October 3, 2006. Copyright 2006, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Flags of Our Fathers: Eastwood focuses on the flagraisers of Iwo Jima
By Joanna Griffin

LONDON, October 3, Graphic News:  In a story based on one of the most iconic images in the history of war, Flags of Our Fathers tells of the servicemen who became national heroes after a photographer captured them raising the Stars and Stripes to signify U.S. victory in the bloody 1945 battle for the Pacific island of Iwo Jima, but whose lives later followed a less than heroic path.

The movie, the 26th directed by Hollywood veteran Clint Eastwood, is due to be released on October 20. It is based on a bestselling book of the same title written by James Bradley, who questioned why for his father, a decorated Navy medical corpsman, the subject of his own involvement in the famous flag-raising remained forever taboo.

Though the movie marks the first time that Eastwood has filmed combat on a large scale, in many ways he is on familiar territory. Eastwood, who has two directing Oscars under his belt, teamed up with World War II buff Steven Spielberg for the project, but anyone expecting another gung-ho Saving Private Ryan are to be disappointed: this is about the ambiguity of heroism and the bewildering choices faced when the guns fall silent.

EastwoodÕs critically acclaimed 2003 movie, Mystic River, also revealed how an early tragedy can have a long-term impact on life, and explored the moral ambiguity of the decisions that follow. Previews suggest that Flags of Our Fathers offers a compassionate look at how arbitrary twists of fate shape human lives, and that it is the undercurrent of isolation and disappointment -- rather than a traditional plot -- that structures the film.

Three of the six flag raisers die in the immediate aftermath of Iwo Jima, but destiny has something more complex in store for John Bradley (Ryan Phillipe) and Marines Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) and Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford). The three fly home to a heroesÕ welcome and are a focal point of the United StatesÕ seventh Òbond tourÓ to raise money for the war effort. At one point they even recreate the raising of the flag.

But the men are haunted by nightmares and plagued by guilt about the men they left behind, and their lives start to unravel. Ira Hayes, an Arizona Indian, dies after a drunken brawl. Rene Gagnon becomes consumed by bitterness when his celebrity status does not bring the rewards he expected. Only John Bradley manages to keep his life on track, but the price is keeping his family in the dark about the most significant event of his life.

So determined was Eastwood to present a truthful rendition of events that he has directed a parallel film about the Japanese side of the story, due to be released in December. In a definite departure from Hollywood tradition, Eastwood has used a mainly Japanese cast for the film, shot in the Japanese language and filmed on location around Japan.

Even though Flags might prove a turn-off for those desperate for straightforward or sentimental patriotism during a bleak period for U.S. forces, it is eagerly awaited by the many who believe that -- at 76 -- Eastwood is still working at the height of his powers.
/ENDS


RELEASE DATES WORLDWIDE

Oct 20: United States
Oct 21: Japan (Tokyo International Film Festival)
Oct 25: Belgium
Oct 25: France
Oct 27: Brazil
Oct 28: Japan
Nov: Spain (date to be confirmed)
Nov 02: Australia
Nov 03: Sweden
Nov 09: Germany
Nov 10: Italy
Nov 30: Netherlands
Dec 01: Finland
Dec 07: Hungary
Dec 22: Iceland
Dec 22: UK
Jan 04: Russia
Feb 02: Estonia