Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)

Director:

Clint Eastwood

Writers (WGA):

Iris Yamashita (screenplay)
Iris Yamashita (story) ...

Release Date:

12 January 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | History | War

Tagline:

From the director of "Flags of our Fathers" comes the completion of the Iwo Jima saga

Plot:

The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

Plot Keywords:

Japan | Island | Battle | Iwo Jima | Japanese Army

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 16 wins & 15 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Feb. 21

9:00 AM

AMC

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Ken Watanabe	...	General Kuribayashi
Kazunari Ninomiya	...	Saigo
Tsuyoshi Ihara	...	Baron Nishi
Ryo Kase	...	Shimizu
Shido Nakamura	...	Lieutenant Ito (as Shidou Nakamura)
Hiroshi Watanabe	...	Lieutenant Fujita
Takumi Bando	...	Captain Tanida
Yuki Matsuzaki	...	Nozaki
Takashi Yamaguchi	...	Kashiwara
Eijiro Ozaki	...	Lieutenant Okubo
Nae	...	Hanako
Nobumasa Sakagami	...	Admiral Ohsugi
Luke Eberl	...	Sam (as Lucas Elliot)
Sonny Saito	...	Medic Endo (as Sonny Seiichi Saito)
Steve Santa Sekiyoshi	...	Kanda

Also Known As:

Red Sun, Black Sand (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for graphic war violence.

Runtime:

141 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | SDDS | Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 | Finland:K-15 | Canada:14A (British Columbia) (re-rating on appeal) | Canada:18A (British Columbia) (original rating) | Ireland:15A | Singapore:NC-16 | Norway:15 | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:14 (canton of Vaud) | Brazil:14 | Germany:16 | Hong Kong:IIB | Australia:MA | USA:R (certificate #43136) | Argentina:16 | Sweden:15 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Portugal:M/16 (Qualidade) | Spain:13 | South Korea:15 | Malaysia:18SG (DVD) | Peru:14 | Canada:13+ (Québec) | Denmark:15 | Netherlands:16 | South Africa:16 | France:U (with warning)

Filming Locations:

Iceland

Company:

Amblin Entertainment

Trivia:

General Tadamichi Kuribayashi's pistol is a Colt M1911A1 with white ivory grips. The pistol was designed by John M. Browning in 1911 and was the US sidearm all the way up to 1986.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The bottle of Johnnie Walker appears to have a screw cap made of aluminum. At that time liquor bottles had a cork stopper.

Quotes:

General Tadamichi Kuribayashi: [Tadamichi turns up in time to stop Ito from beheading Saigo and Shimizu] I don't want you to kill my soldiers needlessly. Put down your sword. Put it down!
[Ito sheathes his katana and salutes]
General Tadamichi Kuribayashi: What's going on here?
Lieutenant Ito: These men ran from Suribachi.
General Tadamichi Kuribayashi: Lt. Ito, I gave the order that all survivors retreat to the north caves.
Lieutenant Ito: [embarrassed] I am very sorry, General. It's just... Suribachi... has fallen.
[Tadamichi rushes to a cave opening and sees Mount Suribachi from a distance, with a U.S flag raised on the summit]

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 64th Annual Golden Globe Awards (2007) (TV)

Very Personal

Did it really last two and a half hours? It felt felt a lot shorter than that.

No, this is not an action war film with nonstop blood baths. It is a film that pulls the humanity out of the monster that is war.

This is one of, if not the best, movie ever directed by Clint Eastwood. I usually have a hard time following plots with many characters because they make me lose focus on the general story, but this one is done well. Not only am I engaged, I also become attached to every character and feel and understand their conflicts.

It does not matter who fights on the right or wrong side of WWII. This film goes beyond that. It is about what is right or wrong for the individual human being. It excels as a story about the human heart.