Letters from Iwo Jima

This film covers a significant event during the second World War. The island of Iwo Jima, lies in the western Pacific Ocean, and its strategic position was considered vital for the Americans in their final push to defeat Japan.

After five weeks of combat, in 1945, the Americans capture the island, but at a very high human cost. The film is unusual in that the unfolding story is presented from a Japanese viewpoint and is based on several hundred letters unearthed on Iwo Jima, decades after the war ended. Director, Clint Eastwood, uses the contents of the letters to explore some facets of war i.e. honour, courage, horrors beyond imagination, and how the rigid Japanese culture led to the unnecessary loss of thousands of lives.