It reveals the dark side of patriotism and tribal traditions as they work themselves out in the lives of ordinary people caught in the irresistible currents of history.
Yes, “Letters From Iwo Jima” makes a powerful antiwar statement, but it does much more. Clint Eastwood has shot more than his share of outlaws on the screen now, at 76, he can reflect on the self-destructive imperatives of a dying culture. Cattlemen and farmers can never resolve their differences through discussion both claim an inalienable right to the land, even though a range war will claim many lives, destroy property, impede progress and leave the issue smoldering into another generation. A Western hero would rather die than yield on a matter of principle, however frivolous. Western heroes in the movies settle issues of pride with a six-gun, even if it means a suicidal shootout in front of the saloon for a perceived slight or standing ground in the face of overwhelming numbers of Comanche warriors rather than execute a tactical retreat.
After working in several classic Western films, he understands that the American ethos evolved in large part from its frontier spirit: A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do, despite the lethal consequences. Oddly, but quite logically, his background in Western films provides the foundation for such melancholy reflections. Letters From Iwo Jima is Clint Eastwood’s deeply moving reflection on a tradition so alien as to be incomprehensible to those of us who inhabit another time and place, another universe of belief. The caricature of the crazed believer comes easily, but it fails to grasp the power of a deeply ingrained structure of values that in one form or another has sustained a culture for centuries. Conviction supplants reason, and compromise represents a betrayal of integrity. A deep smoldering sense of humiliation leads some men and women to destroy themselves rather than build a new life. We place the blame securely on tribal and religious traditions gone terribly wrong in the minds of some few who would rather seek revenge on past enemies than build a future for their children. We’ve settled comfortably into explaining the phenomenon in terms of extremism or fanaticism. Suicide and martyrdom have become our constant companions in this dark new century.
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