Letters from Iwo Jima, a war drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, concentrates on the battle that took place in 1944-1945 at Iwo Jima. The film goes deep in an important social behavior, persuasion, but the most important underlying element in Eastwood’s film is the portrayal of soldiers as human beings. Realistically portrayed, the film shows the crimes committed in bloody World War II by both Americans and Japanese forces, and is told from the Imperial Japanese soldier’s perspective rather than from the American side. Despite Americans’ short screen time, they are portrayed as invaders, storming and taking over the strategically key island of Iwo Jima. Eastwood’s film begins in present time, 2005, and with a brief scene that shows remains of the Iwo Jima Battle and investigators finding …show more content…
Despite his bold tactics–forcing invaders to get closer so they could easily fight back, and making the battle last longer while awaiting for reinforcements–the Japanese struggle to survive the overwhelming American forces. There is no escape, some soldiers opt to die in battle, some consider surrendering so they can go back home with their families, some are taken as prisoners of war, and strict nationalist convictions drive others to die honorably committing mass suicides. Enemies barely know each other and yet have to inevitably fight against and defeat one another, not because they are following their convictions but because of what they have been persuaded to believe about their adversary. In Letter from Iwo Jima, a critical attribute, persuasion, is easily perceived within Americans and Japanese characters. Private Shimizu, a Japanese soldier (dismissed as a Kempeitai for not following the strict military police regimen) states in a rousing conversation with Saigo–“I don't know anything about the enemy. I believed that the Americans were cowards, but they weren't. I was taught that they were savages, but that American soldier...