Official Movie Website Theatrical Release 10/20/06 Home Video 02/06/07 MPAA Rating Rated R for sequences of graphic war violence and carnage, and for language Running Time 2 hours 12 minutes Genre War, Action, Drama Director Clint Eastwood Writer Paul Haggis Cast Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, Paul Walker, Jamie Bell, Barry Pepper, John Benjamin Hickey Studio Dreamworks Pictures and Warner Brothers |
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
SYNOPSIS
It is the most memorable photograph of World War
II, among the greatest pictures ever taken. The
winner of the Pulitzer Prize for photography and one
of the most-reproduced images in the history of
photography, the picture has inspired postage
stamps, posters, the covers of countless magazines
and newspapers, and even the Marine Corps War
Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.
"Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima," a picture taken by
Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal on
February 23, 1945 depicts five Marines and one Navy
Corpsman raising the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi.
The image served as a counterpoint for one of the
most vicious battles of the war: the fight to take Iwo
Jima, a desolate island of black sand barely eight
square miles that would prove a tipping point in the
Pacific campaign. Lasting more than a month, the
fight was a bloody, drawn-out conflict that might
have turned the American public against the war
entirely, had it not been for the photo, which was
taken and published five days into the battle.
The photograph made heroes of the men in the
picture as the three surviving flag-raisers were
returned to the U.S. and made into props in the
government’s Seventh War Bond Tour.
Uncomfortable with their new celebrity, the flag-
It is the most memorable photograph of World War
II, among the greatest pictures ever taken. The
winner of the Pulitzer Prize for photography and one
of the most-reproduced images in the history of
photography, the picture has inspired postage
stamps, posters, the covers of countless magazines
and newspapers, and even the Marine Corps War
Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.
"Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima," a picture taken by
Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal on
February 23, 1945 depicts five Marines and one Navy
Corpsman raising the U.S. flag on Mount Suribachi.
The image served as a counterpoint for one of the
most vicious battles of the war: the fight to take Iwo
Jima, a desolate island of black sand barely eight
square miles that would prove a tipping point in the
Pacific campaign. Lasting more than a month, the
fight was a bloody, drawn-out conflict that might
have turned the American public against the war
entirely, had it not been for the photo, which was
taken and published five days into the battle.
The photograph made heroes of the men in the
picture as the three surviving flag-raisers were
returned to the U.S. and made into props in the
government’s Seventh War Bond Tour.
Uncomfortable with their new celebrity, the flag-
© 2003 St. Louis Movie Review Weekly. All rights reserved, except where indicated.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
All movie titles, pictures, etc...are the property of their respective studios.
| ST. LOUIS MOVIE REVIEW WEEKLY |
raisers considered the real heroes to be the men who died on Iwo Jima; still, the American public held
them up as the best America had to offer, the supermen who conquered the Japanese…
...and then, just as quickly as it had arrived, the glory faded. For two of the surviving flag-raisers, life
became a series of compromises and disappointments; for the third, happiness came only by shutting off
his war experiences and rarely speaking of them ever again.
"Flags of Our Fathers" is a human drama of friendship and love, sacrifice and manipulation, set against
the violent conflict of the battle of Iwo Jima. Two-time Academy Award®-winning director Clint Eastwood
focuses equally on the war and home, crosscutting between the viciousness of the battle and the
manufactured propaganda campaign and careful manipulation of the image that followed – issues that
remain prevalent today. As "Flags of Our Fathers" shows how the photograph became the very beginning
of celebrity worship, the film questions our need to create and celebrate heroes, sometimes at a cost.
DreamWorks Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures present a Malpaso/Amblin Entertainment production,
"Flags of Our Fathers." Directed by Clint Eastwood, the screenplay is by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul
Haggis, based on the book by James Bradley with Ron Powers. Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and
Robert Lorenz produce the film.
--© DreamWorks Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures
them up as the best America had to offer, the supermen who conquered the Japanese…
...and then, just as quickly as it had arrived, the glory faded. For two of the surviving flag-raisers, life
became a series of compromises and disappointments; for the third, happiness came only by shutting off
his war experiences and rarely speaking of them ever again.
"Flags of Our Fathers" is a human drama of friendship and love, sacrifice and manipulation, set against
the violent conflict of the battle of Iwo Jima. Two-time Academy Award®-winning director Clint Eastwood
focuses equally on the war and home, crosscutting between the viciousness of the battle and the
manufactured propaganda campaign and careful manipulation of the image that followed – issues that
remain prevalent today. As "Flags of Our Fathers" shows how the photograph became the very beginning
of celebrity worship, the film questions our need to create and celebrate heroes, sometimes at a cost.
DreamWorks Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures present a Malpaso/Amblin Entertainment production,
"Flags of Our Fathers." Directed by Clint Eastwood, the screenplay is by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul
Haggis, based on the book by James Bradley with Ron Powers. Clint Eastwood, Steven Spielberg, and
Robert Lorenz produce the film.
--© DreamWorks Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures