"I didn't set out to make a war movie..."

That's the first half of a quote by Clint Eastwood about Flags of Our Fathers. Have you read or heard the balance of that statement —

"...I cared about these three fellows, the headliners on the war—bond circus."

The latter part of that quote wasn't included in many if not most reviews and Eastwood's use of the word "circus" is, I think, a very revealing clue to the answer for the question Jack Kemp asked in his blog "Hollywood's new love that dare not speak its name" yesterday.

Jack Kemp asked why Eastwood didn't mention/depict — hell, boast about — any "real" '40s movie stars in Flags of Our Father's war bonds fund raising tour scenes; I found a review by John Harlow in the UK Times that I think gives a partial explanation. I'm not saying he addressed that specific shortfall in the film directly but after reading it, I'm quite sure you'll understand why it was left out.
 
It delves into the backstory of the film, addressing such things as how it was Arnold Schwarzenegger (R) who got Steven Spielberg (D) (who held the film rights to the James Bradley and Ron Powers bestseller) and Clint Eastwood (R/L?) in the same room to make the deal — so to speak. And how Spielberg

"settled for a producer's credit, rare on a film he has not micromanaged, trusting Eastwood, as he said later, to get it horribly right."

It explains how Eastwood tore up the original script written by Spielberg's hand—picked scriptwriter, William Broyles Jr and had Paul Haggis, the writer—director of Crash replace dialogue with

"images that speak for themselves of terror, turmoil and a lingering sense of grief."

It also talks about Clint's "Let's roll" one—take style of directing, how he never intended to make an unpatriotic movie and much more. In short, it's very much not your typical sycophantic Hollywood review. Enjoy.

Joseph Crowley   10 31 06

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