FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
Year: 2006
USA: DreamWorks Pictures
UK: Warner Bros Pictures International UK
Cast: Ryan Phillippe, Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach, Barry Pepper, John Benjamin Hickey, John Slattery, Paul Walker, Jamie Bell, Robert Patrick, Matt Huffman, Neal McDonough, Melanie Lynskey, Tom McCarthy, Chris Bauer, Judith Ivey, Myra Turley, Joseph Cross, Benjamin Walker, Alessandro Mastrobuono, Scott Reeves, Stark Sands, George Grizzard, Harve Presnell, George Hearn, Len Cariou, Christopher Curry, Bubba Lewis, Beth Grant, Connie Ray, Ann Dowd, Mary Beth Peil, David Patrick Kelly, Jon Polito, Ned Eisenberg, Gordon Clapp, V J Foster, Kirk B R Woller, Tom Verica, Jason Gray-Stanford, David Hornsby, Brian Kimmet
Director: Clint Eastwood
Country: USA
USA & UK: 131 mins
USA Rated: R for sequences of graphic war violence and carnage, and for language
UK Certificate: 15 contains strong language and war violence
USA Release Date: 20 October 2006
UK Release Date: 22 December 2006
Synopsis
Where words simply cannot do justice, a single image can capture a hundred million hearts.
In the first of a two-part cinematic masterpiece, brought to you by the dream combination of multiple Academy Award winners, director Clint Eastwood and producer Steven Spielberg in their first theatrical collaboration, FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS tells the story behind the most indelible image of the Pacific War: Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer James Bradley's shot of the raising of the US flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima.
February 1945
While victory was within sight in Europe, the bloody war continued in the Pacific. An especially crucial and ferocious battle was the struggle for the island of Iwo Jima. A poignant photo of five marines and a Navy corpsman raising the flag on Mount Suribachi was a moment frozen in time that became a symbol of victory. The six became instant heroes but some of them perished in combat soon after never knowing they had been immortalized.
This heroic and affecting tale of epic proportions documents the conflict from the viewpoint of the men who knew the truth behind the photograph facing an American public who wanted to believe there is cause to hope. In a bid to raise desperately needed funds for the war effort, the three surviving 'Flag Raisers' are sent back to the States to capitalise on the powerful public response to the legendary photo. Lauded as heroes, it is a discomfited tribute they struggle to accept.
While the film chronicles the life stories of the six men who raised the flag at The Battle of Iwo Jima, which was a turning point in World War II on the Pacific front, it also follows John 'Doc' Bradley (Ryan Phillippe), a Navy Corpsman, and first class Private soldiers Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) and Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) as they continue to fulfil their patriotic duty determinedly touring the country, beseeching the war-weary citizens to lend financial support to the cause.
Whilst to the outside world these three young men appear as honourable survivors, a part of each of them died alongside their fallen comrades on the black sands of Iwo Jima.
Based on the bestselling novel by James Bradley with Ron Powers, it is directed by Academy Award-winner Clint Eastwood (MILLION DOLLAR BABY, UNFORGIVEN) produced by Eastwood, Academy Award-winner Steven Spielberg (SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, SCHINDLER'S LIST) and Rob Lorenz (MYSTIC RIVER).
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS is the first in a two-part exploration of a crucial event in World War II. The second part of Eastwood's moving interpretation, LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA (releasing in its original Japanese language version with English subtitles) portrays the personal experiences of the Japanese troops who fought to defend Iwo Jima from American invasion, will be.
