Tag: Clint Eastwood

Categories
Action & Thriller Movie Reviews

Gran Torino – Ah, So It’s A Car

Gran Torino

I am inspired.  If I do get to 78, I wish to have Clint Eastwood’s energy, passion, and creativity (and success too!).  It must have been quite a while since we’ve watched our last movie.  Life has been hectic lately.  When TK proposed to catch a movie this weekend, the Movie Review Squad unanimously picked “Gran Torino”.

Cynthia needed to take the car out to attend a social event; I needed to stay home to watch the F1 qualifying round; TK was kind enough to drop by and pick me up.  Lovely.  We watched Button as he yet again took the pole position for today’s match.  For those who get to appreciate the different aspects of the sport, it is more than go-karting (erm … that’s how Cynthia sees it), it is more than cars going round and round in circuits, and it is certainly more than waiting for the next accident or drama to occur.

“Gran Torino” is a dark movie.  A bitter old man (played by Clint Eastwood) – a war veteran – living alone in the neighborhood of Hmong Americans.  The film has explored many different concepts, from minority groups in American, mobs, violence, human relationship, to religion.  In fact, looking at one of the symbolic ending scenes, I would see religion as one of the key themes.

If “Gran Torino” is indeed a film that explores the meaning of life and death, I can certainly see the power of one’s death, and the life it brings forth.

OK, enough of thoughts for sharing.  F1 is starting 1n 10 minutes.  Go Brawn go!

Categories
Drama Movie Reviews

Letters From Iwo Jima – Almost Perfect

By now, you must have thought that I am someone who gets overly excited easily because of all the generous reviews be it as books, movies, music albums, or even DVDs. Truth is, if the product is not potentially good, I wouldn’t pay for it. Since I only write reviews on products that I buy, naturally they are already in my good book. As for Golden Globe Award Winner for Best Foreign Film – “Letters From Iwo Jima”, I do have my 2-cent worth of criticism though.

I picked “Letters From Iwo Jima”, together with the rest of my Movie Review Squad, because we have been anticipating this movie since we watched “Flags Of Our Fathers” (see previous blog) back in mid December last year. So, let me be upfront here. My only two complains of this movie are (1) it is a long slow moving show and (2) for a war that 20,000 Japanese troops have perished, it certainly does not look like there are that many Japanese in the show (compares to the fleet size of the American troops in “Flags Of Our Fathers”).

“Letters From Iwo Jima” has quite a number of interesting points that should not be missed. First, I have not seen anyone who directs two separate movies based on the same scenario and have the story told in two different perspectives. Clint Eastwood is the director of both “Flags Of Our Fathers” and “Letters From Iwo Jima”. Second, I seldom get to watch a war movie being told from the Japanese perspective. I have watched many war movies told from the Western perspective, even from the German’s perspective. But from the Japanese perspective acted by the Japanese? It is kind of rare. I have learnt quite a few things new about the Japanese from the movies itself which is refreshing. Third, there is so much humanity being put into the show that I felt bad just to watch what the Japanese has to go through.

Now, back to my two complains. It is a long slow moving show because the movies portrays a losing war. I mean, whatever they do, however smart and humane the Commander-in-chief is, they are going to lose the war. The first explosion happens 45 minutes into this 2 hours long show so you can imagine it is a different kind of war movie. Watching a losing war is like watching “Apollo 13” – a doomed to fail mission (“Apollo 13” is equally boring to me). And we don’t get to see that many Japanese probably because the story is reconstructed from the letters found inside the Japanese caves and I think the focus of the story is on some of the key characters.

I am a fan of Ken Watanabe (“The Last Samurai” and “Memoirs of a Geisha”) who plays the role of General Tadamichi Kuribayashi in “Letters From Iwo Jima” well. That is probably another good point coming from this long slow moving show.

Categories
Documentary Movie Reviews

“Flags Of Our Fathers” Paved The Way for “Letters From Iwo Jima”

Centered to DreamWorks Picture’s “Flag Of Our Fathers”, directed by Clint Eastwod, is that one photo that was taken when five Marines and one Navy Corpsman raised the US flag on Mount Suribachi during World War II. The battle of Iwo Jima was violent when Americans first landed on the Japanese soil. Back in the America, the government was trying hard to sell bonds in order the fund the war without much success. The nation was weary of the war and the people was in need of hope. Then comes the tag line of the movie – a single shot can end the war.

It was that one single photo shot that inspired and gave hope to the Americans back then. Overnight, the identified flag raisers – who were not the first group that ventured up the hill without knowing how many Japanese troops were left and raised the flag – have become heroes. The three survivors were recalled back to America in the mist of the battle and to fight a different kind of war – to raise the billions of dollars needed to end the war.

From the documentary perspective, I believe that Clint Eastwood has done a marvelous work in reproducing the scenes based on the pictures taken during the war and the history as documented. The war scenes were realistic and my stomach churned every time when someone or something was shot down. That is the better half of the movie that I enjoyed watching. The drama half of the movie, I am not so sure.

Back in America, the three flag raisers struggled with the concept of heroism. Are they, the characters in a picture, the heroes of the war or should those who fought and perished be the ones? Throughout this story telling mode, there were lots of flashbacks to the battlefield. At times could be quite confusing and the entire movie was narrated from a few persons’ perspectives. In addition, I personally do not particularly like how the minority race, Indians, is portraited. “Flags Of Our Fathers” is lacking in the entertainment viewpoint.

I would not say “Flags Of Our Fathers” is a classic as yet but I am keen to watch “Letters From Iwo Jiwa”, also directed by Client Eastwood, with the same war told from the Japanese perspective. “Letters From Iwo Jiwa” is opening on Dec 20.

Almost 7,000 American solders were killed on Iwo Jiwa; more than 20,000 Japanese troops perished. The two movies should be watched back-to-back.