Lt. Gen. Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) leads Japanese troops in a brave but hopeless battle against... (Learn more)
Starring: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara (View All)
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Starring: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara
After bringing the story of the American soldiers who fought in the battle of Iwo Jima to the screen in his film Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwood offers an equally thoughtful portrait of the Japanese forces who held the island for 36 days in this military drama. In 1945, World War II was in its last stages, and U.S. forces were planning to take on the Japanese on a small island known as Iwo Jima. While the island was mostly rock and volcanoes, it was of key strategic value and Japan's leaders saw the island as the final opportunity to prevent an Allied invasion. Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) was put in charge of the forces on Iwo Jima; Kuribayashi had spent time in the United States and was not eager to take on the American army, but he also understood his opponents in a way his superiors did not, and devised an unusual strategy of digging tunnels and deep foxholes that allowed his troops a tactical advantage over the invading soldiers. While Kuribayashi's strategy alienated some older officers, it impressed Baron Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara), the son of a wealthy family who had also studied America firsthand as an athlete at the 1932 Olympics. As Kuribayashi and his men dig in for a battle they are not certain they can win -- and most have been told they will not survive -- their story is told both by watching their actions and through the letters they write home to their loved ones, letters that in many cases would not be delivered until long after they were dead. Among the soldiers manning Japan's last line of defense are Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a baker sent to Iwo Jima only days before his wife was to give birth; Shimizu (Ryo Kase), who was sent to Iwo Jima after washing out in the military police; and Lieutenant Ito (Shidou Nakamura), who has embraced the notion of "Death Before Surrender" with particular ferocity. Filmed in Japanese with a primarily Japanese cast, Letters From Iwo Jima was shot in tandem with Flags of Our Fathers, and the two films were released within two months of one another. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
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US Release Date
12/20/06
MPAA Rating
Rated R for graphic war violence.
Running Time
141 mins.
Locations
- Iwo Jima, Japan
- Los Angeles, California, USA
Language
- English
- Japanese
Box Office Total
$13,753,931
Awards
- Winner of the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 2006 Phoenix Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2006 National Society of Film Critics [Fest Awards.
- Winner of the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 2006 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 2006 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 2006 Broadcast Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Original Screenplay award at the 2006 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Winner of the Best Director (Runner-up) award at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Critics Association [ Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Original Screenplay award at the 2006 Chicago Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
- Winner of the Best Picture award at the 2006 National Board of Review [Festival/Awa Awards.
- Winner of the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 2006 Chicago Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
- Winner of the Best Cinematography (Runner-up) award at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Critics Association [ Awards.
- Winner of the Best Foreign Film award at the 2006 Utah Film Critics [Festival/Award] Awards.
- Winner of the Best Picture award at the 2006 American Film Institute [Festival/Awar Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 2006 Hollywood Foreign Press Association [F Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Cinematography award at the 2006 Chicago Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
- Winner of the Best Picture award at the 2006 Los Angeles Film Critics Association [ Awards.
- Winner of the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 2006 Dallas/Fort Worth Film Critics Associat Awards.
- Winner of the Best Picture award at the 2006 San Diego Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
- Winner of the Best Director (Runner-up) award at the 2006 New York Film Critics Society [Festiva Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2006 Phoenix Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2006 Association, Southeastern Film Critics Awards.
- Winner of the Best Foreign Language Film award at the 2006 Kansas City Film Critics Association [ Awards.
- Winner of the Best Director award at the 2006 San Diego Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
- Winner of the Best Sound Editing award at the 2006 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2006 Las Vegas Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2006 Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Scie Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Original Score award at the 2006 Chicago Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 2006 Chicago Film Critics Association [Fest Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Director award at the 2006 Broadcast Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2006 Broadcast Film Critics Association [Fe Awards.
- Nominated for a Best Picture award at the 2006 Dallas/Fort Worth Film Critics Associat Awards.
Distributor
- Paramount Pictures (USA)
- Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group
- Warner Bros. Pictures Distribution
- Warner Brothers
- Warner Brothers (International)
