Flags of our Fathers

It has been nearly eight years since Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan was released. It's been nearly eight years since fans watched one of the biggest upsets in Oscar history - and it just may happen again this year.

Flags of our Fathers is gritty, detailed, but most importantly, it's honest to Americans. Director Clint Eastwood makes no attempt to glaze over the notion that many Americans were slaughtered during the Battle of Iwo Jima. He shows it quite plainly. From dismembered limbs to internal organs spilling out of midsections, Eastwood shows the true horror or war.

What amazes me most about Eastwood is that he is one of American cinema's best and brightest, yet many still don't give him that recognition. In 1992, he won the Oscar - and deservedly so - for Unforgiven, the best Western since that of the John Ford-John Wayne combination. In 2003, Eastwood made his triumphant Oscar return with the film Mystic River, earning top acting honors for Sean Penn and Tim Robbin. He should have won the Oscar for Best Picture that year but The Lord of the Rings supposedly was owed some sort of due. In 2004, Eastwood finally made it back to the top with Million Dollar Baby. Don't forget, he won not only the Best Picture prize, but the award for directing as well. Furthermore, he helped Morgan Freeman earn the Oscar he so richly deserved, and he helped Hillary Swank collect Oscar #2.

It's not that Eastwood is a good director, it's that he can do so much. With these four films (and disregarding the rest, some of which are pretty good also) he has moved from the genres of a western to a crime drama to a sports film to a war movie - and seamlessly to say the least. While Flags of our Fathers is a testament to the bravery and fortitude the soldiers showed in Iwo Jima, this film is an even greater testament to one of cinema's legends, even if he isn't given that recognition. The characters, namely Ryan Phillipe, Adam Beach, and Jesse Bradford, each bring to the film a different perception on the events at Iwo Jima.

Finally, there is a question that everyone wants answered. Is Flags of our Fathers going to beat The Departed for Best Picture, and will Eastwood deny Martin Scorsese his directing Oscar? My answer is this: Read the opening paragraph again. This time, Marty just might get his due. A.