Letters from Iwo Jima

Letters from Iwo Jima tells the story of the 1945 battle for the Japanese island of Iwo Jima from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers who defended it. General Tadamichi Kuribayashi, who has travelled in the United States, takes command of the island's garrison and, knowing his forces are badly outnumbered, organises the defence around tunnels and fortified positions rather than the beach. Among the men under him is Private Saigo, a former baker who has left a wife and child at home. The soldiers understand that they are unlikely to survive the American landing, and much of the film follows them as they prepare, write farewell letters to their families and wait for the attack to begin.

Clint Eastwood directed the film, the twenty-sixth of the forty features he has directed in chronological order, following Million Dollar Baby and preceding Flags of Our Fathers. Iris Yamashita wrote the screenplay, and Eastwood produced with Paul Haggis and Steven Spielberg. Ken Watanabe plays Kuribayashi, with Kazunari Ninomiya as Saigo, Tsuyoshi Ihara as Colonel Baron Nishi, Ryo Kase, Shido Nakamura and Hiroshi Watanabe in supporting roles. The film is set in a Pacific theatre of the Second World War and is presented largely in Japanese.

Made for around 19 million dollars, it took roughly 69 million dollars worldwide. On IMDb it holds 7.5 out of 10 from about 2,400 votes, while the film critics' rating stands at 8.2 out of 10 from 204 reviews.

Note: I attributed the audience rating to IMDb and the critics' rating as given, since the facts did not label the critics' source. If you need the critics' rating attributed elsewhere or want the TMDB rating substituted for the 7.5 figure, tell me and I'll adjust.