Letters from Iwo Jima by Kyle Eastwood and Michael Stevens

Notes for Iwo Jima
Review by Christopher Coleman

Following up the somewhat disappointing FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS comes the highly touted film - much more of a "co-film" than a chronological-sequel, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA. If you didn't have any foreknowledge regarding Clint Eastwood's FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS, you might have been disappointed by, among other things, the almost total disregard for the Japanese side of the battle of Iwo Jima. Then again you might have been among those who knew that simulatenously filming with FLAGS was LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA and that the other side of story was forthcoming. Released in Japan in December 2006, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA qualified for consideration for the Golden Globes, from which it walked away with the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film. Now, it also stands poised to possibly take home two Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture.

For Flags, Clint Eastwood and Lennie Niehaus collaborate for the bulk of the score while son, Kyle Eastwood, is credited with one track, "Knock Knock." Moving on to LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA director Eastwood promotes his son, Kyle, and adds Michael Stevens to provide the totality of film's score. This was a somewhat surprising move on at least two counts: one, entrusting a film of this nature to a relative newcomer to the film music world and two, to someone who's noted musical interests and talents lay in other genres than film scoring.

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