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PLOT: Events that led to the legendary "flag-raising" picture during the Allied invasion of Iwo Jima -- and the effects of the photo on the lives of the men pictured -- are retold.
In the opening of Flags of Our Fathers -- the Clint Eastwood-directed, Steven Spielberg-produced take on the famed photo of the raising of the U.S. flag at Iwo Jima -- a narrator speechifies about the desire to see the world as "heroes and villains, good and bad, black and white."
It's an interesting observation, given that Spielberg has based most of his career on this dichotomy. Shades of grey? That's for people who hate America.
But though shades of grey may be truer to life, heroes and villains propel a narrative better, at least given the trudging, sombre film that Flags of Our Fathers turns out to be.
Flags, which tells the "real story" of the planting of that flag on the top of Mount Suribachi during the Second World War, is the kind of movie that drives "hawks" crazy -- one that takes an inspiring symbol of heroism, reduces it with the truth, and curdles its spirit with brushstrokes of opportunism, egotism, cowardice and tragedy.
We're told that the U.S. in February 1945 was dispirited and tired of war. Then came victory in Iwo Jima after one of the bloodiest ground battles in history and a newspaper photo of six men planting a flag. The image pumped public morale, goosed sales of war bonds and arguably gave the U.S. the strength to wage war for several more months.
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So does it matter that the photo was a lie?
As we find out after a confusing lot of flashbacks and narratives, the famous photo was of a second flag and it came after the battle had died down, the result of two commanders arguing over custody of the original flag. The guys who originally hoisted it under fire were not photographed.
None of which matters to the military brass in Flags of Our Fathers. They've got three survivors -- Marine Ptes. Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) and Ira Hayes (the tragic Native hero played by Winnipeg's Adam Beach) and Navy corpsman John Bradley (Ryan Phillippe) -- and a story all involved are ordered to stick to, or else.
They become publicity monkeys, are wined and dined, speak at Yankees games and are even made to recreate the flag-planting on a paper mache mountain at Chicago's Soldiers Field. Gagnon eats up his celebrity eagerly, Bradley (the putative hero of the piece) sucks in his deep disapproval, while Hayes bitterly hits the bottle. This gives Beach lots to chew on. His performance is the standout.
With too many flashbacks, Flags of Our Fathers spends too much time at Iwo Jima for a movie that's about "heroes" being exploited Stateside. The problem is that the jump-cuts from the hollow-hero-tale to the battle cheapen the war scenes, too.
Maybe the generals were right. The truth may set you free but it doesn't win wars. And it doesn't make for rousing war movies either. Just honest ones.
BOTTOM LINE: This is the kind of war story that drives "hawks" crazy. Insightful and no doubt truthful but dramatically hindered by all the flashbacks and jumps that tend to take the steam out of the battle scenes.
(This film is rated 14-A)