‘Flags’ falls short of epic

War movies always have a hero, period costumes and impressive special effects. Good war movies give the viewer a clear picture of the realities of the particular war it features. Great war movies change perceptions about war and remain unforgettable.

“Flags of Our Fathers” (Paramount) falls just below the great mark. It is entertaining both visually and thematically and demands consideration of the effects and realities of war. Yet, it is not strong enough to stand out in the crowded genre of war films.

Powerfully acted and emotionally moving in some moments, “Flags of Our Fathers” is certainly a good film. However, when the creative forces of Clint Eastwood (director), Steven Spielberg (producer) and Paul Haggis (screenwriter) come together for a film, expectations remain much higher.

The film tells the story behind the famous photo taken at Iwo Jima, an island off the coast of Japan that American and Japanese soldiers battled for near the end of World War II. The capture of the island was seen as necessary for a military attack on Japan.

The battle for Iwo Jima lasted more than a month. Yet the most famous shot on the island had nothing to do with a gun. The photo showed six men working together to raise an American flag on top of a mountain.

While the picture appeared to depict a victory, it did not. The photo was taken only days into the battle but quickly surfaced on front pages of newspapers across the country.

America — a country tired of war — latched onto the photo, willingly believing in the victory.

The six men in the picture — three of whom died soon after the photo was a taken — became instant American heroes. The three living soldiers — a U.S. Navy corpsman and two U.S. Marines — were pulled from the battlefield and brought back to America to participate in a war bond drive featuring the photo of the flag rising as the central symbol of the fundraising efforts.

“Flags of Our Fathers” tells the tale of the Iwo Jima flag raisers as soldiers and fundraisers in flashbacks. The film mainly focuses on the effects of war on the lives of the soldiers rather than the war itself.

The opening scene shows John “Doc” Bradley, the main character and one of the flag raisers, collapsing as an old man while still calling out for a comrade lost in the battle.

The young Bradley is played strongly by Ryan Phillippe, yet the most memorable performance is given by Adam Beach portraying Ira Hayes, a Native American Marine in the photo.

In the film and his real life, Hayes is destroyed by his experience in the war, struggling with alcoholism and depression throughout the film and for the rest of his life as a result of his war experience.

“Flags of Our Fathers” shines the brightest when it examines the meaning of heroism. Instead of building up the concept of the heroism of soldiers, the film portrays the soldiers as humble men that are hesitant to be called heroes.

They consider the men that died next to them the real heroes and consider themselves men that were simply lucky not to get shot. The characters in “Flags of Our Fathers” go to war for their country, but fight for the American soldier and friend crouching next to them in the trench.

While “Flags of Our Fathers” conveys an unconventional and impressively deep message, it falls short on too many of the basics needed to become a classic.

The battle scenes are overly long and convoluted. As the film races through flashbacks — moving from the battle to the fundraising tour, to the surviving characters at old age — character identification is consistently confusing.

Ultimately, the most memorable commentary in the film addresses the treatment of Native Americans through Hayes’ character during and following the war bond fundraiser. Although that message is intriguing, it should not have been the most interesting concept in the film.

“Flags of Our Fathers” is good, but it is not great. It is entertainment peppered with a few meaningful messages, but not the best picture contender that was expected from the collaboration of Eastwood, Spielberg and Haggis. Unfortunately forgettable, the true story of “Flags of Our Fathers” is vastly more engaging than the film.

Rebecca Bostic is a regular contributor to The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcome. Send e-mail to letters@catholicsun.org.