Flags of Our Fathers (2006)
Synopsis
An American war film adapted by William Broyles, Jr. and Paul Haggis from the
book of the same title by James Bradley and Ron Powers (2000), Flags of Our Fathers
recounts the story of the five Marines and one Navy Corpsman who raised the
American flag on Mount Suribachi during the World War II Battle of Iwo Jima.
Directed, co- produced, and scored by Clint Eastwood, the film examines how the
event changed the lives of the surviving flag raisers.
Background
On 23 February 1945 Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal took a hasty
snapshot of five U.S. Marines and a sailor raising the American flag on the summit
of Iwo Jima’s Mount Suribachi, signaling a key moment in wresting the island from
the Japa nese (though the flag- raising photographed by Rosenthal was actually the
second one with a larger flag, not the first, and the Battle of Iwo Jima would rage
on for another 31 days). Published in the New York Times two days later and then
picked up by hundreds of U.S. newspapers, the photo graph won Rosenthal a Pulit-
zer Prize and quickly became, for Americans, the most iconic image of World
War II— reproduced on 150 million 3¢ postage stamps, 1.2 million war bond drive
posters, and 5,000 billboards in 1945 and later immortalized by the Marine Corps
War Memorial in Arlington Ridge Park, Virginia: a colossal sculpture by Felix de
Weldon dedicated in 1954 that features bronze figures of the six flag raisers 32
feet tall. Almost 49 years after the battle, James Bradley, son of John “Doc” Bradley
(1923–1994), a medic on Iwo Jima, discovered a letter postmarked 26 Febru-
ary 1945 that his father wrote mentioning his own involvement in the flag raising:
a startling revelation that inspired Bradley to co- author, with Ron Powers, Flags of
Our Fathers (Bantam, 2000), a compelling account of the battle and how the three
surviving flag raisers fared afterwards. The book spent 46 weeks on the New York
Times nonfiction bestseller list, 6 weeks at the number- one spot. A month after its
publication, Steven Spielberg acquired the option on the film rights for DreamWorks
Pictures and hired screenwriter William Broyles, Jr. (Jarhead) to write a screen
adaptation. Actor- director Clint Eastwood read the book in 2003, liked it, and
wanted to make a movie version. On 26 February 2004, at the Acad emy Awards
Governors Ball, Eastwood and Spielberg conversed with each other about Flags of
Our Fathers and Spielberg suggested that he produce and Eastwood direct, an
arrangement formalized that July. Thereafter, Eastwood brought in Paul Haggis