Let’s go to the movies….again.
This time with Clint Eastwood at the helm of a World War II drama.
“Flags Of Our Fathers” revolves around the most famous photograph of the war, and the subjects in the image.
The power of a still image of wartime was never felt as strongly in the minds of the general public as this one. In future articles we will discuss the many other images of war and the places they hold in our collective memory. And their power of persuasion.
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“In that moment, Rosenthal’s camera recorded the soul of a nation.”
. . .Editors of US Camera Magazine.
Based on a best selling book of the same name, it tells of a sons search for the truth about his father, a medical corpsman during the Battle for Iwo Jima.
From the film’s fansite:
“The heart of the book centers around the tragic life stories of the six men who raised the flag that February day–one an Arizona Indian who would die following an alcohol-soaked brawl, another a Kentucky hillbilly, still another a Pennsylvania steel-mill worker–and who became reluctant heroes in the bargain.
Like the book, the movie is expected to focus on what happened to the men after the famous battle. The men in the photo–three were killed during the battle–were proclaimed heroes and flown home, to become reluctant symbols. For two of them, the adulation was shattering. Only John Bradley truly survived, displaying no copy of the famous photograph in his home, telling his son only: “The real heroes of Iwo Jima were the guys who didn’t come back.â€
The movie script for Flags of Our Fathers will try to show the difference between truth and myth, the meaning of being a hero, and the essence of the human experience of war. ”
Another part of that story is that of the photographer who took that photograph,
Joseph John Rosenthal, who recently died on 20th August, 2006.
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Often accused of staging that shot, he spent the rest of his life explaining the events and the actual taking of the image.
From all accounts he seems to have been haunted by the specter of the notoriety of this one photo, while the rest of his body of work went relatively into obscurity.
As you begin to see the trailers in the theaters, don’t forget about the man who snapped the shutter.
Here is the AP news service account of Joseph Rosenthals’ photograph called by Eddie Adams, another great war photographer : “It’s perfect: The position, the body language. … You couldn’t set anything up like this — it’s just so perfect.”
As reviews come in , we will keep you updated.
Cheers.
Damon Webster
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Clint’s new movie, Iwo Jima, looks like a real winner also. The cinematography looks spectacular! And I heard he is making 2 versions of the movie, one from the US and the other from the Japanese perspective. If that is true, I love the idea, it’s brilliant!