Notes Arjo Pilang:
SEKALI LAGI TENTANG "LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA" 1. Pemberian 'Légion d'Honneur" oleh Presiden Perancis, Jacques Chirac, pada 17 Februari 2007 lalu kepada Clint Eastwood untuk filem "Lettters From Iwo Jima", [selanjutnya aku singkat dengan "Letters"] yang ia sutradarai bersama Spielberg, mendorong aku untuk pergi ke gedung bioskop UGC Odeon di Paris kilometer nol, berdekatan dengan Café Odeon. Ketika berada di Paris, di café ini , Hemingway sering nongkrong berjam-jam sambil menulis, dibayangi oleh patung Danton, salah seorang tokoh Revolusi Perancis. Dorongan langsung untuk menonton filem Clint Eastwood ini menjadi makin besar setelah semalam aku menyaksikan acara pemberian César Award, hadiah nasional tertinggi dalam dunia perfileman Perancis. Clint Eastwood pada tahun tahun 1998, pernah memenangi hadiah ini. Sementara itu, dalam festival filem Berlin, "Letters" juga menduduki tempat istimewa. Filem "Letters" yang dimainkan sebagian terbesar pemainnya terdiri para aktor/aktris Jepang dan berbahasa Jepang ini merupakan padanan kembar dari filem Clint Eastwood sebelumnya berjudul "Mémoires de Nos Pères". [aku singkat dengan "Mémoires"]. Dua filem yang sama-sama mengambil tema tentang Perang Dunia II. "Letters" dibuat berangkat dari sudut pandangan Jepang sedangkan "Mémoires" diciptakan berdasarkan sudut pandang orang Amerika Serikat. Usaha dari Clint untuk melihat masalah secara imbang. Tidak berat sebelah dan menempatkan masalah kemanusiaan sebagai poros dalam berkarya. Dalam hal ini, usaha usaha dan buah kerja Clint Eastwood, sebagai seorang dari AS , cq Holywood, mantan walikota, menjadi menarik perhatianku, pada saat seniman-seniman kita seperti mempunyai alergi dan rasa tabu politik bahkan buta abc politik, yang barangkali hasil dari politik depolitisasi sehingga menjadi karya-karya sastra sebagai hasil kerja para "anak pangeran" dan "putera-puteri raja" jika menggunakan istilah penyair Perancis, Paul Elouard. Apakah bukan alergi dan tabu begini yang mengucilkan sastra dari kehidupan, yang juga tersirat dalam istilah "anak tiri" sehingga mereduksi kedudukan seorang seniman dengan keasyikan pada diri sendiri dan berindah-indah atau menduga sedang berasyikmaksuk dengan keindahan? Padahal apakah sebenarnya keindahan dan kebenaran serta kehidupan bisa dipulau-pulaukan? Pernahkah tautan ketiganya direnungi? Pernahkah dicermati secara sungguh-sungguh apa yang disebut indah itu? Barangkali capaian-capaian yang disiarluaskan oleh media massa, maka filem "Letters", yang sekarang sedang diputar di bioskop-bioskop Paris, dan "Mémoires" membuat barisan penonton yang antri dengan tertib ingin melihat, menjadi panjang. Kenyataan yang kupahami bahwa dalam masyarakat Perancis betapa bioskop masih punya fungsi dan tempat khusus, sekali pun mendapat saingan dari tivi, video dan sebagainya. Yang antri menonton dua filem Eastwood ini hampir sama panjangnya dengan filem Michael Moore yang mengkritik politik George Bush Jr dan memenangi Festival Filem Cannes atau filem-filem Costa Gravas. Panjang-pendeknya antrian penonton, kukira bisa ditafsirkan sebagai salah satu petunjuk filem apa-bagaimana yang diapresiasi oleh mayarakat Perancis sekarang dan mengapa bioskop-bioskop yang memutar blue-films [filem biru] banyak yang gulung tikar. Sesuatu yang bisa dibahas dari berbagai segi lagi dan bukan topik tulisan ini. Untuk mendapatkan gambaran tentang isi filem "Letters", di sini aku mengharapkan izin serta berterimakasih diperkenankan, menggunakan ikhtisar yang ditulis oleh May Teo, penulis dalam dua bahasa, Inggris dan Indonesia, asal Jakarta yang tinggal Singapura, dan disiarkan di milis [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hong Kong, 24 Februari2007. Movie Summary Oleh May Teo Plot and/or ending details follow. Saigo, a private in the Imperial Japanese Army, and his fellow soldiers are digging beach trenches on Iwo Jima. He complains to his friend Kashiwara about the work they have to do, but his commander overhears him, and beats them for their insubordination. Meanwhile, Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi arrives at Iwo Jima to take command of the Japanese garrison and begins an inspection of the current island defenses. Kuribayashi notices his soldiers digging trenches on the beach and orders them to stop; instead, he tells them to construct fortifications in the higher grounds. Kuribayashi stops the commander from beating Saigo and Kashiwara and to give the men water and breaks. Later, Takeichi Nishi, an officer and friend of Kuribayashi, tells the Lt. General that the prospect of the Imperial Japanese Navy supporting Iwo Jima is non-existent; the Japanese Combined Fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Upon hearing this, Kuribayashi reflects on his plan to defend Iwo Jima, realizing that there is no hope for support and that the island will be defended to the death. Japanese troops continue to dig caves and trenches on higher ground as another soldier, Shimizu, shows up for duty on the island. Saigo and another one of his friends, Nozaki, suspect that Shimizu is a member of the Kempeitai (secret police and intelligence service), sent to Iwo Jima to spy on "disloyal" soldiers. Not long after the digging begins, the first American aerial bombings occur on the island, forcing the Japanese soldiers to dig deeper underground. The near constant bombardment begin to take their toll on the soldiers' morale. While preparing for battle, the soldiers proceed to wear their senninbari belts; Nozaki tells Saigo that he will not die because of the belt that his mother made for him. He also comments on whether Shimizu has a belt of his own. His question is answered when he sees him pulling out a similar belt from his bag. When Saigo's commander orders him outside to empty the toilet pot, he looks at the oncoming U.S. fleet and reflects on his probable fate. The battle for Iwo Jima commences shortly after with the first Marine landings. In the following battle scenes, Japanese beach defenses, including the garrison at Mount Suribachi, are overrun. Despite Kuribayashi's explicit orders to retreat and regroup, Suribachi's commander instructs his men to fight to the last; many soldiers commit suicide, holding live grenades against their chests. Saigo, however, has overheard Kuribayashi's order and refuses to kill himself. After a stand off with Shimizu, Saigo reasons with him, convincing him that he can best serve the Emperor by fighting on. The two regroup with the few surviving troops from the overrun sector and return to the Japanese lines under the cover of darkness. However, the situation continues to worsen; soldiers' ammunition is exhausted and they attempt banzai charges at the Americans. When Saigo and Shimizu approach Ito, the commanding lieutenant of the hidden garrison, he attempts to behead them, accusing them of dishonoring themselves by not committing suicide with their units. Kuribayashi appears and orders the lieutenant to stop. Soon after, Takeichi orders a wounded American named Sam be brought in and given aid, despite dwindling medical supplies. Despite their efforts, Sam dies and Takeichi eulogizes him by reading a letter the American received from his mother. Takeichi is later blinded by a grenade, and orders the remainder of his troops, including Saigo and Shimizu, to rendezvous with Kuribayashi. Takeichi stays behind in the cave, and as the soldiers are marching down the hill, a gun shot is heard inside the cave, apparently Takeichi has taken his own life. While resting in a cave, Saigo confronts Shimizu about his Kempeitai background. Shimizu reveals through flashbacks that he was ordered to kill a barking dog, but couldn't bring himself to do it in front of the dog's family. Instead, he lied to his commander who later found out and beat Shimizu for disrespecting him. As punishment for insubordination, Shimizu was dishonorably discharged from the Kempeitai and reassigned to Iwo Jima. Upon learning this story, Saigo's attitude towards Shimizu softens considerably. Shortly afterwards, Shimizu breaks down and asks Saigo to surrender with him. Saigo comforts Shimizu and soon they devise a plan to surrender by leaving separately and meeting later outside. However, a guard inadvertently foils their plans when he wants to surrender as well. The commander discovers their desertion and orders a new guard to shoot anyone fleeing, preventing Saigo from joining Shimizu. Soon, Shimizu surrenders to a U.S. Marine patrol and finds another surrendered Japanese soldier. The squad leader orders two soldiers to guard the prisoners while the patrol moves on, but after the patrol leaves, the guards, who didn't want to be burdened with two POWs, shoot Shimuzu and the other prisoner. Saigo and the remainder of the unit eventually pass by both dead soldiers on their way to the rendezvous, discovering that they were shot after surrendering. Their commander comments that it should be a lesson for anyone else who wishes to surrender. Saigo tearfully realizes that he will probably die no matter what he does. Once Saigo and his platoon meet up with General Kuribayashi, the general is dismayed that so few have survived. Kuribayashi recognizes Saigo and Saigo mentions that Kuribayashi had saved his life twice: once from a beating and once by preventing his beheading. Kuribayashi cryptically says that "everything happens in threes". Five days later, the Japanese have been reduced to eating bugs and worms. Finally, Kuribayashi orders a final attack with all the remaining men, but orders Saigo to stay behind and destroy all of the documents, saving his life for the third time. Saigo burns all the military documents and buries a bag full of soldiers' letters. Meanwhile, Kuribayashi and his remaining troops launch their final attack, during which Kuribayashi is critically wounded and dragged away by Fujita. At daybreak, Kuribayashi and his aide Fujita are on the beach and orders Fujita to behead him. However, Fujita is shot as he raises his sword. Saigo soon appears and Kuribayashi asks to bury him so the enemy can't locate his body (Kuribayashi's body was, in fact, never found). Kuribayashi then shoots himself in the chest with his pistol, a gift from American friends during his earlier visit to the United States. The same American patrol from the previous scene arrives at the area, claiming Kuribayashi's gun and Fujita's sword as war trophies. They find Saigo and take him prisoner, but upon seeing Kuribayashi's gun in an American Marine's belt, he swings wildly at the Americans with his shovel. The two Marines who shot Shimizu threaten to shoot Saigo, but are stopped by their commander. Eventually, Saigo is knocked unconscious with a rifle butt and taken on a stretcher to an aid station on the beach. The scene switches to the modern day, showing Japanese archaeologists uncovering the bag of letters Saigo buried. At the same time, the voices of the soldiers who wrote the letters fill the background.*** Sumber: May Teo, "LETTERS FROM IWO JIMA Is An Anti War Film Projecting The Suffering Of The Japanese Soldiers During The Battle Of Iwo Jima", in : [EMAIL PROTECTED] , Hong Kong, Saturday, February 24, 2007 2:39 PM. JJ. Kusni Paris, Februari 2007. [Bersambung...] JJJ [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
