a diversion we've both acquired living in sleepy el paso is watching movies. we rent dvds every night (we watch at least 8 movies a week) and go to the theatre every weekend (sometimes even on weekdays). for saturday and sunday, i got the uma thurman comedy 'my super ex-girlfriend' while gary got the soldier movie 'home of the brave' from blockbuster. the husband must've been tampo (bet he wouldn't admit it though) when i snuck out of the room to avoid watching 50 cent, et. al play u.s. army soldiers in iraq. i told gary the previous weekend that i was staying away from war movies after i soaked myself in tears watching 'letters from iwo jima.'
on a lighter note, we also went to the cinema yesterday hoping to catch 'state of play' but were three hours early for the next screening so we decided to have fun watching 'aliens vs. monsters' in 3D. we had to add a little for the 3D glasses (which gary never took off until we were back in the car :) ).
anyway, back to 'letters from iwo jima'. i always had this movie in my mind for some reason, and while we were scouring the aisles of blockbuster one weekend, i stumbled upon it. i didn't know (or maybe forgot) what it was about or who was on it but i didn't hesitate to get a copy. when we got home, i remembered why. the movie stars ken watanabe, who played the chairman in memoirs of a geisha (i was fixated with the book and the movie a few years back) and katsumoto in the last samurai.
letters from iwo jima, directed by clint eastwood, portrays the battle of iwo jima, an island in japan, during world war II. it was presented from the perspective of the japanese soldiers whose letters were found burried inside the tunnels they used during war. it complements eastwood's other movie about the same subject 'flags of our fathers', which depicts the same battle from the american viewpoint. letters from iwo jima is almost entirely in japanese but was made by american production companies.
maybe it's just me--i have a knack for crying when i'm not supposed to, and not crying when i should. maybe the movie really was touching. maybe because my husband is in the army, waiting for orders to get deployed in the middle east. maybe it's all of the above. all i know is, not even half-way through the movie, i was crying my eyes out, blaming gary for 'making' me watch another war movie (see i promised myself i wouldn't see one ever again when i became a captive audience of 'pearl harbor' playing in a bus travelling home to bataan). he gently reminded me i was the hand that picked the film from the shelf. oh well.
now gary has a lot to say about war. world war II. the japanese invasion (i think he's more zealous about the japanese invasion of the philippines than the clash between japan and the states--he wouldn't stop talking about the bataan death march since he learned of it). a soldier's life. human nature. honor and courage.
but for me, what touched me was how it showed that regardless of which side one is on, everyone is so much more alike than different. soldiers are husbands, and sons, and brothers (there were no female fighters in the movie). a mother's caring words to her soldier son are the same whether they were spoken in japan or the united states. love is indeed so universal that it makes us so similar however we'd like to think otherwise.
i do not believe in war--or any method that employs aggression for that matter--in solving problems. this principle makes it harder to accept that gary's remaining one year in the army could be extended if he suddenly gets deployed. everyday, we live a normal life of husband and wife--we wake up, eat breakfast, i see him off to work, we share lunch, he reports back to his job, and comes home for dinner. beyond these mundane activities, we often forget that neither of us could tell where he'd be in a few months. he points this out to me every once in a while, especially when i turn up my s(sumpong) over petty things. i hate to even think that we could be apart again for months and months, and he could be risking his life in a warzone because of his profession. the saddest part is, i can't do anything about it.
so yes, starting now, no more war films for this sissy. for real.
the canon camera was finally delivered, and it's GREAT! looks even better than i expected, and the shots are clear any way you take them. how come i have it already? gary found out about my wicked idea, told me there was no way i was taking advantage of my mother, and got me my canon powershot via amazon. he cancelled the freebie from citibank, and ordered a sofabed (which is supposed to arrive any minute now as i type--yipee!!!) in exchange. all's well that ends well. haha
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