Letters From Children of Iwo Jima Men

This past weekend I saw two VERY good movies, and I got to see them for free because they were "required" for sound class. First, much of the 480 sound crew and myself went to see "Letters From Iwo Jima" at the Arclight. Indeed, the sound design was phenomenal, and it was one of the best movies of the year also. Sorry "Pan's Labyrinth" but "Letters" did deserve the foreign-language Golden Globe over you. Even if it is a bit of a cop-out, since "Letters From Iwo Jima" is an American-produced movie.
Clint Eastwood certainly has come a long way since his gay innuendos with Lee Marvin (see previous post). The first half hour of "Letters" is predictably slow-paced, but then as soon as the attacks begin, it doesn't let up. When American planes come streaking down through the sky on their bombing runs out of nowhere, one instinctively ducks for cover, and this is the case all throughout the movie when we hear the shells heading in for an impact. Good sound digs more into our instincts than visuals do. We can SEE something on a screen and always know that it is fake, but sound moves us on a far more primal level. Solid performances across-the-board also make this one of the all-time greatest World War II movies ever (sure, it doesn't quite pack the punch of "Private Ryan," but what movie COULD?). And it's refreshing to see something from the Japanese point of view. And, as some of you may have heard me say, whenever male Japanese men talk, they always sound WAY more badass (Toshiro Mifune, anyone?).
Admittedly, I thought some of the flashbacks were a bit overdone, but they were still effective. However, the main character's flashback with his wife was a highlight of the movie, as was the scene with the soldier being ordered to assassinate a family's dog for making unnecessary noise.
"Letters From Iwo Jima" is in my opinion Clint Eastwood's best film. I haven't seen "Flags of Our Fathers" (and I don't know if I plan to), and I didn't care all that much for "Mystic River." "Unforgiven," while very well done, left a bad taste in my mouth, and "Million Dollar Baby," while good, didn't deserve the hype and the Oscar that it wound up getting.

I also saw "Children of Men" with Norton and Heather, and it was fun to hang out with old friends (and non uber-film geeks) for a change. I would give this one an enthusiastic thumbs-up as well. While it probably won't make my all-time fav sci-fi list, it certainly was an affecting warning about the future. Alfonso Cuaron continues to prove he is a master who deserves the recognition he is finally starting to get (oddly enough, my favorite of his movies, "A Little Princess" is the one the critics don't rave about as much).
The best thing about "Children of Men" though, if you haven't heard, are its jaw-dropping hand-held long takes. There are several of these throughout the film, all of which are masterfully handled. I had heard of these prior to seeing the movie, and about a third of the way through, there is an AMAZING scene where Clive Owen and co. are attacked while riding in a car. So much involving stuff happens in this one shot, I assumed this was what everyone was talking about. And it was really quite thrilling.
But I had NO idea what I was in for...
In the climax of the movie, as a huge battle is erupting between the government and the rebels, there is a SEVEN MINUTE hand-held shot as Clive Owen runs through the streets. Sorry John Woo, but your gunfight in "Hard Boiled" doesn't hold a candle to this. As Clive Owen rushes through the streets, gunshots go off all around him, people scream, blood splatters the camera, TANKS roll in and fire at buildings, which nearly collapse. Clive rushes inside buildings, up staircases...EVERYWHERE. My jaw was on the floor. As far as I can tell, NOTHING is faked here. It is all 100% convincingly real. While the blood that splatters the lens does disappear, I read that this is actually because they rotoscoped it out, so there is no hidden cut. While it is possible that with digital wizardry these days the shots may have been incorporated together, I could certainly not tell, and I haven't been able to find out. The seven-minute-shot in "Children of Men" is without a doubt, one of the most fantastic pieces of visual artistry I have ever seen in a movie. EVER.
And the rest of the movie is good too. Had the movie been crap, but with one jaw-dropping shot, I would have been pissed off. But the fact is that when these shots do come up, you are so involved with the story that it's just really REALLY mind-numbingly good icing on the cake.

"Children of Men" and "Letters From Iwo Jima." Check 'em both out if you haven't already!