The one movie that truly made Clint Eastwood “proud”
Epitomising the brilliance of American cinema throughout a career in which he has mastered the dual arts of acting and directing, Clint Eastwood has established himself as one of the Western world’s most enduring cinema icons, weaving himself into the very fabric of film history.
It is easy to forget how vital such actors are to the movie business. You go to the cinema, buy your popcorn and sit down to watch a, hopefully, entertaining movie, and the story plays out. But without the players of that story, without the incredible performances that give life and heart to the script, or bring movement to the direction of the filmmaker, things just wouldn’t be the same. And it’s not about act-ors but icons.
It is icons upon which Hollywood was built. Without the faces of Marilyn Monroe and James Dean, the mystique of Hollywood would simply fall away. It was the squinting eyes, gritted teeth and curled lip of Clint Eastwood that would help him to become a larger star than he had ever imagined.
Whether appearing in classic western movies like Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad and the Ugly or High Plains Drifter or directing some seriously impressive movies like Million Dollar Baby, Gran Torino and Unforgiven, Eastwood has proven time and time again that when it comes to the movie, he’s the reigning king of the scene.
From such a wildly impressive filmography as both an incredible actor and a widely admired director, Eastwood has quite a selection of cinematic works to look back on, but even with such a vast catalogue, he has his favourites. The legendary film icon once spoke of the film that made him most proud – one of his war films of 2006.
You might think that a true actor should be proud of every performance, but that’s simply a little far from reality. Actors sometimes have to make movies just for a paycheque, and Eastwood has made more than a few. But this one is the picture he feels most proud of.
“I was proud of Letters from Iwo Jima. I got the idea of doing it while doing Flags of Our Fathers, which is about the American invasion of the island,” Eastwood once told CBS. “But the film pointed out what it must have been like to have been one of the defenders of the island, to have been there, and been told not to plan on returning home.
“What a difficult request to make of people,” he added. “Also, the Japanese soldiers were facing certain annihilation. They never gave up hope. A lot of them would have loved to have been out of the war and home, just like soldiers from any nation.”
Letters from Iwo Jima, released in 2006, is the companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers of the same year. It details the Battle of Iwo Jima in World War II from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers and stars Ken Wanatabe and Kazunari Ninomiya, with the film being shot nearly entirely in the Japanese language.
The film went on to receive widespread acclaim and earned four nominations at the Academy Awards, including ‘Best Picture’, and winning ‘Best Sound Editing’. Eastwood has several movies that he can count among his best offerings to the cinematic medium, but Letters from Iwo Jima appears to be the one he is most proud of.
Check out the trailer for Letters from Iwo Jima, the Japanese counterpart to Eastwood’s other 2006 war film, Flags of Our Fathers, below.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Clint Eastwood Newsletter
All the latest stories about Clint Eastwood from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.