William ArnottFlags Of Our Fathers - 3 Clocks
November 15th 2006 00:48
To the American public it said words like victory and hero. To the American government it said words like money and poster-boys. To the families of fallen soldiers it said words like solace and purpose. And to the soldiers in the picture it said words like dead friends and undeserved glory.
Flag Of Our Fathers attempts to reconcile all those words and tell the truth behind that famous picture. The audience is given a backstage pass to the nationwide tour of the surviving soldiers who raised the flag. They began as soldiers who chose to serve their country in battle but became soldiers who were forced to serve their country as government puppets.
Through flashbacks we are taken to the battlefields and shown the real heroes of Iwo Jima. Unfortunately the flashbacks lack any real order and end up being more confusing than they are explanatory. But what they lack in clarity they make up for in cinematic beauty. And director Clint Eastwood manages to create combat scenes that rival those of Saving Private Ryan, shot using a palette of colors taken directly from the fatigues of those on the front lines.
So while a picture may be worth 1000 words those words are often a lie - a combination of that which the viewer wants to hear and that which the photographer tells them to hear. And in the end the truth exists only in the memories of those who actually lived it.
Flag Of Our Fathers attempts to reconcile all those words and tell the truth behind that famous picture. The audience is given a backstage pass to the nationwide tour of the surviving soldiers who raised the flag. They began as soldiers who chose to serve their country in battle but became soldiers who were forced to serve their country as government puppets.
Through flashbacks we are taken to the battlefields and shown the real heroes of Iwo Jima. Unfortunately the flashbacks lack any real order and end up being more confusing than they are explanatory. But what they lack in clarity they make up for in cinematic beauty. And director Clint Eastwood manages to create combat scenes that rival those of Saving Private Ryan, shot using a palette of colors taken directly from the fatigues of those on the front lines.
So while a picture may be worth 1000 words those words are often a lie - a combination of that which the viewer wants to hear and that which the photographer tells them to hear. And in the end the truth exists only in the memories of those who actually lived it.
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