Letters from Iwojima

I have been avoiding war-related movies. I find those American ones (say, Saving private Ryan, Pearl Harbor) are too heroic, too American-centric and too Hollywood-formulaic; While those Chinese ones (say Men Behind the Sun) are somewhat too close to home that watching is hurting.

Letters from Iwojima is the best movie I have watched in 2006, very solemn and heavy. It took me minutes of silence to recollect myself after watching it.

A sequel to the Flags of our Father, Letters is about the invasion of Iwojima from the Japanese point of view. The story follows that the Japanese soldiers, under the leadership of General Tadamichi had to plan for the best unsupported defense against the unparallel opponent’s force.

Through the flashbacks and letters communicated with their families, personal stories were told and smoothly interweaved with the battle scenes. These stories told the internal struggle, cultural influence, society pressure on these soldiers. These stories transcend nationality; the characters can be you and me. The character development and actors chosen for those roles are excellent. Ken Watanabe never disappoints.

Success of story: really hinges on the success of character development - characters that people can associate with and sympathize for. I thought of another recent movie, Curse of Golden Flowers. Apart from the distasteful and repetitive music, overly-colorful scene and over-exposed costumes, the weakest link is the unconvincing characters. Even I love Jay Chou as a singer, his role as the second prince (also a lead character) doesn’t convince me to have any sympathy, and same for all the rest of the troop.

Fighting Spirit: It reminded me how often I faced untouchable goals and was tempted to drop efforts. In 2007, I wish I can always fight with spirits, even when there is slim chance to win.