"Letters from Iwo Jima" ALMOST falls into the same pit, but luckily, manages to pull out of this path and inject an emotional and immersive storyline that gives enough hope and enough characterization to pull out and see that this isn't a bash-fest of sorrow upon the audience. By the end, it just leaves you feeling numbed and saddened, wondering when the climax hit. Many movies that delve into traumatizing events like "The Pianist" or "The Pursuit of Happyness" always seem to fall into the same storytelling detriments: They focus on repetitively piling more and more saddening events without involving viewers emotionally with any of the characters and without introducing any new developments in the narrative. The narrative does come heavy-handed though. The heavy and emotional narrative alone, gives "Letters from Iwo Jima" a distinctive identity of its own. Like a boss, Eastwood doesn't just leave these heavy themes on the eastern side of the world he challenges both American and Japanese cultures, almost as if he speaks out to bring both parties at a healthy medium. This scarcity, much like how scarcely an American studio would humanize and show the perspective of America's opposing forces during WWII, is present because these themes and struggles are direct challenges of Japanese culture. GRAN TORINO TORRENT VOSTFR MOVIEBut what "Letters from Iwo Jima" does differently compared to ANY war movie (from what I've seen) is the depiction of themes and struggles that have scarcely been covered in any type of American storytelling. Thus, the film seems to be another emulation of the visually and the viscerally spectacular, "Saving Private Ryan". The color palette, the shaky-cam, death and blood between quick-cuts, and dirt flinging up from ricocheting bullets are all done via "Saving Private Ryan"'s style except with a considerably lacking production value. Yes, visually, you're not gonna find much difference contrary to watching "Saving Private Ryan". That isn't to say, "Letters" was a bad movie - just thought the film did very little to distinguish itself from the rest of the movies within the war genre.Ĭompared to your average war-movie, "Letters" has a bit more depth to it. A special award should go to McQueen's Dutch partner Bianca Stigter who discovered Northup's book and recommended it to the director.For a movie that has had an amazing word of mouth, "Letters from Iwo Jima" surprisingly is not quite the punch that I'd thought it would be. As if Northup has not suffered enough, we learn that his legal actions against both those who sold and bought him failed in the courts. At the start and finish of the film, we are reminded that this is a true story based on the book written by Northup in 1853, once he finally re-acquired his freedom (in a pedestrian act of bureaucracy rather than anything more dramatic or violent). As a cinematic work, it has some challenges: there is no conventional narrative arc in which a plot unfolds or a character develops because Northrup is confined to a small geographical space where he can only survive by keeping as low a profile as possible the characters are literally black and white with little subtlety or nuance and there is not really a sense that the period of incarceration is more than a decade. As a piece of social history, this movie is simply stunning - a virtual blow to the solar plexus. McQueen's style is slow and penetrating with some long and wordless scenes totally captivating. Original music by Hans Zimmer and use of contemporary songs add to the searing atmosphere of the work McQueen is unrelenting in his focus: except for short pieces at the beginning and the end of the film, all the time is the period in captivity and, except for occasional glimpses of humanity, we see the slaves subjected to humiliation and horror again and again and again. In her first film role, Lupita Nyong'o gives a heart-rending performance as a young slave who is horrendously abused. GRAN TORINO TORRENT VOSTFR SERIESAnd a host of fine US actors make cameo appearances, notably Brad Pitt (who was one of the 10 producers), Paul Giamatti (looking as if he had walked straight out of the TV mini series "John Adams"), Sarah Paulson and Alfre Woodard. GRAN TORINO TORRENT VOSTFR FULLAs always, Sean Bobbitt is inspiring as director of photography, making full use of the Louisiana locations. But, of course, there is a vast array of American talent here too. The brilliant director (and artist) Steve McQueen and outstanding Chiwetel Ejiofor, as the eponymous Solomon Northup, are both British even Michael Fassbender, in the main support role as a sadistically brutal slave-owner, is half British and Benedict Cumberbatch makes an appearance as a 'kinder' slave owner. Let's be honest about it: this spotlight on the darkest days of American history is a particularly British triumph.
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