Letters from Iwo Jima

"The battle of Iwo Jima seen through the eyes of the Japanese soldiers."

2006 2h 21m EN

🙌

7.5

BANGER

🔥

91%

CERTIFIED FRESH

💯

METACRITIC

⭐

7.8

IMDB

★7.5TMDB · 2,411🍅91%Rotten Tomatoes●89Metacritic★7.8IMDB · 175,999

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Synopsis

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The story of the battle of Iwo Jima between the United States and Imperial Japan during World War II, as told from the perspective of the Japanese who fought it.

“The battle of Iwo Jima seen through the eyes of the Japanese soldiers.”

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Cast

Ken Watanabe
General Tadamichi Kuribayashi
Kazunari Ninomiya
Private Saigo
Tsuyoshi Ihara
Colonel Baron Nishi
Ryo Kase
Private Shimizu
Shido Nakamura
Lieutenant Ito
Hiroshi Watanabe
Lieutenant Fujita
Takumi Bando
Captain Tanida
Yuki Matsuzaki
Private Nozaki

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Clint Eastwood
Writers: Iris Yamashita, Paul Haggis, Iris Yamashita
Languages: English, Japanese
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.6× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 20 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Japanese.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Tom Stern. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Kyle Eastwood. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya and Tsuyoshi Ihara carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Clint Eastwood directs. Tom Stern behind the camera. Kyle Eastwood scores. Joel Cox cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English, Japanese.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.6× over at the box office.
2Released 20 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: English, Japanese.
4Part of the "Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by Clint Eastwood, shot by Tom Stern. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Kyle Eastwood. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Joel Cox shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8Ken Watanabe and Kazunari Ninomiya and Tsuyoshi Ihara carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "The battle of Iwo Jima seen through the eyes of the Japanese soldiers.".
10IMDB entry: tt0498380 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 15 themes, including "dying and death", "based on novel or book", "world war ii", "cave".
12Released under 22 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Tom Stern
Original score: Kyle Eastwood
Editing: Joel Cox
Production design: Henry Bumstead
Costume design: Deborah Hopper
Makeup / hair: Tania McComas
VFX supervisor: Michael Owens
Sound: Gregg Rudloff
Stunt coordinator: Buddy Van Horn
Runtime: 141 min · 2h 21m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $19,000,000
Box office: $68,673,228
Return: 361% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 89/100
IMDB rating: 7.8/10 · 175,999 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

Won 1 Oscar. 25 wins & 39 nominations total

National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
National Board of Review Award for Best Film
Academy Award for Best Sound Editing

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

Part of

Clint Eastwood's Iwo Jima Collection

In 2006, Eastwood directed two films about World War II's Battle of Iwo Jima. The first, Flags of Our Fathers, focused on the men who raised the American flag on top of Mount Suribachi and featured the film debut of Eastwood's son Scott. This was followed by Letters from Iwo Jima, which dealt with the tactics of the Japanese soldiers on the island and the letters they wrote home to family members. Letters from Iwo Jima was the first American film to depict a war issue completely from the view of an American enemy.

Also by

Clint Eastwood

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Community reviews

What people are saying

r96sk2022-02-10
★ 8/10
I was hoping it would entertain me as much as <em>'Flags of Our Fathers'</em> had - and I'm pleased to say it did! I'd say that aforementioned release pips this companion piece, but the difference in quality is virtually indistinguishable - both are very good films. Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya and Ryo Kase all give excellent performances, I enjoyed that trio throughout <em>'Letters from Iwo Jima'</em>. It's really cool to see the Japanese point of view of the Battle of Iwo Jima, having previously seen the American view last time out. It's also pleasing that the film portrays this side of the story correctly and tells the tale in Japanese, despite being an all-American production. The film reportedly did well in Japan, which I guess confirms that it did a respectable job.

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