Flags of Our Fathers

Clint Eastwood ist ein guter und überempfindlicher Kerl. Er hat genau dort versagt, wo man es erwartet hat – bei der Weichheit und Naivität der Kriegsszenen. Diese sollten einen starken Kontrast zu dem Monolog "Some of the things I saw done, things I did, they weren't things to be proud of" bilden. Sie sollten Entsetzen und Schrecken auslösen. Das ist aber nicht passiert. Und dann gibt es hier die sprunghafte zweite Linie des Films, drei Soldaten in der Rolle von umstrittenen Helden. Diese Linie würde – mit einer pathetischen Schande – überleben. Ihre Verbindung mit der Kriegsgeschichte ist aber nicht gelungen. Die langsame und ausführliche Erklärung des Gedankens, der nach der ersten halben Stunde klar ist, wird im Laufe des Films immer unerträglicher. Die ultrasentimentalen 20 Minuten am Ende sind ein Test, der zeigen soll, was man als Zuschauer*in aushält. Der Film Flags of Our Fathers ist einfach Scheiße. Es ist kein schwacher Film. Es ist ein Film, der nicht funktioniert und nicht gelungen ist. (13.03.2007)

Clint knows how to tell great stories, but this one had too much sentiment and pathos in the final half hour even for my taste. At the same time, I love Eastwood's old-school cinematic language, which unfortunately isn't much favoured in today's hectic times. Still, what I appreciate about the film is that in Eastwood's rendition war hurts, it damn well hurts, not like in the idealized rendition in films with John Wayne, and it was nice to learn the fate of the soldiers from the legendary Iwo Jima photograph, which helped bring the war with Japan to a victorious end at a time when the American government was running out of money and people were losing faith in the meaning of the whole war campaign. Nevertheless, Letters from Iwo Jima was on the whole much better, artistically and more valuable in terms of story. (13.05.2008)

It's as if Clint Eastwood and Paul Haggis worked with an unfinished version of the script. Sometimes there's something missing, sometimes there's too much of something (god, the ending!!!) and mostly it's pretty boring. Fortunately, the landing and the ensuing battle almost match the opening of Saving Private Ryan, but it can't fix the overall impression. A mediocre film and a missed chance for more Oscars. (26.01.2007)

Clint Eastwood is strongly off-topic in the war theme, instead of the dynamic friendship of young boys, he presents us with a tearful story about one significant photo and the completely uninteresting wrangling around it. The relatively significant departure from the war theme itself – that is, the fights, or America good, Germany/Japan bad – can be considered an interesting idea. The financial flows and the distortion of the national economy during wartime are lightly outlined, so the viewer is not only forced to count body. There is action, of course, but it lacks the rawness of Saving Private Ryan. There are novel views from the cockpits of fighter planes that catch attention, a slightly more detailed look at the weapons or tactics of the enemy, and magnificent scenes of the island being bombarded by battleships. The landing scenes are not as impressive, and it’s clear Eastwood is an old man, it’s missing speed. Overall, it is rather an average attempt to look at a military conflict from a slightly different perspective. The idea is good, but somewhat halfway through completion. (11.01.2008)

Dieser Film ist überhaupt nicht schlecht oder miserabel, wie manche behaupten. Oder hat jemand mit einem psychologischen Kriegsfilm wie Letters from Iwo Jima gerechnet? Ich nicht. Wenn Clint Flags of Our Fathers genauso wie Letters from Iwo Jima gedreht hätte, würden ihn doppelt so viele Klugscheißer kritisieren – dafür, dass er zwei gleiche Filme gemacht hat, nur mit anderen Leuten. Bei Flags of Our Fathers geht es vor allem um das Schicksal "der Soldaten auf dem Foto", Actionszenen und Kämpfe sind zweitrangig (vielleicht sogar drittrangig). Und ich nehme es niemandem übel. Falls Sie keine Lust auf einen "geschwätzigen" Kriegsfilm haben, schauen Sie sich Flags of Our Fathers nicht an. PS: Diesen Link muss es in meiner Rezension geben :-) (27.06.2009)

I know, I'm not stating any news here, but I just haven't seen all the movies right when they were released. I like Clint Eastwood. Recently, I watched his "Gran Torino" and my jaw dropped. When I was watching "Flags of Our Fathers," my jaw dropped again. This time because of how much the battle scenes resemble those in Steven Spielberg's film "Saving Private Ryan." I wanted to tear apart Eastwood's film, but then I realized I'm not even halfway through yet. You shouldn't give up on Clint too early, because what he lacks in originality in the war scenes, he truly makes up for with the human aspect of the story. And that's the most important thing about "Flags of Our Fathers." Humanity, or maybe inhumanity, the moments when a person becomes a hero without deserving it, and when they face a fall that they might not deserve either. An excellent human story that touched me. If you have Clint in your mind as a patriot, I think here he will show you that he is quite a realist. More: http://www.filmovy-denik.cz/2012/03/diar-milovnika-filmu-c-0001-cista-duse.html (13.02.2013)