Clint Eastwood’s “Flags of Our Fathers” and his slightly superior film “Letters From Iwo Jima” both stand up by themselves as great films, but together, Eastwood’s World War II epic is just shy of a masterpiece.
I can’t quite say what my reaction would be had I seen “Flags of Our Fathers” first. Both films deal with common themes from different perspectives, and Eastwood’s ability to make that parallel is brilliant. But “Letters” delves deeper than simply questioning culture’s ideas of heroes and good vs. evil. It finds value to life amidst a war where so much is lost, and to see that story second would make “Flags” feel mediocre in comparison. Continue reading “Flags of Our Fathers”