Eye-cons : Icons
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Iwo Jima
The story of an icon: the island battle; the flag-raising and it's aftermath; collecting war bonds; the memorial; documentary and feature film; the myths, the art and people's private feelings; public emotions.
Different meanings for different people. ..... now with added Delacroix
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Disrespecting the Iwo Jima image? April 2008
Some of the veterans of Iwo Jima are hopping mad at TIME magazine's latest cover which re-uses the iconic flag raising image to make a point about global warming. We talk of "planting a flag"; in this version the troops "plant a tree".
An Iwo Jima veteran said, "It's an absolute disgrace. Whoever did it is going to hell. That's a mortal sin..."
'TIME' managing editor said, "There needs to be an effort along the lines of preparing for world war two to combat global warming and climate change. “a clear--and colorful--message to our readers about the importance of this subject, not just to Americans but to everyone else around the world as well.”"
Read news stories at: :: Business & Media...:: Newsbusters...:: Fox News
and...
:: Mark Steyn deconstructs Time's green tree-raising image.
Time magazine? 'Time' is THE leading magazine commenting on current events, politics etc. in the USA. Its iconic red-bordered covers have become famous and to have your picture on the cover of time has become an accolade in itself...like winning an Oscar. The 'Golbal warming cover replaces the red border with a green one and the red TIME title - only the second time TIME has done this in 85 years of publication.
:: Time website
:: Check out the 'TIME' covers archive.
:: nice 'Flash' interactive of 'Time' portrait covers from the National Portrait Gallery, USA.
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'Iwo Jima' regains it's original name 'Iwo To'. September 2007
Iwo Jima has been renamed - and it's original name, Iwo To, has been restored.
The original name was used by the island's inhabitants until they were evacuated in 1944 by the Japanese. It is thought that the corrupted name "Iwo Jima" was used in error by the Japanese navy who came to the island ahead of the US invasion. In Japanese, the original name "Iwo To" is written with the same characters as Iwo Jima and means the same thing - Sulphur Island (because of its volcano Mount Suribachi) - but it is pronounced differently. Since the Second World War the island has been used by the US military until 1968 when it reverted to Japanese control as a base for their soldiers and visting US navy airmen. Clint Eastwood's two films 'Lettters from Iwo Jima' and Flags of Our Fathers' both mention the name change and fuelled demands by former residents to have the original name reinstated.
The Guardian's report of the renaming - Guardian Thursday June 21st 2007 - provided an interesting example of layout giving a conflicting reading to the text story. The news item is about restoring the original name, identity and dignity to the island and it's still absent native inhabitants. The layout, however, shows a three-column wide version of Joe Rothenstal's iconic image of the US victory running right across the spread of the story. A small one column 'thumbnail' of the ariel shot of the island is nested in the foot of the middle column visually maintaining the domination of the US victory. The headline 'Flying the Flag: change of name from Iwo Jima' despite the possible meanings compounds the reading by emphasising a US-centic reading by it's association with the main photograph. It may of course be argued from an editorial position that the US flag raising is what people (some people) asscoiate with the name 'Iwo Jima' and that is what will engage readers and makes it a bigger story.
The last word may, however, rest with the island as there are reports that Mount Suribachi, a volcano, may be active again.
:: Films change name
:: longer article, AP press release.
::When the story was first published Google hadn't caught up with the change and in answer to a search for 'Iwo To' replied..."iwo to - do you mean "how to?"... "No Mr Stupid we meant Iwo To." ...Three weeks later with news stories from America, Europe and Japan about the name change rising up the usage lists Google has become content to accept Iwo To at face value.
:: Official maps with the name change were released in Japan on 1st Sept 2007
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The Battle for Iwo Jima: 1945
On February 23, 1945, during the battle for Iwo Jima,a small island south of Japan, U.S. Marines raised the stars and stripes on top of Mount Suribachi. The moment was captured by photographer Lou Lowery.
Sometime later the first flag was taken down, and replaced by a larger flag; once again the moment was captured on film - this time by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal. The second photograph has become an iconic, much re-produced and much-manipulated image.
The second raising of the flag was also recorded on film by Sgt. Bill Gensaust.
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The first flag raising: 10.30am, 23rd February, 1945.
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The second flag raising: 12.30 pm, 23rd February, 1945.
Photograph by Joe Rothenstal
“ Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen the men start the flag up. I swung my camera and shot the scene. That is how the picture was taken, and when you take a picture like that, you don't come away saying you got a great shot. You don't know. ”
Photo courtesy NARA
Photograph of Flag Raising on Iwo Jima, 02/23/1945 (NWDNS-80-G-413988; ARC Identifier: 520748); General Photographic File of the Department of Navy, 1943 - 1958; General Records of the Department of the Navy, 1804 - 1958; Record Group 80; National Archives.
:: http://www.archives.gov and search Iwo Jima.
:: themed and historic photography from NARA
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Sgt. Bill Gensaust's film: 23rd February 1945
The Pathe Archive has a 1941 American compilation news film - - about Iwo Jima including cameraman Sgt. Bill Gensaust's film recording of the raising the flag on 23rd February 1945 - Gesnaut and three of the flag raisers were later killed in the fighting. The film was shot in colour 16mm and was taken at the same time as Rothenstal's still image; usually seen in B&W.
:: See the real thing in a black and white high-resolution 'print': British Pathe Archive - Film 2654.02
Photo: Bill Gensaut's film. photo: British Pathe, film 2654.02; frame 161.]
:: See a low resolution version in colour at Bill Gensaut's film
:: One record of Gensaut's death relates how he offered to use his film light to help US marines in a night attack. He was easily spotted and killed by machine gun fire. w[Read the story at MSNBC ' U.S. searches for Marine behind Iwo Jima film'
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Newsreel film of Iwo Jima: 1945.
Click here to play United News newsreel film straight from Google Video.
:: When was the sound added?
source:
National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
10 min 25 sec - 01-Jan-1945
www.archives.gov
Search: ARC ID: 39054 at http://www.archives.gov/research/arc/
The film is a compilation. Only Part 1 is about Iwo Jima. Part 1, 5th Div. Marines advance on Iwo Jima behind artillery, naval, and aerial bombardment. Part 2, Sec. of State Stettinius signs the Chapultepec Pact at the Inter-American Conference, Mexico City. Part 3, carrier-based planes bomb the Tokyo area. Part 4, the 9th Army crosses the Rhine. Gens. Eisenhower and W.H. Simpson inspect positions. Russian prisoners are liberated. German atrocities are discovered
NARA and Google Video. Nara have made an arrangment with Google Video to publish films from their archives into the public arena wher they can be seen freely by anyone.
BTW You get much better quality on Google Video by downloading their player, downloading the film and playing through the player. NARA have an arrangement to make film freely available through Google.
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To the Shores of Iwo Jima: 1945
A twenty minute documentary made by Warner Brothers in 1945 which was Academy nominated. The footage was shot by combat camermen - four died during the making of the film - and released only two months after the battle and just a few months before the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It includes the flag raising episode.
:: More at Internet Movie Database
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Sands of Iwo Jima: 1949
Sands of Iwo Jima was made in 1949, a black and white feature, directed by Allan Dwan and starring John Wayne. This was only four years after the battle for the island - how does that time-lag compare with the time-lag between events and their feature films today - for instance, with 9/11 or Iraq? The film was enormously popular and did much to consolidate the iconic image and its meanings. This was still the pre-television age and cinema audiences were huge. Posters, as they do today, extend the auidence and provided repeat views of the images they project.
Wayne, as Sergeant Stryker, created the iconic tough sergeant driving raw recurits through training and into battle stereotypoe that appears in many other films; but played and scripted with some complexity and depth in the characterisation. The film features the flag-raising using the already established iconic version.
Three of the survivors of the second flag-raising Rene Gagnon, Ira Hayes, and John Bradley, appear briefly in the film, prior to the re-enactment of the fag-raising itself. 1st Lt. Harold Schrier, who led the flag-raising patrol on Iwo Jima also appears though it is Wayne who takes the lead role in instructing the flag party. The actual flag used on Mount Suribachi was re-used for the film.
The poster, like the film, uses the iconic image. It uses a dominating red, white and blue, colour key. The poster is in colour though the film was made in back and white
Iwo Jima is a volcanic island and the black rock creates black sand in many places, not the yellow/gold colour we usally think of. When Wayne was having his footprint made for a special plaque in Grauman's Chinese Theatre - a famous film theatre in Hollywood - black sand from the island was imported to mix with the cement.
Image This image is of a poster, and the copyright for it is most likely owned by either the publisher or the creator of the work depicted. It is believed that the use of scaled-down, low-resolution images of posters for education and critical uses falls within 'fair dealing' and 'fair use'. See Wikipedia Commons Original source: http://www.montney.com/marine/iwo.htm
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'Iwo Jima memorial' statue by Felix de Weldon, 1954
There is a newsfilm in Pathe showing the making of the memorial statue by Felix de Weldon - based on the photo image - which is now in Arlington and near to the USA National Cemetry. The memorial is huge - 110 feet high - with each figure, cast in bronze, 32 feet high. It took 6 years to make. De Weldon worked from the photograph and from the three survivors of the flag team.
:: See British Pathe Archive Film 2559.12
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To view the British Pathe films go to the British Pathe website and choose Advanced Search and enter the Film ID number into the little box top right, click GO and, hey presto, you can see the film.
Schools can download the films without the watermark as part of the special National Education Network licence.
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Reunion of Honour: 1985.
On February 19, 1985 the 40th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima, American and Japanese veterans gathered again in an act of mutual honour. again on these same sands, this time in peace and friendship.
The message on the memorial stone of granite is inscribed on both sides; an English translation faces the beaches where U.S. forces landed and a Japanese translation faces inland to where the Japanese troops defended their position. It reads:
On the 40th anniversary of the battle of Iwo Jima, American and Japanese veterans met again on these same sands, this time in peace and friendship. We commemorate our comrades, living and dead, who fought here with bravery & honor, and we pray together that our sacrifices on Iwo Jima will always be remembered and never be repeated.
:: Image of the Reunion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:P3110030.JPG; U.S. National Park Service.
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Lou Lowery dies: 15th April 1987
New York Times record of the death of Lou Lowery the man who took the original photograph of the flag-raising.
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Joe Rothentsal dies: 21st August 2006
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'Flags over Iwo Jima'
Documentary by Dustin Spence which tells the story of the two flag raising events through witness interviews. It asks the question, "When are those who took part in the first flag raising going to get recognition?"
The two events were both captured on film: the first by Lou Lowery and the second by Joe Rosenthal, which was used afterwards and became the iconic image.
:: View the trailer: 'Flags over Iwo Jima'
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Trailer of 'Flags Over Iwo Jima' on 'You Tube'.
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So what makes the image?
One thing is it's dynamic motion; the strong directional push of a group working together caught just before they attain their aim...at which point the action would turn to stasis. The action of striving, with its uncertainty - might suceed/might not succeed - is more powerful than the stability and motionless of permanance.
In formal terms the asymetric triangle is emotionally stronger than the stable motionless form of the pyramid.
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The Outsider: 1961
The Outsider made in 1961 and starring Tony Curtis tells the story of Ira Hayes. The film poster has the tagline, "The Story of Ira Hayes, Who Hit the Heights at Iwo Jima." See images from the film at The Outsider in the IMDB.
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The Ballad of Ira Hayes: Dylan or Cash...
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'Portable War Memorial' by Ed Kienholz, 1968
Portable War Memorial is a 3-d construction featuring, life-size figures and, amongst other things, a working Coke machine and a stuffed dog. It was made by the American artist Ed Kienholz in 1968 at the height of the Vietnam war. Museum Ludwig, Cologne.
Image link to Mark Hadden's 'Artchive' website. http://www.artchive.com. Search for "portabale war memorial" and "Kienholz".
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'Iwo Jima Ghetto' by Banksy, 2006
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About 'Flags of Our Fathers'
The film tells the story of the raising of the stars and stripes - sometimes called "Old Glory" - over Mount Suribachi AND what happened to the three survivors of the flag party afterwards.
:: View the trailer on Warner Brothers site with streamed video 'Flags of Our Fathers'
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Who were the six men in the flag party?
They were all working class 'boys':
The sergeant Mike Strank was the oldest at 23; Pvt. Ira Hayes, an American native from the Prima nation of Arizona; Pvt. Rene Gagnon, from New Hampshire; John H. Bradley, a navy medic; Cpl. Harlon Block and Pvt. Franklin Sousley. Three of the group survived and three died in the fighting during the following days.
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What happened to the survivors?
The three survivors - Rene Gagnon, Jack Bradley, Ira Hayes - were taken home and lauded and then used in a touring campaign around America to support the war and raise money by colecting war bonds. They toured the country and gave a demonstration of the famous moment by dressing up in combat gear and climbing a huge papier-mache model of the mountain. This is one of the few times that a native American actor -Adam Beach - has been given a central role as a fully-dimensional personality in a modern context in a major feature film.
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Why are survivors not always "happy"?
It has been recorded many times - in the First and Second World War, Viet-nam and amongst Holocaust survivors - survivors have a guilt complex that they survived while many of their colleagues had died; sometimes called "survivor guilt". In the film one character is given the line, "We fought for our country but died for our friends".
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Why did Clint Eastwood make the film?
I read 'Flags of Our Fathers'...Here was a true story of a guy o didn't know what his father did and the mystrey is: why didn't his father ever confide in him about the story? Then we find it was the experience of war, and the guilt of false heroism and all kinds of stuff that made him somewhat a recluse. I became fascinated by that..."
Reference: Interview with Philip French, The Observer, 25.02.07
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Why wasn't 'Flags of Our Fathers' a BIG box office hit?
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Why are there no black soldiers in the film or newsreels?
900 African-Americans served in the US Marines and took part in the battle for Iwo Jima, many in the ammunition corps, later used for burial and as the fighting became more chaotic involved in the hand to and fighting. Sergeant Thomas McPhatter who was on Iwo Jima and later rose to the rank of lieutenant-commander in the US Navy during the Vietnam conflict and is now 83 years old says, "Of all the movies that have been made of Iwo Jima, you never see a a black face...this is the last straw. I feel I have been denied, I've been insulted, I've been mistreated."
Author and documentary film-maker Melton McLaurin notes that he was told by one of the marines he interviewed, "that the people who were filming newsreel footage on Iwo Jima deliberately turned their cameras away when black folks can by." In 'Fighting for America: Black Soldiers - the Unsung Heroes of World War II' the author Christopher Moore points out that there were opportunities to show black presense and it was important as "these are our films and very often they become our history, historical documents."
Reference: Dan Glaister, The Guardian, 21.10.06. See www.guardian.co.uk/film search...
Spike Lee on representation of black Americans..."
...he feels that very rarely did Hollywood represent the contribution made by black American soldiers. "There are some instances," he concedes, "like [former NFL star] Jim Brown in The Dirty Dozen, the HBO special about the Tuskegee airmen, but overall it's a low number. Even recently, with films on Iwo Jima [Clint Eastwood's Flags of Our Fathers and Letters From Iwo Jima], we weren't in those either."
Lee is making a film about four 'buffalo soldiers' - US Army's Negro 92nd Division - caught behind lines in Itlay the second world war called Miracle at St Anna He said, "Actually, people don't realise that it was the return of the black soldiers from the Second World War that laid the foundations for the civil rights movement"
Reference: 'Spike Lee gets ready to do battle with Miracle at St Anna'
Daily Telegraph, 2 May 2008
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'The War', dir. Ken Burns: 2007
It's not just Clint Eastwood whose lens could be said to be blind to the contribution of non-white Americans during the Second World war. Ken Burns epic, 'The War' has been criticised for not including a single Hispanic or Native American voice in it's 14 hours of film which includes hours of interviews. Following agitation by the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and other groups PBS the USA public broadcaster has agreed to film extra sequences. The film-maker said he wouldn't alter the vision of his film but would "add another layer of storytelling" by creating additional material to run alongside his documentary.
:: read full story in Democracy Now.
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'Letters from Iwo Jima'
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You Tube: trailer 'Letters from Iwo Jima'.
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Iwo Jima videos
A quick surf round a few online DVD and videostores will reveal quite a number of Iwo Jima documentaries in addition to the documentaries anf features already noted - most made for television, some small budget films. Most use the iconic image on the packaging, though one, '50 Years of Memories', uses the earlier Lou Lowery image. The same documentary footage is used over and over again, each time with a different wrapping of newly shot footage, new interpretation of the documentary footage and a new angle on the story. Oh, and there's also a couple of Iwo Jima games - at which I prefer not to look any closer. Now of course this is all very USA centric in its origin. Why so many programmes? Why make new ones?
:: Good collection of reviews - see links below - and blog entries at rotten tomatoes
Return to Iwo Jima,
Home Vision 1990; made by Ed McMahon.
"American and Japanese veterans meet on the battlefield. Interview with photographer Joe Rosenthal, and an interview with the sole survivor of the flag-raising party.
Battle of Iwo Jima,
"This DVD collection includes 2 hard-to-find programs that combine to tell the complete story of Iwo Jima. Using frontline combat footage (including rare color photography), plus the expert commentary of General Holland "Howlin' Mad" Smith, "The Battle Of Iwo Jima" presents this decisive invasion in the kind of vivid detail that will make every history buff want to view it again and again."
Iwo Jima; 50 Years of Memories,
Image Entertainment, Inc.,2008; directed by Paul Molina.
"50th anniversary programme. Harrowing account of the Battle of Iwo Jima, broadcast on its 50th anniversary, told entirely by veterans who survived it - many telling their stories for the first time."
Heroes of Iwo Jima,
New Video Group, Inc., 2003. Narrated by Gene Hackman.
"...explores the story behind this immortal image through historic footage and interviews with almost 50 people involved in the battle, including Joe Rosenthal,..."
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Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1776: painting 1851
The Stars and Stripes raised aloft during battle in readiness, defiance or victory has been a common symbol in painting, song and film in America. In Washington Crossing the Delaware it is embedded in the narrative of the establishment of the United States itself. This is an early version of the flag of what was to become the USA.
:: For a history of the US flag see the book Old Glory; Unfurling History see Library of Congress bookshop and search 'Old Glory; Unfurling History'
George Washington Crossing the Delaware, 1851
by Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze, American, 1816-1868, painted in 1851.
Oil on Canvas; 12 2/5 x 21 1/4 in. (378.5 x 647.7 cm)
Gift of John S. Kennedy, 1897 (97.34)
Image courtesy The Metropolitan Musuem of Art:
See homepage and direct image link and terms and conditions
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The Storming of Fort Wagner, 1863: lithograph 1890
The Storming of Fort Wagner shows the moment of the death of Robert Gould Shaw as he led the Massachusetts 54th Regiment during the American Civil War in 1863.
The trinagular composition of figures with the flag at the summit appears in painting and prints as as well as sculpture and photography. Lithograph by Kurz & Allison made in 1890.
Photo: Wikipedia Commons, public domain.
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Shaw at Fort Wagner, 1863: painting c. 1941
Another painting of the same scene; this one more modern with a close up cinematic feel within the mural conventions. The mural is by Carlos Lopez. in the Deeds Building, Washington, and is in honor of Robert Gould Shaw and the Massachusetts 54th Regiment, made up of freed slaves who fought during the Civil War. The stars and stripes is held aloft in the centre and in the distance - top left - you can just see the Confederate flag. Citizen photographer and historian, DB King, has provided lots more details about the painting on Flickr - just here!
:: The mural is of the WPA (Works Project Administration) era.
Photo: DB King. Flickr. Creative Commons
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Celebrating a boundary stone, District of Columbia, USA: 1916.
District of Columbia, USA, bundary stone celebration 1916.
The comments on Flickr tell more of the story and demonstrate how the Commons approach can add value to the contributing archive - and for the rest of us.Boundary Stone celebration, 1916
The Daughters of the Revolution have set up their flags into a perfect triangle - no need for diagrams here.
:: Photo: DC Public Library Collection
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Jasper Johns, 'Flag' 1954-55
In Jasper Johns painting 'Flag' the stars and stripes becomes not just the centre of attention but the whole thing. He created the work, which shows the stars and stripes, using coloured wax poured and scraped over torn pieces of newpaper, some of which can be read through the transparent wax. Later he made several other flag paintings including an all-white version called 'White Flag'.
Johns original flag images were made in the mid fifties - during the "cold war", the era of McCarthy" and H-bombs; a period which was stil immediate to the experience of the Second World War. The paintings became popular and iconic in themselves in the 60's and 70's and the period of Vietnam war and protests and were often associated with "pop art" and "pop design" though Johns had not painted them with a "pop art" rationale.
See:
'Flag', Museum of Modern Art
Jasper Johns, Wikipedia
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Planting the flag on the moon: 1972
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A flag planting triangle with the earth as the apex. The triangle - in red - is made up of the main directional lines, the three main masses of white/colour against the black sky and three key objects in the photo.
The earth at the apex.
The white star that is isolated on the blue background by the shadows and folds of the flag.
The dominant highlight in Fichtt's visor.
The blue lines indicate other major directional lines.
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New York: 9th November 2001
'Old Glory' flying above the carnage of 9-11.
The photograph was one of a series taken by the American photographer Joel Meyerowitz. Meyerowitz is famous for work such as his colour photography, published as 'Cape Light'.
After the events of 9-11 he was given special access to record the scenes at Ground Zero creating an archive called ''Aftermath' that now has over 8,000 images. More about Meyorwitz and the Ground Zero Project on Joel Meyerowitz Photography
Image from The Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) of the U.S. State Department and the Museum of the City of New York of the World Trade Center attacks. Photographer: Joel Meyerowitz.. Wikipedia.
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...and in other circumstances, 2006.
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Timeline. Use the cursor to click and drag to move it around the viewer. There's enlarge/decrease symbol top left and a help button bottom left. Timelines and "mind-maps" can be made using the Bubbl.Us online, free to user tool at http://bubbl.us
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Liberty Leading the People: France 1830.
Delacroix's painting made in 1830 shows the French symbol of "Liberty", a woman, carrying a tricolour aloft in battle; there are many correspondences with the Iwo Jima flag-raising images.
The ideals of the French Revolution, 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity' were very influential on the founding fathers of the USA as they developed their proclamation of Independence. In 1886 the French people presented the USA with the Statute of Liberty.
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Liberty Leading the People
Delacroix's painting of Liberty Leading the People became instantly infamous, was bought by the government and hidden from view for many years. It shows Liberty leading a cross-section of the Parisian populace over a corpse-strewn barricade and is often thought to be the inspiration for Victor Hugo's 'Les Misérables' of 1862.
Clam, classical, idealised nude versions of Liberty were OK but not a romanticised, active, half-dressed (déshabillé) one with hairy armpits!
'Liberty Leading the People', 1830; by Eugène Delacroix, The Louvre, Paris.
Image: Thanks to the very excellent Humanites Web.
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Delacroix's 'Liberty' figure has often been used by protestors, painters, designers and cartoonists. Coldplay used it for the front of a CD with the words Viva la Vida graffitted over it; the words in their turn taken from a painting 'Viva la Vida' by the Mexican painter Frida Khalo.
Images: Boing Boing and Coldplay.
:: Wikipedia Quick Life of Delacroix
:: Humanities Web life story, quotes, paintngs, timelines and more
and for a more detailed study of Delacroix...
:: Open University's 'Open Learn' course (on-line and free) Delacroix; see section 5.6: Modernity – challenging tradition for discussion about the 'Liberty' painting.
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The structure of the central element of Delacroix's 'Liberty Leading the People' is a pyramid of figures; the tent-like space contains their action, as in Liberty's step forward. It is this three-dimensional volume which gives the painting much of its dynamism - onward and upward.
The Iwo Jima iconic photograph and the sculptural versions of it also fit into pyramids as well as fitting a one-dimensional triangle.
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Brian Harrison, photographer, has recreated one of Delacroix heroes to make the poster and set the thematic tone for a new production of the opera 'Le nozze di Figaro' ('The Marriage of Figaro') by Mozart.
"Revolution is in the air in this Season’s revival of David McVicar’s wonderfully illuminating production of 'Le nozze di Figaro', new to The Royal Opera in 2006 to mark the 250th anniversary of Mozart’s birth. Life on an estate in the late 1820s reveals with truth and no little wit all the tensions between master and servants, with the symptoms of Europe’s social upheaval never far away. Count Almaviva’s attempts to bed his manservant Figaro’s fiancé Susanna are repeatedly thwarted by those around him, including his own wife, the Countess. In such enlightened times if the Count wishes to dance, then Figaro will make sure it is to his tune and not the other way round."
:: Quote: Royal Opera House, London
:: Image: Brian Harrison
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Acknowledgements and references
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More websites
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