Notes and Letters

Two of last year’s most critically acclaimed films are structured around written accounts of the events portrayed in the films, providing voiceover narration which adds perspective to the motivations of the characters on the screen.

Excellent performances mark Notes on a Scandal, a film rich in story and character about two school teachers caught up in scandal. Judi Dench delivers a chilling performance as a lonely battleaxe who blackmails her young colleague (Cate Blanchett) whom she discovers is having an affair with a student. Though Dench’s Barbara is scheming and vindictive, she is also at times sympathetic, a complex character portrayed with biting authenticity. The voiceover narration from Barbara’s diary (the "notes") allow the audience to probe the depths of Barbara’s psyche in a way sheer visuals and dialogue could not. Dench will surely give Helen Mirren (The Queen) a run for her money when the Oscars are handed out next week.

In Letters from Iwo Jima (a companion film to Flags of Our Father), Clint Eastwood demonstrates he is truly one of America’s great film directors in this crisp, compelling and powerful telling of the battle of Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective. The film, mostly in subtitled Japanese, is co-written by Paul Haggis (Crash), and takes the audience into the caves used by the Japanese to defend their island. The humanity of many of the Japanese characters (and one American POW) is brought to the surface through a series of letters written or received by the characters. It is the discovery in 2005 of these letters, buried in a cave on Iwo Jima, that serves as bookends to this Oscar-worthy film.

In both Notes and Letters, the use of characters’ private thoughts and feelings serve to add a depth and dimension to both films, underscoring the importance that character plays in enriching a story. In both cases, this added depth renders these stories more thoughtful and all the more powerful.

Notes on a Sandal ***** (out of 5)
Letters from Iwo Jima ****1/2