Plot
As three US servicemen – Marine Private First Class Ira Hayes, Private First Class Rene Gagnon, and Navy Pharmacist's Mate 2nd Class John "Doc" Bradley – are feted as heroes in a war bond drive, they reflect on their experiences via flashback.
After training at Camp Tarawa in Hawaii, the 28th Marine Regiment 5th Marine Division sails to invade Iwo Jima. The Navy bombards suspected Japanese positions for three days. Sergeant Mike Strank is put in charge of Second Platoon. On February 19, 1945, the Marines land on Iwo Jima using Higgins boats and LVTs. The beaches are silent and Private First Class Ralph "Iggy" Ignatowski wonders if the defenders are all dead before Japanese heavy artillery and machine guns open fire on the advancing Marines and the Navy ships. Casualties are heavy, but the beaches are eventually secured.
On February 21, the Marines attack Mount Suribachi under a rain of Japanese artillery and machine gun fire, as the Navy bombards the mountain. Doc saves the lives of several Marines under fire, which later earns him the Navy Cross. On February 23, having secured the mountain, the platoon under command of Sergeant Hank Hansen reaches the top of Mount Suribachi and hoists the United States flag to cheers from the beaches and the ships. Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal, who witnesses the flag raising as he lands on the beach, requests the flag for himself. Colonel Chandler Johnson decides his 2nd Battalion deserves the flag more, so he sends Rene up with Second Platoon to replace the first flag with a second one for Forrestal to take. Mike, Doc, Ira, Rene, and two other Marines (Corporal Harlon Block and Private First Class Franklin Sousley) are photographed by Joe Rosenthal as they raise the second flag.
On March 1, the Second Platoon is ambushed from a Japanese machine gun nest. During the fight over the nest, Mike is hit by a U.S. Navy shell and dies from his wounds. Later that day, Hank is shot in the chest and dies while Harlon is also killed by machine gun fire. Two nights later, while Doc is helping a wounded Marine, Iggy is abducted by Japanese troops and dragged into a tunnel. Doc finds his viciously mangled body a few days later. On March 21, Franklin is killed by machine gun fire and dies in Ira's arms. A few days after Franklin's death, Doc is wounded by artillery fire while trying to save a fellow corpsman. He survives and is sent back home. On March 26, the battle ends and the U.S. Marines are victorious.
After the battle, the press gets hold of Rosenthal's photograph and it becomes a huge morale booster for the public. Rene is asked to name the six men in the photo; he identifies himself, Mike, Doc, and Franklin, but misidentifies Harlon as Hank. Rene eventually names Ira as the sixth man, even after Ira threaten to kill him for doing so.
Doc, Ira, and Rene are sent home as part of the seventh bond tour. When they arrive to a hero's welcome in Washington, DC, Doc notices that Hank's mother is on the list of mothers of the dead flag raisers. Ira angrily denounces the bond drive as a farce. The men are reprimanded by Bud Gerber of the Treasury Department, who tells them that the country cannot afford the war and if the bond drive fails, the U.S. will abandon the Pacific and their sacrifices will be for nothing. The three agree not to tell anyone that Hank was not in the photograph.
As the three are sent around the country to raise money and make speeches, Ira grows increasingly guilt-ridden, faces discrimination as a Native American, and descends into alcoholism. After he throws up one night in front of General Alexander Vandegrift, commandant of the Marine Corps, he is sent back to his unit and the bond drive continues without him.
After the war, the three survivors return to their homes. Ira still struggles with alcoholism and is never able to escape his unwanted fame. One day after being released from jail, he hitchhikes over 1,300 miles to Texas to see Harlon Block's family. He tells Harlon's father that his son was indeed at the base of the flag in the photograph. In 1954, the USMC War Memorial is dedicated and the three flag raisers see each other one last time. In 1955, Ira is found dead and he is suspected to have died from exposure after a night of drinking. That same year, Doc drives to the town where Iggy's mother lives to tell her how Iggy died, though it is implied that he does not tell her the truth. Rene attempts a business career, but finds that the opportunities and offers he received during the bond drive have since been rescinded. After failing to find work as a police officer, he spends the rest of his life as a janitor. Doc, by contrast, is successful, buying and running a funeral home. In 1994, on his deathbed, he tells his story to his son, James, and in a final flashback to 1945, the men are seem swimming in the ocean after raising the flags.
Reception
Box office
Despite critical acclaim, the film under-performed at the box office, earning just $65,900,249 worldwide against an estimated $90 million production budget. Its companion film Letters From Iwo Jima was more profitable with a box office run of $71 million on a budget of $19 million. [13]
Critical reception
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, Flags of Our Fathers has an approval rating of 76% based on 238 reviews, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The site's consensus states: "Flags of Our Fathers is both a fascinating look at heroism, both earned and manufactured, and a well-filmed salute to the men who fought at the battle of Iwo Jima." [3] On Metacritic, the film scored a 79 out of 100 based on 39 reviews, indicating "Generally favorable reviews". [14] Roger Ebert gave the film four stars out of four praising the film for its depiction of war. [15]
The film made the top-10 list of the National Board of Review. Eastwood also earned a Golden Globe nomination for directing. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards — for Best Sound Mixing (John T. Reitz, David E. Campbell, Gregg Rudloff, and Walt Martin) and Sound Editing. [16] Film critic Richard Roeper said, "Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers stands with the Oscar-winning Unforgiven and Million Dollar Baby as an American masterpiece. It is a searing and powerful work from a 76-year-old artist who remains at the top of his game... [and] Flags of Our Fathers is a patriotic film in that it honors those who fought in the Pacific, but it is also patriotic because it questions the official version of the truth, and reminds us that superheroes exist only in comic books and cartoon movies." [17]
Top ten lists
Flags of Our Fathers was listed on numerous critics' top ten lists for 2006. [18]
- 1st – Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times (tied with Letters from Iwo Jima )
- 1st – Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune
- 1st – Kirk Honeycutt, The Hollywood Reporter
- 1st – Stephen Hunter, The Washington Post
- 2nd – Scott Foundas, L.A. Weekly (tied with Letters from Iwo Jima )
- 3rd – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone (tied with Letters from Iwo Jima )
- 3rd – Shawn Levy, Portland Oregonian (tied with Letters from Iwo Jima )
- 3rd – Jack Matthews, New York Daily News (tied with Letters from Iwo Jima )
- 3rd – Richard Roeper, At the Movies (tied with Letters from Iwo Jima )
- 3rd – Claudia Puig, USA Today
- 4th – William Arnold, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
- 5th – Ray Bennett, The Hollywood Reporter
- 5th – Richard Schickel, Time
- 5th – David Edelstein, Fresh Air (tied with Letters from Iwo Jima ) [19]
- 7th – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times (tied with Letters from Iwo Jima ) [20]
- Best of 2006 (listed alphabetically, not ranked) – David Denby, The New Yorker [21]
Spike Lee controversy
At the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, director Spike Lee, who was making Miracle at St. Anna , about an all-Black U.S. division fighting in Italy during World War II, criticized director Clint Eastwood for not depicting Black Marines in Flags of Our Fathers. [22] Citing historical accuracy, Eastwood responded that his film was specifically about the Marines who raised the flag on Mount Suribachi at Iwo Jima, pointing out that while Black Marines did fight at Iwo Jima, the U.S. military was segregated during World War II, and none of the men who raised the flag were Black. Eastwood believed Lee was using the comments to promote Miracle at St. Anna and angrily said that Lee should "shut his face". [22] Lee responded that Eastwood was acting like an "angry old man", and argued that despite making two Iwo Jima films back to back, Letters from Iwo Jima and Flags of Our Fathers, "there was not one Black Marine in both of those films". [23] [24] [25]
Contrary to Lee's claims, however, Black Marines (including an all-Black unit) are seen in several scenes during which the mission is outlined, as well as during the initial landings, when a wounded Black Marine is carried away. During the end credits, historical photographs taken during the Battle of Iwo Jima show Black Marines. Although Black Marines fought in the battle, they were restricted to auxiliary roles, such as ammunition supply, and were not involved in the battle's major assaults; they did, however, take part in defensive actions. [26] According to Alexander M. Bielakowski and Raffaele Ruggeri, "Half a million African Americans served overseas during World War II, almost all in segregated second-line units." [27] The number of African Americans killed in action was 708. [28]
Spielberg later intervened between the two directors, after which Lee sent a copy of a film on which he was working to Eastwood for a private screening as a seeming token of apology. [22]
Later corrections on the identity of the flag-raisers
The United States Marine Corps have conducted multiple investigations of the identities of the flag-raisers at Iwo-Jima, revealing that two of them were mistakenly portrayed in the film and other media. Until June 23, 2016, author James Bradley's father John Bradley, Navy corpsman, was misidentified as being one of the figures who raised the second flag, and incorrectly depicted on the bronze statue memorial, as one of the five flag-raisers. [29] Similarly, until October 16, 2019, Rene Gagnon was also misidentified. [30] In reality, marines Harold Keller and Harold Schultz were in their places respectively, and the two were not depicted in the film.
