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Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

Starring Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, and Barry Pepper.  Cinematography by Tom Stern.  Edited by Joel Cox.  Produced by Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, and Steven Spielberg.  Written by William Boyles Jr. and Paul Haggis.  Directed by Clint Eastwood.

On February 23^rd, 1945, photographer Joe Rosenthal (played by Ned Eisenberg) captured an image of six US Marines raising the American flag atop Mount Suribachi on the small Japanese island of Iwo Jima.  This photo became one of the most significant images of the Second World War’s Pacific Campaign. The shot became so iconic and inspirational, in fact, that the three men who ultimately survived the battle (played by Ryan Phillippe, Adam Beach, and Jesse Bradford) were shipped back to the States to be featured in a “War Bond Tour”; an effort to replenish the rapidly deteriorating war funds. But pulling the men out of combat doesn’t necessarily remove them from conflict and, as they are exploited for their new celebrity, they begin to fall apart mentally and emotionally.

Flags of Our Fathers, a novel detailing the lives of the men in Joe Rosenthal’s famous photograph Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima, was first published in May of 2000.  Written by James Bradley, the son of flag-raiser John Bradley, and Ron Powers, an esteemed author and journalist, the book spent almost a year on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list; six of those weeks at number one. Almost immediately upon its release, Steven Spielberg optioned the movie rights for DreamWorks Pictures. A treatment was assembled by William Boyles Jr., the screenwriter behind Cast Away, Apollo 13, and Tim Burton’s 2001 Planet of the Apes “re-imagining”, but, in the eyes of Spielberg, the result was not ready for production. The project was shelved for another day.

Legendary filmmaker Clint Eastwood also read the novel and immediately saw the cinematic possibilities in it. When he looked to acquire the property, he found that DreamWorks already owned it. Eastwood mentioned to Spielberg that he would like to take a crack at it, and a couple years later, at the 2004 Governor’s Ball, Spielberg suggested a collaborative effort with Eastwood as director and Spielberg as producer.

Flags of Our Fathers appealed to Eastwood in its approach to the story.  Instead of being a straight-forward war epic, Bradley and Powers instead chose to focus on the men behind the photograph and on how the brutality of the war and the unexpected fame affected them both professionally and personally. Eastwood succeeds in a creating a truly emotional and intense experience.  The battle scenes are huge and breathtaking, but aren’t a crutch for the rest of the film.  Flags of Our Fathers is both honest and patriotic, and is a perfect compliment to Eastwood’s Iwo Jima saga (which also includes Letters from Iwo Jima).

Budget: $55,000,000

Total US Gross: $33,602,376

Genre: War

Runtime: 132 Minutes

US Release Date: 10/20/06

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1

Awards:
Academy Awards: 
Nominated for best achievement in sound editing and in sound mixing.

Golden Globes: 
Nominated for best director.

Tagline: A Single Shot Can End The War

Quote: “Hey, you know what… I don't give a shit.  You're in the picture, you raised the flag. That's the story we're selling, boys.”

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