I do know something about war movies and historical fiction, or adaptations of historical events.
“Flags of our Fathers” is one of the better examples of this film category, and it is a balanced and realistic film.
It’s also painful to watch since it deals rather unflinchingly with the subject matter.
Like the scenes from Speilberg’s “Saving Private Ryan” the most disturbing and sad scenes are of the old men trying against a lifetime of failure to come to grips with what they did in the war and how to define it.
The horrors of battle take a back seat to the fear that surrounds trying to come to terms with a complex and frightful past in the waning years of your life. This film shows that fear in vivid detail.
Another important aspect of the film is the characterization of the military publicity machine and the world of what is now known as “perception management”. This segment of warfare has been refined greatly since World War II but is still a fine line that runs through the contiuum between ethical depiction and outright lies. Do the ends justify the means? “Flags of our Fathers” examines that question and does so quite well.
There is enough detail in the film that it remains compelling despite its 132 minute length. There are a lot of plots and sub-plots. The flashing around of flash-back and flash-forward gets a little tedious but is well done and stops short of being disorienting.
In general, “Flags of our Fathers” is a fairly important film about the
Battle of Iwo Jima specifically and about the military experience more broadly. The themes about the military experience resonate loud and clear even today- perhaps more so now than ever. I’d argue the timing of Flags of Our Fathers is good as we continue to examine the current role of the U.S. Military. The perspective depicted in “Flags” is one that ought be included in any thoughtful reflection on the military.
“Flags of Our Fathers” is an immensely sad film with no happy wrap-up and few “feel good” characters. And in that, it maintains a degree of accuracy. If you like historical drama I recommend it. If you are a Veteran it will be sad and difficult to watch in places.
Tom, thanks for the review. One line in particular stands out - "the most disturbing and sad scenes are of the old men trying against a lifetime of failure to come to grips with what they did in the war and how to define it. "
While I can’t speak to ‘Flags of our Fathers’ as I have not seen it yet, this line reminds me of what I thought were some of the most compelling moment of the "Band of Brothers’ mini-series on HBO a few years back. Seeing as you are a war-movie / historical fiction buff and assuming you’ve seen it, can you give me your thoughts on that series?
I enjoyed that series as it focused very prominently on the relationships that developed between the characters in the show.
If there is one thing truly precious and worthy of celebration about the military experience it is the true friendships and solid bonds that form between service persons. “Band of Brothers” does a fine job depicting that.
I liked “Band of Brothers” and felt it was pretty darn good in almost every respect.
I’m a pretty big fan of Band of Brothers as well, as well as a military history buff. If you’re interested, Mark Bando a military historian, gives a pretty full account of the goings on http://www.101airborneww2.com/bandofbrothers.html
He rips on Steven Ambrose a little for taking some creative license with his books and the screen play. I’m not going to take sides, but I will say I think Ambrose did more in his time to keep the World War II vets in the front of peoples minds then most anyone that I’m aware of.
I’m a huge fan of Band of Brothers, and it was precisely because of the way the mini-series (be it Ambrose or Hanks/Speilberg) placed the actual vets in the viewers mind as the series went on so you’re constantly reminded that these were real people. For my generation (I’m 25), I think this is really important as we have never experience war like that before. Before the Iraq / Afghanistan war(s), my generation totally took the sacrifice for granted.
I would agree. Speilberg/Hanks did it first with Saving Private Ryan, that movie opened up the eyes of people who didn’t remember the price that was paid by that generation for freedom.
They say history is repeated by those who forget, hopefully no one will have to relive something of that magnatude again.
“hopefully no one will have to relive something of that magnatude again.”
The war on terror is a conflict of unprecendented scale. It spans the globe and because there is no clearly dilineated “front line” as there was during World War II the war is waged from Manhattan to Fallujah and everywhere in between. The next battle in the war could unfold during your next international airline flight.
While it is a fool’s game to make comparisons between conflicts- they are all terrible- it is also a mistake to imagine the war on terror is any less of a battle between good and evil or any less of a titannic, global war than was the massive battles of World War II.
That being the case, the daily sacrifice of women and men deployed to well over 100 countries around the world to fight and support the war on terror is not unlike the sacrifices of our mothers, grandmothers, father and grandfathers in World War II.
War is War and not much good comes out of it in the short term, obviously the long term benefits of medicines, and other technologies that have been the result of war time inventions have their merits. But when I was speaking on the terms of magnitude, the great world wars of the 20th century killled millions of people in true global conflict and ended in the use of Nuclear weapons. At the time they were the only functional nuclear weapons to be used, and thank god for that.
A conflict of truely global scale where millions of people are actively in combat was what I was referring to. With nuclear proliferation being like a tide that can’t be held back, a conflict of that sort would be the ruin of us all no matter what the philosophies behind it are.
I don’t want to downplay the signficance of any of the people who have served in any of the conflicts (hot or cold) the United States has been involved in no matter what anyone’s politics are. The service people, their families and friends don’t get the choice of which battles they fight. “Its not for us to reason why…”
I was moved by this movie, but found it very frustrating. Mostly by the idea that men come back from war and do not speak of it…or at least never tell some of the stories that matter.
My father was in Vietnam, and worked with the CIA in some black ops. He never, ever talked about it except to mention that he ferried around a high ranking government official in his huey, doing some “Very bad things” which is how he put it. No amount of questioning or asking about things that were recently declassified would pry the information out of him. I know he took his classification seriously, but these stories shouldn’t die with these men. My Uncle was a highly decorated Korean vet, and he never said a word about it, not to anyone in the family.
Sorry, I probably sound like a whiny child, and I never served, so I don’t know. But I can certainly understand the son’s desire in this movie to find out what happened to his father, and how it shaped him.
One thing people fail to be empathetic about when it comes to veterans discussing their experiences is that to discuss and describe them is to re-live them to a degree, and that is an immensely stressful and unpleasant experience.
Even under the guidance of a trained counselor or therapist familiar with the symptoms, diagnosis and treatment of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a frequent affliction of veterans, the therapy can produce nightmares, periods of sleeplessness and hypertension. Sometimes the therapy and resultant symptoms are so severe a psychiatrist must use Xanax or other anti-anxiety prescriptions simply to help the veteran (patient) negotiate the therapy.
Additionally, some veterans were in a position where they had to do things in a combat environment that they are not comfortable with in their civilian peace time role. They simply don’t want to be thought of as having done those things. They are not proud of them necessarily, and may feel deeply remorseful or have intense feelings of guilt.
The life of a veteran can be an intensely private matter. When people unfamiliar and unempathetic about their experiences begin to inquire about the details it is often unwelcome. If a person were a victim of rape it is unlikely someone who knew that would ask for details on the experience.
Please understand I am certainly not directing this commentary at you (or anyone). I am only trying to offer some insight into what is often a very difficult emotional circumstance to come to terms with for veterans.
Thanks Tom, I do understand how difficult it was for my dad and I know there was incredible guilt. But it’s our family’s story too, since we all ultimatly had to deal with the repercussions.
My dad’s been dead almost 4 years and last Christmas one of his buddies told me about a Vets’ reunion where he heard the story of a chopper pilot who pulled a man off a mountainside in Laos. He said that pilot was my dad, and I’ve been trying to find that man ever since. I’ve written scores of emails to groups who were connected to the war in Laos and our operations in Cambodia. They almost always write back, and I think that’s easier for them than a phone call, or me showing up on a doorstep. I don’t press.
I look fwd to seeing this movie, thanks for the insight. I think one of most compelling things about Band of Brothers was that the final episode captioned the elderly men with their real names (especially that they found an actor with such a pronounced and crooked jaw as the real Bill Guarnere). Really made you think back to all the brave and amazing things they did. We owe a real debt of gratitude to that whole generation of soldiers.
I’ve read in a few places that the exploits of Easy Company (esp on 6/5-6/6 and at The Bulge) had a very direct bearing on why we won the war and that the series did not exaggerate Dick Winters’ immeasurable role in leading the company. A good example of how one man could control an important aspect of history. Seriously, thinking about the leadership, I am sure that the other leaders could have led this company into battle and perhaps done very well, but the decisions of winters led directly to certain victories. If interested in more, read Beyond Band of Brothers by Richard Winters. I’ve read a chapter or 2 stranded at an airport and it’s currently on the xmas list.