Letters from Iwo Jima is one of the most marking films that I have seen in my life. It is a depiction of the battle (in a Japanese point of view) that the Americans thought that they would win in 5.


The battle lasted 40 days.


The film is full of memorable characters: the wise and generous General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, Saigo, a humble baker who wants to survive in this battle to see his newborn child, who he hasn't seen yet. Baron Nishi, the legendary Olympic gold medalist rider who brings his horse to the Island. Ito, a hot-blooded lieutenant who never quite agrees with Kuribayashi. Shimizu, an overly disciplined soldier who is suspected of being a spy from the Kempeitai ( military police and intelligence service).

The Japanese, including Kuribayashi know that defeat is inevitable and that they were all facing certain death. The American are 5 times more numerous and are way in front in technology. But Kuribayashi's objective was to maximally damage the American army.

The battle scenes are shocking : Japanese getting burned alive, many of them committing suicide by blowing themselves up with grenades. One of the most outrageous scenes may be the part where the Americans shoot the Japanese Prisoners rather than guarding them. Another horrific scene is when the Japanese soldiers kill with their bayonets an American soldier, pleading for mercy, who tried to burn them.

Most Japanese soldiers are convinced that the Americans are evil and inhuman savages, barring a few who know them like Kuribayashi or Baron Nishi. One memorable scene is when Baron Nishi reads out loud to the other soldiers a letter from an American soldier's mother, in which they realize that the Americans were just like themselves, human.

So the point of the film is that there isn't any good or bad side in the war. Everybody were forced to fight, and the Japanese are not just evil like most people think. The Americans weren't totally angelic themselves, like I mentioned before, shooting POWs.


The film excels as a story about human heart.