'Lettters From Iwo Jima' (*** 1/2)

It's no secret that I harbor a certain amount of contempt and resentment for Clint Eastwood, so when I saw his latest film, "Letters from Iwo Jima," appearing on hundreds of noted critics' top 10 lists and garnering more than its share of year-end awards, I was understandably skeptical.

After all, two of his recent films — "Mystic River" and "Million Dollar Baby" — earned even more praise, yet turned out to be little more than a glorified episode of "Law and Order" and a morally base exercise in emotional pornography, respectively. Many people consider Eastwood to be the finest living American filmmaker, but on the basis of his recent work, I think "greatest fraud to ever be perpetrated on the American public" would be a more fitting label.

Now it's time for me to eat a big ol' bowl of crow, because for once the praise is deserved: This is by far Eastwood's most impressive work since "Unforgiven," and quite possibly the best war film since the one-two punch of "Saving Private Ryan" and "The Thin Red Line" nearly a decade ago.

By approaching this retelling of the battle of Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective (as a companion piece to "Flags of Our Fathers," told from the American point of view), Eastwood has crafted a unique anti-war film that never seems labored or preachy. Instead, it presents a starkly realistic vision of the battle and leaves it to the viewer to draw their own conclusions about the absurdity of warfare.

The first half of the film takes place as Japanese troops are fortifying the island in preparation for the imminent American invasion. We're introduced to several soldiers, most notably the morally despondent grunt Saigo (Japanese pop star Kazunari Ninomiya) and General Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe), who is charged with overseeing the coming battle. Though there is little action during this first act, it is nonetheless fascinating to observe these desperate preparations through the eyes of the Japanese — traditionally thought of simply as "the enemy," but here humanized to a nearly unbearable extent.

The film's second half is nearly all action, and Eastwood keeps the pace steady without sacrificing the character development he and screenwriter Iris Yamashita worked so carefully to establish. As I said, the movie rarely clobbers the audience over the head with self-important anti-war sentiments, but instead lets the events speak for themselves.

Thanks to several incredible sequences (defeated Japanese soldiers turning to suicide as their only means of dying an "honorable" death; an injured American troop finding mutual respect and common ground with the Japanese soldier by whom he was mortally wounded; a flashback to Kuribayashi's happy stay in the United States, to name but a few), "Letters from Iwo Jima" stands out as one of the few earnest and unpretentious contemporary anti-war films.

I'm still a bit wary of Eastwood's decision to open this movie in limited release ahead of schedule simply to be eligible for the Oscars (as if the man really needs another best director statuette), but questionable intentions aside, "Letters from Iwo Jima" deserves its place among the year's most honored films.

"Letters from Iwo Jima" is rated R for graphic violence and gore, and mild profanity.

Jason Wallis is a News-Sentinel copy editor. He can be reached at jwallis@runbox.com.

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'Lettters From Iwo Jima' (*** 1/2)

Eastwood creates honorable anti-war film

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