I watched Flags of our Fathers this week during my lunch breaks (since I work from home I don't lose time by going out for lunch, I waste my lunch time by watching a little TV). I don't remember this movie doing very well in the theater, but after watching it I think I understand.It tells the story of the soldiers on Iwo Jima who raised the flag in the famous picture everyone is familiar with. The problem is that it intersperses present day with the battle on Iwo Jima with the main story (what happens to those marines and navy corpsman immediately after the picture becomes famous). There probably isn't enough war story to keep someone watching for the war story happy, and there is probably too much war story and graphic violence to keep someone watching for the "after" story happy. And the cuts to the present day (done as the son of one of the flag raisers interviews survivors) adds somewhat to what became to me a confusing narrative. As is common in movies like this, there are a lot of characters and a lot of names and a lot of them die. And since they all dress alike in uniform, it is difficult to keep everyone straight.
Am I glad I saw it? Yes. Would I recommend it? Not sure. I guess I give it a thumb-sideways.
NYC
1 comment:
Try watching it again. It'll grow on you.
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