Flags of Our Fathers – Blu-ray movie review

As directed masterfully by Clint Eastwood, "Flags of Our Fathers" plays both as a war film and a sensitive human drama. It begs comparison with Orson Welles' screen masterpiece "Citizen Kane" in the film's scope and its structure.

Based on the true (and relatively unknown) story of six regular soldiers that raised the flag atop the isle of Iwo Jima and whose picture of the effort became synonymous with an impending victory of the war, Flags of our Fathers will be one of the most talked about films of 2006.

Flags of our Fathers follows the lives of three surviving members who raised the flag in 1945 atop Mount Suribachi and how the government used these three individuals and the media in an effort to spark interest in selling war bonds to the American public.

The story is mainly about three characters: the honest and sensitive John ''Doc'' Bradley (Ryan Phillipe), who believes taking full credit for the battle because of one picture is wrong, the brave soldier Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford), who is willing to prove he is a hero, even though he tries not to get in a real battle, and the naive, but strong Ira Hayes (Adam Beach, in a role that may probably gather him a Supporting Actor nod). The whole film is entirely narrated by John Bradley (at this time, in old age, played by Len Cariou). As the film tells us, these are the only ones in the picture that manage to come out of war alive.

The film revolves around this picture, and also about how these three men live after the war. Ira is target of racism, Bradley is haunted by memories of war and his friends who past away (in special Iggy, played by Jamie Bell, whom Bradley was fond of before his death), and Gagnon celebrates all the media attention.

The acting is admirable all around: Ryan Phillipe creates a honourable figure persevering throughout war time while his friends fall away. Jesse Bradford copes best after the war but fame is short-lived. And Adam Beach is a man tormented by the effect of war; a man who has lost his personal identity. He struggles with the concept of "we are what we do".

Eastwood's direction is outstanding. He has managed to create a film that makes no judgments, preserves the integrity of these people yet examines their life in war. The screenplay by previous collaborator Haggis, is insightful, thought-provoking and poignant. He takes no simple sides on the good and bad of war but meditates on what it means to the individual. How does a country sustain itself during war. Can a war be entirely truthful?

Flags of Our Fathers is a must watch, and I'm already eagerly anticipating the companion movie, with viewpoints from the Japanese, fighting the same war, in Letters From Iwo Jima, and it should be equally powerful.

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