A few weeks ago, I sang the highest praises for Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima. My expectation was that Eastwood’sFlags of our Fathers would be an equally good movie, telling the story of the battle for Iwo Jima from the American side. To my great surprise, the prequel is stunningly inferior to Letters from Iwo Jima. The story of Flags of our Fathers seems historically inaccurate. The war scenes appear staged as if it had a much smaller budget than Letters from Iwo Jima.  Both films are anti-war movies but in Flags of our Fathers the anti-war message feels contrived.  On all levels [i[Letters from Iwo Jima is superior to Flags of our Fathers. It is almost impossible to believe that the same director and to some extent the same screenplay writer (Paul Haggis) are responsible for both films. The fact that the same people could make films of so different quality goes to show that the original story behind the film is crucial for making a great film. Iris Yamashita, the lead writer for [i[Letters from Iwo Jima wrote a better screenplay than then her partner, Paul Haggis, who was more responsible for Flags of our Fathers.

Iris Yamashita, the lead writer for Letters from Iwo Jima wrote a better screenplay than then her partner, Paul Haggis, who was more responsible for Flags of our Fathers.