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Flags of Our Fathers Film Review
Flags of Our Fathers is a Clint Eastwood directed film centred around the battle of Iwo Jima
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Released in 2006, the
narrative follows the six soldiers who appeared in Joe Rosenthal’s famous iconic flag raising
photograph ‘Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima’ and is based on James Bradley’s bestselling book of the
same name
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A sister film, Letters from Iwo Jima, was released at the same time, and portrays the same
battle from the Japanese perspective
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1
Eastwood as a director and Spielberg as a co-producer are a complementary mix
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Spielberg too has an extensive back catalogue of WWII films and has directed such as Saving Private
Ryan (1998) and Empire of the Sun (1987) which also concentrates on Japanese combat
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who was enlisted as a marine in the Vietnam war from 1969-71
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Their desire to make a war film like no other is prevalent throughout, with the focus taken away
from the battle itself and placed onto the lives of the soldiers who were in the photograph
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This adds credibility to the film, as the book is based on interviews of the surviving soldiers
and so remains true to their memories
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(2010)
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137
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2
The film is dominated by the photograph that was taken3 and is shown in various representations
throughout the film, starting with the actual picture being taken on Mount Suribachi and ending
with a monument being erected in 1954
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4 The photograph was often thought to be staged by the
American press
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I swung my camera around and
held it until I could guess that this was the peak of the action, and shot
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For a split second whilst the flag is being raised,
there is a moment of serenity and hope
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The film is historically accurate, from the depiction of the war bond drive to the scenes of ships
coming into Iwo Jima7, verified by Chuck Melson, who is a chief historian of the U
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Marine Corps
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2

Briley, R
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‘Eastwood’s Iwo Jima: Critical Engagement with Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo
Jima
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281
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258
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, Powers, R
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211
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(2017)
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NPR
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http://www
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org/templates/story/story
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H
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(ed
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201
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It successfully does this through mimicking PTSD and the
exploitation of the common fighting man by the government of the time, and explores the role of
mythmaking in the war
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This is a common technique used in war films
but here it’s use is extended beyond the combat across the flashback scenes of the soldiers as they
recount the story, which is unusual for this film genre
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In the battle scenes, it appears almost monochrome,
emphasising the bleak and smoky scenes on Iwo Jima
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In contrast, the scenes following the soldiers on the war bond drive are warmer in tone,
with colours to represent the present day
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The scenes showing the approach to Iwo Jima are impressive
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‘I’ll
Walk Alone’ sung by Dinah Shore is played over the boat’s intercom, which is a song about a woman
waiting for her lover to return from service
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This is unlike other war films, which
generally depict comradeship and maintain patriotism
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Silly mistakes throughout the battle were made, such as one of the men going
overboard before the landing on Iwo Jima and being left to drown, or Mike Strank (Barry Pepper)

9

Morris, D
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The Image as History: Clint Eastwood’s Unmaking of an American Myth, VQR [online]
[Accessed 20 Apr
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vqronline
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, (2015), North Carolina and World War II: A Documentary Portrait, North Carolina:
MacFarland and Co, p
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Martha Wilson

being accidentally shot by other US militaries after the flag raising
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Once they land on Iwo Jima, a scene that echoes the beach landing of Saving Private Ryan, it is eerily
quiet and anticipation arises
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I was confident
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I thought this would be a cinch
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This is very effective,
as it gives insight into how the soldiers had to react during battle where they themselves did not
know what was happening
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Many soldiers that were enlisted in the war were young and inexperienced
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” Young solider Franklin
Sousley (Joseph Cross) replies, “Wait, wait
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Throughout the film, there is an overwhelming feeling that the soldiers assumed such a
huge responsibility on the war bond drive, and could no longer be boys
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This contrast is very powerful
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There is the
composed soldier, John Bradley (Ryan Phillipe) and the nervous one, Iggy (Jamie Bell)
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12 There is a focus
in the film on Ira Reyes due to him being a native American
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He is refused entry to a bar in Chicago purely
because of his background
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And now, son, you are a true American hero
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These scenes in
the film reflect what Bradley writes in his book, "The more helpless and vulnerable Ira grew, the more
brazen was the press's exploitation of him
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When Flags was released in 2006, there were various events within recent history that could have
influenced Eastwood’s desire to produce an ‘anti-war campaign’ movie unlike no other
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Firstly, there was a more reflective view of the war post-1990s, and a
culture of acknowledging the victims of WWII: ‘the Greatest Generation’
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During the Gulf War, the US began airstrikes against Iraq, who subsequently went on to fully
withdraw from Kuwait
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15
Eastwood noted during an interview that Pearl Harbour was the defining point during World War II,
and the fight was necessary or “we might be speaking another language today”
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, (2014) The Evoluion of Pacific War Cinema, History Undergraduate Theses, University of
Washington Tacoma, p
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(2017)
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[online] [Accessed 22 Apr
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ThoughtCo
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thoughtco
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Richard Corliss
discusses that the film “speaks…about a time when Americans needed heroes” and was made at a
time “when we are no longer sure what they look like – when the indelible photo op of the Iraq war
is from Abu Gharib
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”18 Corliss and
Morris’ observation provides insight into why the film stands out so much within its genre
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Flags is a modern-day reminder of the shocking aspects
that war entail, not just on the front line, but also throughout the propaganda campaigns
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19
Both of these images reflect American victory throughout history, and Flags is a reminder of what
going to war meant: it is a study of people as much as it is a war film
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”20 This is an important message in today’s world, as anyone can become
famous, but how many people really earn it? In terms of Flags, the soldiers who were taken on the
bond war drive constantly battle with the feeling that it is the men who died for their country who
are the real heroes
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"It took everyone on that island and the
men on the ships offshore to get the flag up on Suribachi,”21 John Bradley told the press during the
war bond drive
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82
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(2009) The Impact of 9/11 on Politics and War: The Day that Changed Everything? United States:
Palgrave Macmillan, p
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Eastwood successfully conveys the internal conflict that the soldiers feel
throughout the film, and how they struggled to return to normal life after the war
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This shows the extent to which he didn’t want
to be named as a hero and given glory when he had seen the horrors of the war
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In the photograph, no faces are visible, meaning that anyone could have been chosen to go on the
bond drive
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22 Another example of this in the film is when
the three surviving soldiers are in Gerber’s office being debriefed before the bond drive
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There is a great
feeling of guilt portrayed to the audience from the soldiers, knowing that the real ‘heroes’ are not
being credited
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It is the
first insight into the falsehoods told during the war campaign to keep public morale high
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”23

In terms of war propaganda, which is a major theme throughout this film, images that grasp the
public’s attention also guide their perception of events, good or bad
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(2017)
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[online] [Accessed 20
Apr
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New York Times, https://www
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com/2016/06/24/us/politics/marines-iwo-jima-flag-photomistaken-identity
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, Strachey, J
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, Strachey, A
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(2001)
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18th ed
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78
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David J
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24 This is a very interesting point, and
although it is not a prominent theme in Flags, the photograph was a perfect opportunity to raise
patriotism and consequently gain sponsors for the war
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Whilst this seems like those running the war campaign were misleading, it also offers insight into a
side of the war campaign that most people do not know
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”25 This is another example of what separates Flags from other war films,
Eastwood strives to tell a truthful story rather than focussing on being pro-war and patriotic
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The
drive is portrayed as hugely insensitive throughout the film
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Eastwood cleverly uses
fireworks here to imitate the gunshots of the battle
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The presence of The Andrews Sisters, who had a regular
presence singing ‘Any Bonds Today?’ at bond drives, is also a reminder of how the three soldiers
were turned into performers made to entertain the nation
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This notion
reflected when Reyes is ordered to report back to East Company in Hawaii because of his alcoholism,

24

(Morris, 2017: online)
Ebert, R
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Flags of Our Fathers Movie Review (2007) | Roger Ebert
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2017]
http://www
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com/reviews/flags-of-our-fathers-2007
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Martha Wilson

which has been heightened by his discontent with fame
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In the end, the war bond drive had raised $26
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Vibeke Schou Tjalve says that Flags takes war film “to a more mature place where themes of tragedy
rather than pacifism or patriotism take precedence
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27 He successfully questions the validity of war campaigns, and visualises the detrimental
effect they can have on the soldiers themselves
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The
emphasis of the photograph throughout the film is symbolic that the soldiers went beyond their call
of duty on the front line to help win the war
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Eastwood successfully creates a reminder of how warfare has
changed, and how fame or heroism can be manufactured when necessary, but equally forgotten
about when it is no longer relevant
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26
27

(Briley, 2014: 282)
(Schmidt, 2017: online)

Martha Wilson

Bibliography
Alexander, J
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, (2005) ‘Across the Reef: Amphibious Warfare in the Pacific’, in The Pacific War
Companion, Marston, D
...
) London: Osprey
Bradley, J
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(2000) Flags of Our Fathers, United States: Bantam Books
Briley, R
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‘Eastwood’s Iwo Jima: Critical Engagement with Flags of Our Fathers and Letters
from Iwo Jima
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(2007)
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[online] [Accessed 23 Apr
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rogerebert
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(2010)
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, (2014) The Evoluion of Pacific War Cinema, History Undergraduate Theses, University of
Washington Tacoma
Freud, S
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, Freud, A
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and Tyson, A
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The standard edition of the
complete psychological works of Sigmund Freud
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London: Vintage
Melissa Renn (2015) ‘The Famous Iwo Flag-Raising: Iwo Jima Revisited’, History of Photography,
39(3)
Morgan, M
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Morris, D
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The Image as History: Clint Eastwood’s Unmaking of an American Myth, VQR
[online] [Accessed 20 Apr
...
vqronline
...
(2017)
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[online] [Accessed 22
Apr
...
ThoughtCo
...
thoughtco
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, (2015), North Carolina and World War II: A Documentary Portrait, North Carolina:
MacFarland and Co
Schmidt, M
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Man in Iwo Jima Flag Photo Was Misidentified, Marine Corps Says
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2017]
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nytimes
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html
Seigel, R
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'Flags of Our Fathers' Stays True to History
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[online] [Accessed 19 April 2017]
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npr
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php?storyId=6345777

Martha Wilson



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