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Letters from Iwo Jima [videorecording] / Warner Bros. Pictures and Dreamworks Pictures present a Malpaso/Amblin Entertainment production ; produced by Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Steven Spielberg ; story by Iris Yamashita & Paul Haggis ; screenplay by Iris Yamashita ; directed by Clint Eastwood.

Contributor(s): Material type: FilmFilmLanguage: Japanese Summary language: English, French, Spanish Original language: Japanese Publication details: Burbank, CA : Warner Home Video, [2008]Description: 1 videodisc (140 min.) : sd., col. ; 4 3/4 inISBN:
  • 1419869906
  • 9781419869907
Uniform titles:
  • Letters from Iwo Jima (Motion picture).
Subject(s): Genre/Form: Production credits:
  • Director of photography, Tom Stern ; editors, Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach ; music, Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens ; costume designer, Deborah Hopper ; production designers, Henry Bumstead, James J. Murakami.
  • Academy Awards, USA, 2007: Oscar - Best Achievement in Sound Editing (Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman).
  • Golden Globes, USA, 2007: Golden Globe - Best Foreign language Film.
Cast: Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryo Kase, Shido Nakamura, Hiroshi Watanabe, Takumi Bando, Yuki Matsuzaki, Takashi Yamaguchi, Eijiro Ozaki.Summary: In 1945, the United States and Japanese armies met on Iwo Jima. Decades later, hundreds of letters are unearthed from that stark island's soil. The letters give faces and voices to the men who fought there, as well as the extraordinary general who led them. Leading the defense is Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi. With little defense other than sheer will and the volcanic rock of the island itself, Gen. Kuribayashi's unprecedented tactics transform what was predicted to be a quick and bloody defeat into nearly 40 days of heroic and resourceful combat.
Audiovisual profile: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult DVD Adult DVD Dr. James Carlson Library DVD WORLD Letters Available 33111006054049
Adult DVD Adult DVD Main Library DVD WORLD Letters Available 33111005710674
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

After bringing the story of the American soldiers who fought in the battle of Iwo Jima to the screen in his film Flags of Our Fathers, Clint Eastwood offers an equally thoughtful portrait of the Japanese forces who held the island for 36 days in this military drama. In 1945, World War II was in its last stages, and U.S. forces were planning to take on the Japanese on a small island known as Iwo Jima. While the island was mostly rock and volcanoes, it was of key strategic value and Japan's leaders saw the island as the final opportunity to prevent an Allied invasion. Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe) was put in charge of the forces on Iwo Jima; Kuribayashi had spent time in the United States and was not eager to take on the American army, but he also understood his opponents in a way his superiors did not, and devised an unusual strategy of digging tunnels and deep foxholes that allowed his troops a tactical advantage over the invading soldiers. While Kuribayashi's strategy alienated some older officers, it impressed Baron Nishi (Tsuyoshi Ihara), the son of a wealthy family who had also studied America firsthand as an athlete at the 1932 Olympics. As Kuribayashi and his men dig in for a battle they are not certain they can win -- and most have been told they will not survive -- their story is told both by watching their actions and through the letters they write home to their loved ones, letters that in many cases would not be delivered until long after they were dead. Among the soldiers manning Japan's last line of defense are Saigo (Kazunari Ninomiya), a baker sent to Iwo Jima only days before his wife was to give birth; Shimizu (Ryo Kase), who was sent to Iwo Jima after washing out in the military police; and Lieutenant Ito (Shidou Nakamura), who has embraced the notion of "Death Before Surrender" with particular ferocity. Filmed in Japanese with a primarily Japanese cast, Letters From Iwo Jima was shot in tandem with Flags of Our Fathers, and the two films were released within two months of one another. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Based on the book "Picture letters from Commander in Chief" by Tadamichi Kuribayashi and book editor Tsuyoko Yoshido.

Originally produced as a motion picture in 2006.

Director of photography, Tom Stern ; editors, Joel Cox, Gary D. Roach ; music, Kyle Eastwood, Michael Stevens ; costume designer, Deborah Hopper ; production designers, Henry Bumstead, James J. Murakami.

Ken Watanabe, Kazunari Ninomiya, Tsuyoshi Ihara, Ryo Kase, Shido Nakamura, Hiroshi Watanabe, Takumi Bando, Yuki Matsuzaki, Takashi Yamaguchi, Eijiro Ozaki.

In 1945, the United States and Japanese armies met on Iwo Jima. Decades later, hundreds of letters are unearthed from that stark island's soil. The letters give faces and voices to the men who fought there, as well as the extraordinary general who led them. Leading the defense is Lt. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi. With little defense other than sheer will and the volcanic rock of the island itself, Gen. Kuribayashi's unprecedented tactics transform what was predicted to be a quick and bloody defeat into nearly 40 days of heroic and resourceful combat.

MPAA rating: R; for graphic war violence.

DVD, region 1, widescreen (2.40:1) presentation; Dolby Digital 5.1 surround, dual-layer, DVD-9.

Japanese dialogue with optional English, French, or Spanish subtitles; closed-captioned.

Academy Awards, USA, 2007: Oscar - Best Achievement in Sound Editing (Alan Robert Murray, Bub Asman).

Golden Globes, USA, 2007: Golden Globe - Best Foreign language Film.

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