this isn not a review but simply my impression after see the film for the first time . it more an answer to the question what do you think . than anything concrete since i be still ponder the film and wondering when i will be able to see it again . i love movie that defy expectation . i love movie that make you agree with every review and good and bad and that you read . i love movie that be almost impossible to classify . go i know that flag of our father be not a straight forward war film . it be not just the battle of iwo jima . it something more . it an examination of heroism and propaganda and what people need to believe to win a war and how vet see and speak of the past and how the soldier see the war and themselves and how parent deal with the death of a child . it a very complex film . clint eastwood have structure it in several layer and like an onion and with flashback within flashback and within memory . it never difficult to follow and it just have a great deal go on and it take a good chunk of the film to begin to understand whats go on and what eastwood be get at . to be honest i be not sure what i think of the film . from a technical stand point it one of the best film of the year . it a masterpiece of the film maker craft . it beautifully act as well . look for oscar nomination come the end of the year . anything the film win will be well deserve . but i be not sure i like the film . the problem be that this film be hard to warm up to . it take a while before you begin to care about anyone and hell before you even really know who anyone be . then it take a while to warm up to them . these be not clichéd character so you can not instantly drop preconceive notion on to and these be people not idea . most people be not what you think they be and and some aren not around long enough to know if you be right or wrong . i think anyone who see the film will have to and in fairness and see it a second time and maybe more . it a movie that require you go through it more than once so that you can see it fresh and peel away some of the layer each time you watch it . the first time you see certain thing and the next time and now that you know everyone and you will see more . it a chinese puzzle box of a movie . this doesn not make it a bad movie and it just make it difficult to say if i like it or not . i think the only one who be go to dislike it outright be either those who want a straight forward account of the battle or those who refuse to allow the film to be anything than what they think it should or would be . i think i have a handle on it go in after read about it and still i be surprise by what the film really be up to . yes it graphic and but in someways the emotional truth the film dig at be much more raw than the blood splattering and the limb fly . the battle begin almost before we know anyone really so that there be this odd distance at the start . it almost nameless face and body be torn apart . i know i be kind of unaffected to the early scene of violence and however later once the film shift to the tour and we revisit the battle and we have a sense of who these men be the effect be devastate . though the real power of the film lie in it simple scene of mere humanity which move me move me more than any of the act of violence . i do not know what else to say other than see this movie and just be prepare to do so more than once .