Letters From Iwo Jima musings

I'm cutting down on my Arashi diet.
It's way too addictive.
Thus, no active posts until I finish SPM (which will be around the end of November)

My cousin got a 'Letters From Iwo Jima' DVD.
I've just finished watching it.

And like most war movies,
'Letters From Iwo Jima' was gory.
Real gory.

I wince EACH TIME someone died.

Especially when the whole group committed suicide with grenades.

This movie have got people complimenting on Nino's acting skills.
To tell you the truth, I wasn't concentrating on Nino.

Ken Watanabe caught my eye the whole time.
And I was more awed with Clint Eastwood's directing.
Almost everything was just right for the movie.

From the cinematography, camera angles, sound effects...
Everything was just right for the movie.

I have never watched fully any other of Eastwood's movie.
This is the first time.
Though he didn't win any directing award for this (as far as I know),
I do think that this masterpiece is superb.

I've learned about the Japanese soldiers in my History syllabus.
From how violent and strict they were... General Tojo... and even about the Kempetai.

I was learning it from the point of view of the soldiers who fought for my country when they were at war with Japan.
As a student, I learned that the Japanese army in those days were fierce and heartless.

From this movie, it just reminds me of how they would feel from the other side.
They were just the same as us.
Most of them hate wars, afraid of death.
We do think that "Dying in honor for your country" is just a piece of crap.

But what choices do they have?
The ruler of their countries wanted to dominate the other countries.

The soldiers didn't asked for it. They don't want anything to do with war.
But they are forced to go to battlefield. And forced to face their own death in front of their faces.

If you are a soldier, and you know that your troop have hopes of winning the war, then things would have been better for you.
But what if you are on the other side, and you know that there is no way that your troop can even survive the war- let alone win it?

My teacher told me a story before.
When his mother was young, she was playing in front of her house and she sees jeeps of Malay soldiers going out to battle the Japanese.
We all know that we'll lose the war.
The only reason the British put up Malay soldiers there was only to slow down the Japanese.

So there was one Malay soldier who came up to her,
"(Smiling) Selamat tinggal, dik. Abang nak pergi mati ni."
[Bye. I'm going to my grave/death now.]

That was one of the most memorable lines in my book.

But really, that was how the movie was a success.
After watching the movie, I thought more about the soldiers than I do about the story.

My mind don't really focus on the story anymore.
It was more of "What all of the soldiers have went through"
For both my country's and all the other country's soldiers.

I hate that scene! Because it was so gory!
You see body parts flying around!!!
But this is the scene that really got me sympathized with the characters the most.

You can see it from their eyes that the soldiers didn't want to suicide.
But they have no other choice. they're going to die anyway.

Then there was also the scene where that Olympic guy saved the American soldier.
(Sorry, I'm pretty terrible with memorizing Japanese names)

It's a nice scene where you can see kindness even in the midst of a war.
You don't usually get that in this movie- as most of it was about honor and death.

He told the soldiers that he will extract some information from the American soldier.
But instead he was having casual talk about interests.

And then there was the scene where Saigo gave away his belt to the dead Kempetai guy.

You were told, that if you surrender, you will survive. They will only take you in as a prisoner.
But when the Kempetai guy surrendered, he was killed.

And it was just because that American soldier was too lazy to keep watch of him.

When Saigo found him dead, he left his belt at the dead body.
The belt means a lot to Saigo, it was supposed to protect him.
But he left it there with the Kempetai guy's dead body.

I find the scene when Ken Watanabe' character wanted to die in his own homeland- very touching.

Ken: (Dying) Is this still Japan's soil?
Nino: Yes, this is still Japan's soil.

-- Ken shoots himself while Nino just looked straight ahead.

The scene that got me into tears-
When they heard the Iwo Jima national song from the radio.

There won't be anymore Iwo Jima after the Americans take over it.
So there will be no more need of Iwo Jima's national song.

The soldiers were the last group of people to hear the song for real then.

I wasn't impressed with Nino's performance here.

As a fan, I've always known Nino as a great actor.
But when you've watched Nino in 'Ao No Honoo' (The Blue Light),
no other Nino's characters could really get past that.

I would watch the movie with a confused teenager, murderer repeatedly
when compared to the movie of a soldier.

But there was really no question to Nino's acting skills in this movie, is there?
It's still superb in here.

I like it how he was still able to be sarcastic in this movie.
I would smile at his sarcastic remarks.

Kempetai guy: It's an honor to die for the country!
Saigo: Yeah, my friend, who died from food poisoning just now, also died in honor, right?