Filmmaker Clint Eastwood has noted that in the war movies he grew up with there were good guys and there were bad guys, but that the reality of war was never that simple. This became painfully obvious while investigating the events of World War II’s Pacific Theater for his project Flags of Our Fathers. One of the research books he had translated into English was Picture Letters from the Commander in Chief by Tadamichi Kuribayashi.

Letters from Iwo Jima was assembled largely from translated Japanese text, written in English by Iris Yamashita and Paul Haggis, and then translated back into Japanese for production. Eastwood began shooting Letters from Iwo Jima shortly after completing principle photography Flags of Our Fathers. The crew sought out and was granted permission to shoot a handful of scenes on the actual island of Iwo Jima, but out of respect for the history, much of the action was staged on the beaches of Iceland.

Letters from Iwo Jima was released only a few weeks after Flags of Our Fathers and was eligible for all the same criticism and nominations as its predecessor. But despite its smaller budget and quieter box office performance, Letters from Iwo Jima completely outshone its companion piece in the eyes of the critics. In addition to winning a number of significant awards, the film capped dozens of “top ten” lists.

Together, Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers and Letters from Iwo Jima succeed in creating a memorable and unique perspective on the men who fought and died in the Second World War.

Scott and Matt of The Gods of Filmmaking
http://www.godsoffilmmaking.com/html/letters_from_iwo_jima.html