US vets curious about Iwo Jima

2007-02-13 15:52

Berlin - Clint Eastwood says he found that US veterans of the 1945 fighting on Iwo Jima were curious to know about the Japanese side of the story - chronicled in his Oscar-nominated Letters From Iwo Jima.

Eastwood, 76, on Sunday presented Letters - the companion piece to Flags of Our Fathers, which related the fighting from the American perspective - as an out-of-competition entry at the annual Berlin film festival.

"I was wondering what American veterans of the battle of Iwo Jima would think of Letters From Iwo Jima, because most of, a lot of them probably had very bad experiences on that island," Eastwood said at a news conference.

"I found that most of the Americans that I've talked to?were very curious about it and they were very curious about how the other side lived," he added. "Now, 62 years later, it's easy to think differently about things than you did, say, maybe when you're a young person fighting for your life."

"When those vets started telling me how curious they were about it, and they were enjoying the picture, that satisfied me fine," he said.

The two films are stories about the human condition of war

Beginning with a beach assault, some 100 000 US troops battled more than 22 000 Japanese deeply dug into a labyrinth of tunnels and trenches and desperate to protect the island, which was crucial to Japan's defences.

Nearly 7 000 Americans were killed capturing Iwo, and fewer than 1 000 of the Japanese would survive.

The two films "are not pro-war stories," Eastwood said. "They are stories about the human condition of war and how tough that is on people, and the futility of war."

Eastwood would not be drawn on the Oscar prospects of Letters, which is a contender in both the best picture and best director categories.

"I'm just glad the picture's out there, and whatever life it has beyond that is fine by me," he said.

- AP