‘Flags:’ A tough, touching perspective on global horror
‘Flags:’ A tough, touching perspective on global horror
Screenplay written by: William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis based on the nonfiction best seller by James Bradley
Actors: Ryan Philippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, John Benjamin Hickey, John Slattery, Barry Pepper, Jamie Bell
Directed by: Clint Eastwood
Rated: R (sequences of graphic war violence and carnage and for language)
Based upon the nonfiction best seller by James Bradley, Flags of Our Fathers re-enacted the bloody 1945 World War II battle of Iwo Jima and how it effected the personal lives of the men who raised the iconic victory flag on top of Mount Suribachi.
With courageous valor and heroism during and after the carnage, the surviving men endure the media frenzy and the political manipulations that rallied the American troops and public in the aftermath of the horrible battle that left 6,800 American dead. Haunted throughout their remaining days by the truth as they individually experienced it, each of them suffers in their own way throughout their lives.
He Said:
Clint Eastwood’s distillation of James Bradley’s account of his father’s role and torment as the last survivor of the men photographed raising the flag(s) over Iwo Jima managed to be both a touching personal account and a sweeping cinematic war experience. Eastwood made the brutal carnage stylistically palatable with scenes filmed in muted color. The half tones served to texture that time in history and focus on the lives of the gray and dismal conditions the soldiers experienced on the bombed out volcanic island that they fought to occupy. Though their bravery was manipulated for the masses, Eastwood captured the human drama as experienced by the men who raised the famous flag on Iwo Jima.
On the R&R Scale (1-10):
8 for script (Huge in scope, with good human dimension)
9 for direction (Authentic feeling in every respect) 8 for acting (Everyone quite good)
7 for plot (Captured the impact of the battle on a human level)
8 for entertainment Value (For an historical drama)
8.0 Overall
She Said:
Eastwood’s wartime action drama was a brutal reminder of the lethal acts humankind is capable of while being a provocative reminder of how the famous flag-raising photo was made into propaganda to manipulate the public to buy bonds to fund the continuation of it. While I closed my eyes to avoid the lengthy scenes of graphic carnage, I also should add that they were necessary to depict the brutality that impacted the men the film focused on. Missing most of the scenes in the first half of the film, I could only wish that we re-enacted violent history so as not to repeat it rather than for entertainment value. Having said that, I also need to add that, the sensitivity in the later parts of the film gave it major redeeming value for me. I cried as the credits rolled.
On the R&R Scale (1-10)
6 for script (Provocative War Drama)
8 for direction (Creative, authentic, humanistic) 7 for acting (Everyone good)
7 for plot (The selling of war and its costs)
6 for entertainment Value (For a war drama)
6.8 Overall
