry! This bit might go on a little ﾂ….! It's your key question isn't it!
Like one or two others on this forum, I'm a ﾂ"geezerﾂ". I was born in England during the period when that little shenanigans (a Gaelic word meaning something like ﾂ'arguable confrontation'ﾂ…) called World War II was still in full swing. I was brought up, at that time, to hate Japanese and Germans! (Nobody seemed to hate Italians – they just laughed at them; by the time I was born, about 70% of them were on ﾂ'our' side ﾂ… but that's another story.)
By the time I was (just) able to form memories – I remember recalling images of German POW's waving at me as they passed our house to do farm work. Real Nazis – uniforms and all!
On reflection, I didn't hate them – they were just lonely guys. Of course – some of them might have been responsible for terrible deeds, but I didn't know. I waved back.
But, yes – I did become indoctrinated to a degree against our former enemies. And understandably so, I feel. I grew to meet and know personally several people who had been guests of ﾂ'Der Führer' in delightful holiday retreats such as Buchenwald, Dachau, and Treblinka. I also met and knew many British vets who had idled their way through WWII building railways through Burma, working in mines in Japan, and working in mines in Silesia. Curiously, none of them seemed to be too enamoured of their hosts at the timeﾂ…
But did I feel hatred? Not sure. Possibly I did. But I had no personal experience to sway me in that regard. What I did eventually feel was an overriding desire to understand exactly what it was that had made civilized people behave in such a way. And, indeed, was it just ﾂ"themﾂ" – or are ﾂ"weﾂ" capable of the same thing?
As the years have passed, I feel that I have achieved just a little enlightenment on these questions. I have met many Japanese, and have studied (and still am studying) their culture and history. It fascinates me still haves me scratching my head from time to time – but I think I am slowly coming to terms with it. I find the German situation more complex in a way; after all – they are European, just like ﾂ"meﾂ". How could the folks that gave us Beethoven, Mahler and Goethe also give us Auschwitz and Zyklon ﾂ'B'?
Later of course, I realized that ﾂ"weﾂ" aren't always that nice either
.
So, whilst I would find it repugnant to apologize for the holocaust or ﾂ'Unit 731' or the treatment of POW's in Japanese hands (although with the latter – cultural considerations do come into play.), I also find a total reluctance to apologize for Dresden, Hamburg, Tokyo, Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
War does that to people – it dehumanizes them. It becomes a matter of survival. The holocaust and the activities of ﾂ'Unit 731' were not, of course, necessary to survival. Just barbaric. I think a few folks were getting a ﾂ'rush' out of it at the time. As for Nagasaki and Hiroshima – drastic actions indeed. Barbaric – yes. But I don't think anybody got a ﾂ'rush' from them. I think I have outlined my views on this one before in this forum. It can be justified, but I agree it can be arguable.
However, before I digress more – I don't think hatred actually comes into it too much. Understanding is the key. ﾂ'Putting yourself in the other guys shoes' is the key. The key to understanding. This is what Eastwood was trying to do. To help us understand ﾂ… each other.
-does this film give a bias view?
I don't think so – unless trying to present the Japanese point of view is a bias ﾂ…
-is there a sense oif trying to create an equal view over the both allies?
No. I don't think he wanted to. He wanted to show the Japanese point of view. It would obviously portray the Americans as a rarely seen, rather frightening, threatening menace. And they were. They were supposed to be.
-can these types of films influence you views on war?
Yes. Most certainly. But hopefully only if they are good, well made pieces of work. The best ones allow you to experience an insight into what war really is all about, and what it means to the average individual involved. The largest percentage of folks affected by wars are ﾂ"average individualsﾂ", whether they be serving in the military, or civilians caught up in the whole bloody mess. On the other hand, an awful lot of badly made war movies merely promote the ﾂ"shoot ﾂ'em upﾂ" attitude that we all fear.
If they're good, they really put you off war! Bad ones just glorify it.
My best ones, my ﾂ"Top Tenﾂ" would be (In my order of preference):
Das Boot - an equal ﾂ"firstﾂ" with ﾂ…
Letters from IwoJima
Hell in the Pacific (Lee Marvin& Toshiro Mifune – a most unusual little movie – I advise everybody to see it.)
The Enemy Below (Sorry! .. another submarine movie ﾂ….!)
The Thin Red Line (Unfortunately released at the same time as ﾂ"Saving Private Ryanﾂ" – but IMO a better movie.)
Schindler's List
Tora! Tora! Tora! (IMO a much better movie than the critics felt ﾂ…)
The Pianist
Full Metal Jacket (Vietnam)
Days Of Glory (WWI)
-what did you find most exciting/good about this film?
I've read Kuribayashi's letters, and seen the charming drawings he did for his kids. I've read much about his life and have studied the battle quite avidly. The film stuck to the facts. ﾂ"Excitementﾂ" didn't really come into it – it was very sad.
Not exciting, but terribly human – what came to me most strongly was a poignant note. Kuribayashi, in spite of his situation, seemed quite obsessed and upset by the fact that before he left for Iwo ﾂ…
he never finished fixing up the kitchen for his wife.
How
terribly human.
Is that of use to you ﾂ…? Sorry for the delay in a response to your question.
Best regards,
ﾆ淡ﾆ停?｡ﾆ停?
