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“The script and images tell the heartbreak of the
story and the score comes in to emotionally nudge the audience
ever-so-slightly at important moments.”
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Notes for Iwo Jima
Review by Christopher
Coleman
Following up the
somewhat disappointing
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
comes the highly
touted film - much
more of a "co-film"
than a
chronological-sequel,
LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA.
If you didn't have any
foreknowledge
regarding Clint
Eastwood's FLAGS OF
OUR FATHERS, you might
have been disappointed
by, among other
things, the almost
total disregard for
the Japanese side of
the battle of Iwo Jima.
Then again you might
have been among those
who knew that
simulatenously filming
with FLAGS was LETTERS
FROM IWO JIMA and that
the other side of
story was forthcoming.
Released in Japan in
December 2006, LETTERS
FROM IWO JIMA
qualified for
consideration for the
Golden Globes, from
which it walked away
with the Golden Globe
for Best Foreign Film.
Now, it also stands
poised to possibly
take home two Oscars
for Best Director and
Best Picture.
For Flags, Clint
Eastwood and Lennie
Niehaus collaborate
for the bulk of the
score while son, Kyle
Eastwood, is credited
with one track, "Knock
Knock." Moving
on to LETTERS FROM IWO
JIMA director Eastwood
promotes his son,
Kyle, and adds Michael
Stevens to provide the
totality of film's
score. This was a
somewhat surprising
move on at least two
counts: one,
entrusting a film of
this nature to a
relative newcomer to
the film music world
and two, to someone
who's noted musical
interests and talents
lay in other genres
than film scoring.
These films,
masterfully crafted as
they were by Clint
Eastwood, do not
require a huge score
filled with barrages
of brassiness or other
WWII musical staples.
As much as this type
of music is beloved
and appreciated, it
would be a faux pas
here...especially in
the case of LETTERS
FROM IWO JIMA.
Kyle Eastwood and
Michael Stevens carry
on the simplistic
nature of the score
established for FLAGS
OF OUR FATHERS
especially in its main
theme. In what
could easily be called
a counterpart theme to
the main theme of
FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS,
Eastwood and Stevens
construct a similarly
simple theme for
Letters that follows
all the earmarks of a
Clint Eastwood score.
Interestingly enough
this main theme is
constructed in an
eastern pattern, but
is presented through
western instruments.
It is this theme, and
endless variations of
it, that bear the
musical burden for the
film.
This simple theme is
most often played on
solo piano, later
augmented by strings,
and then solo trumpet
and snare drums help
interject some
militaristic
purposefulness before
the piece concludes.
The melancholy piece
has an almost
music-box-feel, that
set's a dreamlike
atmosphere for this
theatre of nightmares.
When the piano solo is
recorded with extreme
reverb as in Letter's
Montage (2) and
Kuribayashi's Farewell
Letter (9), the
feeling becomes even
more weighty, even
more isolated.
Letters' central theme
is played over all of
the main characters
and their storylines.
While this does paint
these very different
men with a bit of a
broad stroke, there
simply wasn't enough
score in the film to
develop secondary
themes. Still,
if there had been more
use of musical score,
it would have been an
improvement to see
some differentiation
between these
characters via theme
or motif.
Another thought on
Letter's theme - in
the film, the theme
serves to connect
western audiences to
the eastern side of
this famous battle.
As both sides make
surprising discoveries
about their enemy,
Eastwood and Steven's
theme goes a long way
in painting an
empathetic picture for
the Japanese men that
found their ways to
Iwo Jima. A more
traditional, Japanese,
theme would likely
serve to create the
exact opposite effect
for many in the
audience. If
this was their
conscious intent, then
bravo to them, because
it does work.
As musical score is
utilized very
sparingly throughout
the film,
Milan's soundtrack
release is unavoidably
short, as it contains
only 37 minutes of
music. This
abbreviated-fate would
have been shared by
the soundtrack release
for FLAGS OF OUR
FATHERS had it only
presented original
score. While
there are 13 tracks
featured in the
Letters release, what
the listener takes away from the
soundtrack (if not
haunted by) is that
central theme.
Only one track hints
at anything that
sounds like Japanese
instrumentation,
Preparing for Battle
(3). Aside from
the pivotal "Song for
the Defense of Iwo
Jima" (10) sung by
Japanese students and
the classical "Dinner
Party" (7), the
majority of music
wanders along on the
scales of somber,
tragic, honorable and
dissonant.
The script and images
tell the heartbreak of
the story and the
score comes in to
emotionally nudge the
audience
ever-so-slightly at
important moments.
Some may not find
these composers'
musical choices to
their personal liking
and, admittedly, I was
initially underwhelmed
by this score as well.
After seeing the film
and many successive
listens of the score,
my opinion about the
music has changed.
It's an interesting
first effort for Kyle
Eastwood and Michael
Stevens...an effort
that does its job in
the film; however,
aside from the central
theme there isn't much
to grab hold of.
If I were rating this
score as heard in
film, it would
certainly garner an 8,
but as a soundtrack
CD, it regrettably
falls short of that.
For those that see and
appreciate the film;
however, you are
likely have a strange
connection to the
theme from LETTERS OF
IWO JIMA and, in the
end, might find this
soundtrack in your
collection.
Rating: 6/10
|
Track |
Track Title |
Track Time |
Rating |
|
1 |
Main Titles |
4:17 |
*** |
|
2 |
Letters
Montage |
3:18 |
*** |
|
3 |
Preparing
for the
Battle |
2:59 |
*** |
|
4 |
Suicide |
3:20 |
*** |
|
5 |
Enemy
Fire |
1:39 |
*** |
| 6 |
Shimizu's Past |
3:07 |
*** |
| 7 |
Dinner Party |
3:17 |
** |
| 8 |
Nearing the End |
2:11 |
*** |
| 9 |
Kuribayashi's Farewell Letter |
2:03 |
*** |
| 10 |
Song for the Defense of Iwo Jima |
1:18 |
** |
| 11 |
Kuribayashi Pleads for Death |
2:55 |
** |
| 12 |
End Titles Part I |
2:55 |
**** |
| 13 |
End Titles Part II |
4:22 |
*** |
| |
Total Running Time (approx) |
37 minutes |
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