Wwii

Changing of perspective
By
Andres Schondube Gonzalez Luna
Movie: Letters from Iwo Jima

Well I’d like to start telling you that this is not the normal movie, all the movies that I had seen of the Second World War had been good but they all tell us what the Americans did and they emphasize in they’re good acts ore in the ones that they’re victims, like in Pearl Harbor, this movie is verydifferent because it tells you the point of view of the Japanese.
The island of Iwo Jima stands between the American military force and the home islands of Japan. Therefore the Imperial Japanese Army is desperate to prevent it from falling into American hands and providing a launching point for an invasion of Japan. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi is given command of the forces on the island and setsout to prepare for the attack. General Kuribayashi, however, does not favor the rigid traditional approach recommended by his subordinates, and resentment and resistance fester among his staff. In the lower echelons, a young soldier, Saigo, a poor baker in civilian life, strives with his friends to survive the harsh regime of the Japanese army itself, all the while knowing that a fierce battlelooms.

The scene changes to Iwo Jima in 1945. Private First Class Saigo, a baker conscripted into the Imperial Japanese Army, and his platoon are grudgingly digging beach trenches on the island. Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi arrives to take command of the garrison and immediately begins an inspection of the island defenses. He saves Saigo and his friend Kashiwara from abeating by Captain Tanida for 'unpatriotic speeches', and orders the men to begin tunnelling defenses into Mount Suribachi. Kuribayashi and Lieutenant Colonel Baron Takeichi Nishi, a famous Olympic gold medalist show jumper, clash with some of their seniors, who do not agree with Kuribayashi's strategy: Kuribayashi believes the US will take the beaches quickly, and only the mountain defenses will havea better chance for holding out.
Poor nutrition and unsanitary conditions take their toll; many die of dysentery, including Kashiwara. The troops begin using the caves. Kashiwara's replacement, Superior Private Shimizu, arrives for duty. Saigo suspects that Shimizu is a spy from Kempeitai to report on disloyal soldiers.
The first American bombings occur, causing significant casualties. A fewdays later, U.S. Marines land. The American troops suffer heavy casualties, but the beach defenses are quickly overcome, and the attack turns to the positions on Mount Suribachi. While delivering a request for more machine guns from his commander to the Suribachi garrison, Saigo overhears Kuribayashi radioing orders to retreat. The commander, however, ignores the general and instead orders hiscompany to commit suicide. Saigo runs away with Shimizu, convincing him to continue the fight rather than die. They find two other soldiers, but one gets incinerated by an American flamethrower, and they witness a captured Marine being bayoneted to death.
Saigo and the soldiers in Mount Suribachi try to flee with Lieutenant Oiso at night, but they run into Marines, who wipe out all except Saigo andShimizu. They flee to friendly lines, but are accused by Lieutenant Ito of betraying bushido by surviving a defeat. Ito raises his katana to execute them for cowardice, but Kuribayashi arrives and saves Saigo again by confirming his order to retreat.
The Japanese soldiers attempt a futile attack against US positions, but take heavy losses. The survivors are told to regroup with Colonel Nishi. Itoheads to the US lines with three mines, intending to throw himself under a tank. The next morning, Okubo, Nishi's executive officer, shoots a Marine named Sam, who is subsequently captured. Despite Colonel Nishi's attempts to treat his wounds, Sam dies within hours. Nishi finds a letter from Sam's mother written in English and reads it to his men out loud in Japanese. As a bomb hits the cave later...