I recently saw the movie ‘Letters from Iwo Jima’. It’s a movie about the US invasion of the Japanese Island Iwo Jima during the 2nd world war. The movie is in Japanese and shares the story from the Japanese view of events. The story of a small helpless section of the Japanese army fighting against all odds and keeping the enemy at bay is tragic, desolate, yet heartwarming.

The story shares how the Japanese fleet is destroyed and there are no back up ammo or resources that Japan can send to the troops on the island. Yet, the soldiers on the island, do all that they can to fight for their island, knowing fully well that they can do nothing much else except delay the inevitable invasion. It is interesting to see how soldiers sway between valour and self preservation at various points of time during the movie.  Seeing a young baker, forcefully enlisted in the Imperial army, digging trenches and asking himself ‘are we digging our graves?’ makes one wonder about the futility of war. With a deep belief in honour, Japanese soldiers prefer to kill themselves than fall into enemy hands. The scenes of soldiers killing themselves with hand grenades and the reluctance of some overridden by collective pressure are quite the tear jerkers.  

I think the movie is done brilliantly, in a simple, realistic manner while exhibiting a deep understanding of the Japanese psyche.  Clint Eastwood has indeed done an outstanding job!