Letters From Iwo Jima Essay

Clint Eastwood’s 2007 war film, Letters From Iwo Jima, showcases the haunting events

of World War II’s battle for the island of Iwo Jima. Eastwood’s unique style of storytelling

through flashbacks and graphic battle scenes (a style also used in his other works such as

American Sniper) combined with the intense, real cinematography, strong characters, and a

lingering soundtrack make Letters From Iwo Jima worthy of its best picture nomination.

The theme song music from the film is meaningful and powerful and simultaneously tells

a story of its own. As soon as the film ended, I decided to learn the theme song on piano- any

music I want to learn to play myself is music that I consider to be powerful and memorable. To

begin, the theme song is in D minor. To musicians, D minor is

The melody

played in D minor is also pentatonic, a scale commonly associated with Asian music. The fourth

chord in the progression is G major, a chord not regularly in D minor; the G major chord adds a

tint of light to the darkness that the theme song creates and is a common cadence that establishes

desolation. Therefore, the dismal key and pentatonic melody accurately matches the mood of war

and the Japanese culture: a perfect fit for the movie. Back to the G major chord placed in the

midst of misery, it gives the theme song two-faces. While the theme song can be easily matched

to the harsh realities and casualties of war based on its key, the G major chord simultaneously

makes the theme song calming and nostalgic. To support this, Eastwood placed the theme song

during scenes of war, and during flashbacks. This powerful piece of music has the power to tell

multiple stories, which is noteworthy.

The cinematography accurately captures the real intensity of war through its movement

and framing, and the color palette defines the tone of war. Overall, the colors are