Ken Watanabe in "Letters From Iwo Jima"
courtesy of Warner Home Entertainment
"Eastwood and the War"

A lot of people did not get a chance to see Clint Eastwood's "Letters From Iwo Jima" when it played in theaters this past winter. But now it has been released on DVD and anyone who wants to see it can. Eastwood filmed two movies at the same time when bringing the battle for Iwo Jima to the screen. He gave the American perspective of the battle in "Flags of Our Fathers" and then he showed the Japanese perspective in "Letters From Iwo Jima." In many respects the "Japanese perspective" film is better than the "American perspective" one because it is so uncommon. In most war films the enemy is the enemy and a humanizing view is unheard of. But Eastwood does the improbable in that he makes this war story personal from both sides.

The focus of the "Letters From Iwo Jima" is on the Commander of the Japanese troops on the island, General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe), and on one of the enlisted troops who was once a baker. His name is Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiva). These two men's lives intersect at various times during the battle and they have an impact on each other's actions and reactions.

The Japanese approach to the upcoming battle for the island of Iwo Jima was in part fatalistic. The powers that be knew they did not have the resources to do battle against the Americans, but they had been ordered to hold the island and that is what they would try to do. None was more aware of the American's strength than General Kuribayashi as he had been trained in America and knew his enemy well.

Saigo's story exemplifies the human part of the war. He was a baker in Japan, with a wife and baby on the way. He was forced into the military and worries constantly about his wife and child back in Japan. He has promised them that he will return home but the power of the Americans in their attack make that possibility doubtful.

Eastwood's genius is in making us see this "enemy" as human. That is his purpose with "Letters From Iwo Jima" and he has totally fulfilled his plan.

On the other end of the entertainment scale is "The Good German," another World War II film. Director Steven Soderberg filmed this movie, now on DVD, in black and white and did everything possible to make it look like a film from the forties such as "Casablanca." He cast George Clooney and Cate Blanchett as lovers who are reunited in Germany after the war has ended and even gave them a scene at an airport at the very end of the film that appears to be ripped right out of "Casablanca." Note to Steven: looking like "Casablanca" and being of the caliber of "Casablanca" are two very different things.

Clooney plays Jake Geismer, a war correspondent who returns to Germany after the war has ended to cover the Potsdam Conference. Immediately upon his arrival he is assigned a driver named Patrick Tully (Tobey Maguire). Tully has a few secrets and one of them is that a woman named Lena Brandt (Blanchett) is his mistress.

Lena was also Jake's lover back in the early days of the war. Now they meet again and the old feelings return. But Lena has a husband and he is being sought by both the Americans and the Russians. Lena says he is dead but no one believes her. Still Jake is willing to help her get out of Germany.

None of this is very interesting and none of it makes a lot of sense. Clooney is an actor who never appears to take his roles seriously. He always seems to have an inside joke going on and if we don't know what it is, well tough. In this film his character gets beaten up so often it becomes a joke. Jake is not a man to bet on in a fight.

Blanchett is very good in her role but she doesn't have anyone to play off of. Maguire is totally miscast as her brutal lover, and Clooney's character is supposed to love her but there is no heat there. She just has to operate in a vacuum and keep the audience as entertained as possible.

There is nothing good about "The Good German" except good riddance when it is over. Skip this one and concentrate on "Letters From Iwo Jima."

Love is in the air in "Venus," the film that earned Peter O'Toole an Oscar nomination as Best Actor. Even though he did not win he was recognized far and wide for this rich performance. With the movie now on DVD you can see the beauty of his performance and enjoy the warmly romantic comedy about a May-December romance.

The film is a little uneven and watching O'Toole involved in a romantic situation with a girl a good sixty years younger than he is a little off putting. Still the fun of the film is in letting your imagination run free and accepting this "friendship" for what it is. So get "Venus" and be charmed.

Totally entertaining is "The Closer," the TNT dramatic series that stars Kyra Sedgwick as an Atlanta police woman who is transferred to LA. This series has proven to be immensely popular and now "The Closer: The Complete Second Season" is out on DVD.

All fourteen episodes from the second season are included in this four disc set and all the suspense, humor and romance are perfectly captured from this great series. Sedgwick has won awards for her performance and justifiably so. This is a great series and she is great in the lead role. So get "The Closer: The Complete Second Season" for hours of solid entertainment.

Finally there is a horror flick to end up the week. It is titled "The Final Patient" and it stars one of my favorite actors Bill Cobb. He plays a man who has discovered the secret to eternal youth. When two young men try to discover his "secret" they learn there is a price to pay to finding out.

This is a fun film to watch and it has enough scary moments and suspense to make it worthwhile. So track down "The Final Patient" and end your week with some chills.
 

 

 

 

 

©2007 Jackie K. Cooper

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