We don’t have an official synopsis/plot summary for “Letters from Iwo Jima”, so I will just post what Clint Eastwood recently wrote to the Japanese people:

“When the young men were shipped off to the island for combat, they already knew their odds for survival - that for every 10 of them, 8 or 9 would not return. Their lives and sacrifices are etched in Japanese history, and deservedly so. It is my hope to make these individuals known to the rest of the world, and not just in Japan. With Letters From Iwo Jima, it is my intention to portray the battle, from their perspective, through their eyes. In April 05, I had the opportunity to visit the island where so many mothers from both nations lost their beloved sons. Walking on its grounds, I was emotionally overwhelmed. This year, I returned to the island to shoot scenes for the 2 films. The war movies that I grew up watching portrayed a clear picture of who was good and who was evil. However, in life and in war, nothing is that clear. These 2 films are not about who won or who lost. It is about what war does to people, people who would’ve gone on to live their full lives otherwise. From whichever perspective, soldiers who sacrifice their lives in battle are worthy of respect. These 2 films are my way of paying tribute to those fallen soldiers. By telling the stories of these men from both perspectives, it is my hope that the films will illustrate the things in common that both sides shared, and allow us to look at that difficult time in our history with entirely new eyes.”

- Clint Eastwood, director of Letters from Iwo Jima