If a picture is worth a thousand words then what is the picture above worth?  Reportedly one of the most popular photographs in all of world history, this re-creation photo by Merie W. Wallace for Clint Eastwood's film "Flags of Our Fathers" was originally taken back on February 23, 1945 by Joe Rosenthal, on Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima.  Rosenthal  won a Pulitzer Prize for his photo.  Many people don't realize that Bob Campbell had taken a photo moments later as the first flag was being taken down.   This picture and the meaning and symbolism behind it, is just one of the major threads of Clint Eastwood's "Flags Of Our Fathers", the World War Two film about that war's battle of the Sands of Iwo Jima between U.S. soldiers and Japanese soldiers.  Long after the photo was taken, the war raged on.  All told, nearly 22,000 Japanese died fighting to protect their land, and 7,000 U.S. soldiers were killed, and over 26,000 American troops were wounded or severely injured during the month-long battle.

Eastwood in a recently published story he wrote, talked about the challenge of filming "Flags" and how he at age 76, is unafraid to face new challenges and keep on making films.  The venerable director of 27 films over the last 35 years, including the Oscar-winning best pictures (and best director's awards) "Unforgiven" and "Million Dollar Baby", Eastwood is not slowing down.  In fact he is finishing post-production on the film that proceeds and is a companion to "Flag", called "Letters From Iwo Jima", his first directing effort of a film in a completely different language.  "Letters" tells the story of the same battle, from the perspective of the Japanese soldier.   The film will be released in Japan in December, on the 9th, just two days after the 65th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, while the English-subtitled version of "Letters" will be released in the United States in February, around the time that Oscar nominations for the 2006 film season are being announced. 

The man once identified with the phrase, "go ahead . . . make my day" is making a lifetime of a phenomenal acting but more impressively a directing career which has catapulted Eastwood into the stratosphere as one of the world's best directors and one of the most durable, alongside the likes of Martin Scorsese, the late Akira Kurosawa, and Steven Spielberg, whom with Eastwood and Robert Lorenz produced "Flags of Our Fathers".  Spielberg  directed his own World War Two epic film back in 1998, the Oscar-winning "Saving Private Ryan".

The Battle of Iwo Jima was defined to millions of people particularly those in America, in a singular fashion: a photograph of the raising of the American flag.  This image, crystallized, signaled that the battle and war was won by American soldiers.  That however, was not true -- the fighting continued on, and several of the men who hoisted the flag had been killed, or had been released from battle to return to the United States to promote the war bonds effort.  The three soldiers of the six who raised the flag felt shame, embarrassment and guilt being given a hero's welcome as their comrades were dying in battle thousands of miles away.  "Flags of Our Fathers" illustrates the guilt, the struggle and asks: what does it mean to be a hero?  Is the term even relevant?
 

 Heroes' welcome?  Far right of photo, moving to the center: Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach and Ryan Phillippe meet President Truman (David Patrick Kelly) in the Oval Office.  (Photo: Merie W. Wallace)

In the written story, the director said that he learned a lot about himself and his life and its circumstances, not unlike those of the soldiers who survived Iwo Jima and searched for meaning in imagery and heroism, and whether either was justified or deserved.  The director revealed that the path to fame and success was unexpected.
"My mother used to say, 'you have an angel on your shoulder.'"   As Eastwood was making both films (which were shot one after the other) he realized that "the 19-year-olds from both sides had the same fears."  He wrote in Parade magazine, "they all wrote poignant letters home saying, 'I don't want to die.'" 

Eastwood, who often makes jokes about his age both on and off-screen, wrote that "I'm at that stage of life when I could probably stop and just hit golf balls."  He added that he never stops learning even at the ripe young age of seventy-six.  The key to Eastwood's success?  "I keep challenging myself and try something I haven't done before."  He also wrote about "Mystic River" and "Baby" were maligned by many studios before Warner Brothers picked up both of them -- both won Oscars.   Eastwood declared that "Mystic" was a "nice story", while when encountering studio reluctance, argued that "Million Dollar Baby", which won four Oscars last year, was "really a father-daughter love story."  Even for a decorated director there are "always obstacles and people afraid to take risks."

The director also wrote about it being "fascinating" to make "Letters From Iwo Jima" in "a whole different culture and language."   The spaghetti westerns ("The Good, The Bad and The Ugly" among others) he did back in the 1960's he said, "taught me that acting is acting." 

"Flags of Our Fathers" was a book written by James Bradley, and Oscar winner Paul Haggis (who wrote "Million Dollar Baby" for Eastwood), adapts the "Flags" book for the big screen along with William Broyles.  A diverse cast stars in the film, including Ryan Phillippe, Robert Patrick, Adam Beach, Jesse Bradford, Neal McDonough, Gordon Clapp, Judith Ivey, Barry Pepper (who was also in "Private Ryan") and Paul Walker.  In "Letters From Iwo Jima" Ken Watanabe headlines an all-Japanese cast.  In "Flags", Eastwood composes and writes the music, as he has done for several films he has directed, including the previous two ("Mystic" and "Baby").  "I guess if you see both the movies together, they sum up as an anti-war film.  Whether it's about territory or religion, war is horrifyingly and depressingly archaic," the Oakland, California native says.  (Eastwood was the former mayor of Carmel, California in the late 1980's and early 1990's.)

The $64,000 question that Clint Eastwood asks himself in the Parade magazine piece he writes is whether he will act again.

 " . . . I like being behind the camera instead of in front of it.  I can wear what I want.  Will I act again?  I never say never.  I like doing things where I can stretch and go in different directions.  I'm not looking to take it easy."

 Clint Eastwood on the set of "Million Dollar Baby".   (Photo: Merie W. Wallace)