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Eastwood's 'Letters from Iwo Jima' wins second award
2006-12-11
Clint Eastwood's "Letters from Iwo Jima" received its second award in seven days after being voted best picture by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the group said. The film is the second of back-to-back movies made by Eastwood focusing on the vicious fighting on Iwo Jima towards the end of World War II. "Flags of our Fathers" was released in the US two months ago. Unusually for a major Hollywood production, "Letters from Iwo Jima" examines the battle from the Japanese perspective and was shot in Japanese with subtitles. It has yet to be released in the US but is already generating talk of being a contender at next year's Oscars. Much of the latest film delves into the tribulations of Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, played by Ken Watanabe, who had lived in the US and was fond of Americans but gave his life to defend the island. Eastwood, a two-time best director Oscar winner, said his unusual decision to make twin films was meant to explore "the great futility of war." Some 21,900 Japanese and 6,821 Americans died in the month-long Battle of Iwo Jima, a small sulfurous island that gave the US a crucial staging ground to bomb mainland Japan. The LA critics' best picture award followed a similar honor bestowed on the film last week by the US National Board of Review.
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