IONCINEMA.com presents: Letters From Iwo Jima (2006)

CAST AND CREW

Director

Clint Eastwood

Cast (alphabetical order):

Tsuyoshi Ihara

Ryo Kase

Shido Nakamura

Kazunari Ninomiya

Ken Watanabe

Letters From Iwo Jima

Release Date: Dec 20, 2006 - Wide Release
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Film Genre: War Drama
Country: United States

» Official Website

Written by Iris Yamashita, formerly titled "Red Sun, Black Sand", this is set sixty-one years ago, U.S. and Japanese armies met on Iwo Jima. Decades later, several hundred letters are unearthed from that stark island’s soils. The letters give faces and voices to the men who fought there, as well as the extraordinary general who led them, Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Ken Watanabe). 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. In an effort to explore an event that continues to resonate with both cultures, Clint Eastwood was haunted by the sense that making only one film, Flags of Our Fathers, would be telling only half the story. With this unprecedented dual film project, shot back-to-back to be released in sequence, Eastwood seeks to reveal the battle of Iwo Jima – and, by implication, the war in the Pacific – as a clash not only of arms but of cultures.

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MOVIE NEWS ITEMS

2006-12-11
L.A. Film Critics Ass. Winners

2006-03-10
Variety reports that the film is set to begin production next week in Los Angeles.

2006-01-08
Variety reports that the studios are having trouble scheduling the back-to-back releases of the two project. Eastwood starts shooting "Red Sun" in March and still has to work out the logistics and lock down permission from the Japanese government to shoot on Iwo Jima. Japanese-American screenwriter Iris Yamashita is writing the film, in consultation with Paul Haggis, who scripted "Flags." And word is that Ken Watanabe will star.

2005-10-17
TIME's Richard Schickel reports that Clint Eastwood will simultaneously release two movies based on the project. Beginning next February, Clint Eastwood will start shooting the companion movie to Flags of Our Fathers.