Clint Eastwood's "Flags of Our Fathers" is a brave and brilliant movie. It is about the often wrong-headed idea of "heroism”. The most intriguing, and in some ways most courageous, aspect of Flags is how Eastwood deconstructs the use of the word 'hero.'
The movie is based on James Bradley's bestselling book of the same name. Buried in the collective national conscience, the Associated Press photo (taken by photographer Rosenthal) of six American soldiers raising a flag of victory over Iwo Jima is the basis of the film. The movie deconstructs that moment, shattering it into a jigsaw puzzle of flashbacks and flash-forwards, to explore how that photograph turned into a major prop of the U.S. government's war bonds campaign. It throws light on how the government designated the three surviving flag raisers as "heroes”.
Clint Eastwood packs the movie with action as tough and bloody as films like "Saving Private Ryan" and "Black Hawk Down”. He never denies the sacrifice and achievements of the men who fought and died in the battle for Iwo Jima. Ultimately, the background to the photo itself undermines the men's sense of purpose. The fact is that Rosenthal's famous photo is of the second flag-raising that day. The first occurs before Rosenthal made it up the top.
Flags of Our Fathers is a visual treat, combining CGI with an old look in ambitious, thrilling battle scenes. It is an insightful epic that recasts World War II through a prism of symbols and heroes. |
