Flags of Our Fathers (2006)

Leighton: ***; Mom/Pop: ***

I'm posting for mom and dad as well as myself again. I got to see the movie at a theater sneak preview a few months ago. Mom and Dad rented it on DVD.

Mom wrote:

Dad and I really enjoyed the film. I wondered why it was titled Flags, plural, rather than Flag. Now I understand. Was this fact or fiction? Is the photo I have seen over the years, the re-do? If this is accurate, it’s kind of disarming to think about - another duping of the public, another piece of propaganda. I think it was less graphic than Saving Private Ryan and sad for many reasons. Sad that youngsters died, sad that the three guys were used, sad how their lives played out. We are looking forward to seeing the next film.

I am bothered by the use of the second photo. Was the first destroyed? Did they know at the time or was it inadvertently used and too late to change gears? One problem I had was keeping track of who was who - were they a completely different group of guys in the second shot or just a substitution or two. How did Iggy die - what was with the cave under the foxhole? I was hoping for some discussion on the DVD but there were no extras.

To answer Mom's question first, the famous photo that everyone knows was the second photo taken with different troops and a different flag. A whole bunch of information about it can be found at www.iwojima.com, including the original photo, info about the flag raisers, info about the battle, etc.

I really enjoyed the movie as well. I thought it was pretty sad how the lives of the men were turned upside-down, especially when they didn't feel they were the heroes they were made out to be. If that didn't happen and the money wasn't raised, would we have lost World War II? Who knows.