My god, have we become that blasé about the wars our sons and daughters are being sent to fight in? My wife and I are unique, not typical American movie goers. For Americans, Iwo jima was just another far away place and different point in time where American boys were sent and where, unfortunately, some lives were lost fighting for freedom. They knew that America was planning to send an overwhelming force and they knew that they were being sent to die. That to loose and not die fighting would bring disgrace to self and family. These fighters were to ordered to "fight to the death" defending their country. The imperial Japanese government of that time used this when they sent fighters to Iwo jima. Throughout all of recorded Japanese history, never had a foreign invader prevailed in war against the Japanese on Japanese land. Later during the trip, speaking with Japanese friends and seeing the Japanese news, stories of lost loved ones from the war were common and this movie for the Japanese people has brought many of these memories out in the open.To the Japanese, Iwo jima was a part of their homeland where a foreign invader was going to land and begin its invasion on Japanese soil.
When the film ended, my wife talked with the couple and learned that the old man's father died in Iwo jima. At several points during the film, I thought I noticed the man from the couple crying. My wife (who is Japanese) and I sat next to an older couple. I was a little uncomfortable at first I may well have been the only American in the place. I understand a limited amount of Japanese so I could follow most of the story. Frankly, I think translation would take away from the movie's beauty and meaning. The movie would have to be translated and/or sub titled to English in order to have half a chance in the US. There were brief moments of English, American solders talking, one flash back scene before the war during a foreign dignitary dinner, and of course the credits at the end. The movie was in Japanese and, as near as we could tell, Japanese appears to be the native language of the film. We actually liked it better than "Flags of our Fathers".
We were moved and stirred with many emotions including anger, anger over the horrors of war. Wow that's impressive that an American made movie would become number one in Japan! Way to go, Clint! After a little extra planning and some adjustments to our schedule, we bought advance tickets and came back the next day.We completely loved it. Further, we learned that the movie was currently number 1 in Japan. We needed to buy tickets at least one day in advance. We went to the Ginza area of Tokyo and, to our surprise, the movie was completely sold out.
As luck would have it, we going to Japan for the holidays so we decided to try and see the movie in Tokyo during our trip. My wife and I both enjoyed "Flags" and were pleased when we learned that Clint Eastwood made a second movie, this time telling the story from the Japanese perspective. I was very disappointed to learn that this movie was only going to have a limited showing in the US, only one or two theaters on either coast.
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