That Clint Eastwood, he’s like Stephen Spielberg – but with a gun.
Eastwood’s journey in Hollywood has taken him from a six-shooter toting, all star actor to a Director who always draws the quickest come Oscar time. Over the past few years he has unleashed such wonders as Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby, and this year's blockbuster war memorial Flags of Our Fathers. He directs, produces, and even composes the scores – and yet he still finds time for a round or two of golf. Is there anything this guy can’t do?
Well yes, there is something he can’t do. Just like Yahoo can never be Google, Clint Eastwood will never magically become Stephen Spielberg. And though his film, Flags of Our Fathers makes a noble attempt – and has Spielberg as a producer, it will never be Saving Private Ryan. But what is the sense in not trying – especially if you are Clint Eastwood?
Flags is the story behind the swirl of controversy surrounding the picture taken of American troops planting a flag atop a mountain on the island of Iwo Jima during World War II. It exposes things your kids won’t get in their 10th grade history books; like the fact the picture was not of the original flag erected on Iwo Jima, but of a replacement flag being put up because some commander wanted the first as a keepsake. But besides showing the real story of the flag raising, it shows how the moment, which is so prominent in American history, affected the lives of the soldiers involved. We watch as John “Doc” Bradley (Ryan Phillippe), Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford), and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) – the three survivors from the picture – are paraded around by the U.S. government in a large publicity venture with hopes of selling war bonds.
It is this politically charged theme of soldier exploitation that overshadows the scenes of actual battle used every 20 minutes or so by the director to remind us how horrible the experience of Iwo Jima was for the men. The battle scenes, while not overwhelming, are very powerful and well shot. Eastwood has a knack for giving his films a unique look that sets an intended mood – with the battle scenes in Flags, he chooses to turn up the contrast between black and white, making the island itself seem darker and eerier. And just like any epic WWII flick, Flags does not hold back when it comes to intestines hanging out of war-torn men scattered along the beach.
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