2006年VOA标准英语-Movie Focuses on Story Behind Famous WWII Photo

By Alan Silverman
Hollywood
21 October 2006

The flag-raising on Iwo Jima is an icon¹: a photograph instantly recognizable and forever associated with World War II. A new film by Oscar-winner Clint Eastwood tells the stories of the men in that image and what happened to them afterward². Alan Silverman has a look at Flags of Our Fathers.

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Scene from 'Flags of Our Fathers'  
  
Few moments frozen in time have the lasting³ emotional impact of the image snapped by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal on February 23, 1945. It was atop Mount Suribachi on Iwo Jima, the Pacific island where a pitched battle had begun a few days earlier when thousands of U.S. Marines stormed ashore⁵ to face highly trained and well-dug-in Japanese soldiers.

By the battle's fifth day the Americans had taken Suribachi and a small U.S. flag was hoisted⁶ on the island's highest point, a mere⁷ 166 meters above the beachhead. The command post sent a larger flag to the windswept hilltop and the job of raising it fell to five Marines and a Navy corpsman who happened to be there at the moment. They fastened it to a length of water pipe and, struggling together against the wind and weight, they lifted the pipe up and planted it in the rocky soil. Just before the pipe was vertical⁸, with the banner flapping in the breeze, Rosenthal took the picture that became an indelible symbol of wartime determination.

Flags of Our Fathers tells the stories of the three of those flag-raisers who survived what turned out to be the most vicious battle of the war in the Pacific: Ira Hayes, Rene Gagnon and John Bradley (whose son, James Bradley, wrote the book on which the film is based):

When Washington saw the public response to the photo, officials brought the men home and sent them on a cross-country publicity⁹ tour to raise money through the purchase of war bonds. They were paraded out at town squares, sports stadiums and formal receptions, but through it all, the men rejected the "hero" label.

 
Scene from 'Flags of Our Fathers'
  
Director and producer Clint Eastwood says his goal was to portray¹⁰ what really happened to the men on Iwo Jima and afterward:

"I wasn't setting out to do a war movie. I've been involved in a few as an actor, but I liked this because it was just a study of these people," said Mr. Eastwood.  "I've always been curious about families who find out things about their relatives much after the fact [and] I've talked to many vets¹¹ of this campaign and many others and the ones who've seemed to be the most in the front lines and have been through the most are the ones who are the quietest about their activity."

Corpsman John Bradley - "Doc," to the Marines on the island - was one of those who rarely spoke¹², even to his family, about the battle or the flag-raising. Ryan Phillipe plays Bradley in the film and calls it the best experience of his acting¹³ career.

"There are so many things about it that will stay with me forever as far as the physical making of the movie and the production of it," he noted¹⁴.  "But also just the opportunity it gave me to pay tribute to the men of that generation and to my grandfathers who fought in this war. Very rarely do you get to do something that has such personal meaning to you and feels that important."

Jesse Bradford plays Rene Gagnon and Adam Beach co-stars as Ira Hayes, the Marine⁴ holding the base of the flagpole in the photo. He was a Native American, a Pima Indian from Arizona  and Beach, a Canadian-born member of the Ojibwa Nation, says he knew of the real man long before he was cast in the role.

"Growing up, I think everybody knows about Ira Hayes," he said.  "In America regarding World War II there are two iconic images: the code-talkers and Ira Hayes, the flag-raiser. Those are the two images."

In the 2002 film "Windtalkers," Beach played one of the Navaho whose language proved to be an unbreakable code during World War II, and like that part, the actor says Ira Hayes was much more than just another role to him.

"I was at a youth conference and I came upon a painting and it had the code-talkers and Ira and the flag and I thought 'oh my God. I represent those images.' There is a huge responsibility it that... to be a part of what our people look up to as an honor of making what America is today," he added.  "For me, playing Ira was a meaningful relationship, trying to find out how he thought and felt.

Film maker¹⁵ Eastwood is following "Flags of Our Fathers" with a second film to be released in 2007: "Letters from Iwo Jima," depicting¹⁶ the battle and its aftermath from the Japanese perspective.  "Flags of Our Fathers" features Barry Pepper as Sergeant¹⁷ Mike Strank, Joseph Cross as Franklin Sousley and Benjamin Walker plays Harlon Block, the three flag-raisers who did not survive Iwo Jima.

1 icon   

n.偶像，崇拜的对象，画像

参考例句：

• They found an icon in the monastery.他们在修道院中发现了一个圣像。
• Click on this icon to align or justify text.点击这个图标使文本排齐。

2 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

3 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

4 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

5 ashore   

adv.在(向)岸上，上岸

参考例句：

• The children got ashore before the tide came in.涨潮前，孩子们就上岸了。
• He laid hold of the rope and pulled the boat ashore.他抓住绳子拉船靠岸。

6 hoisted   

把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He hoisted himself onto a high stool. 他抬身坐上了一张高凳子。
• The sailors hoisted the cargo onto the deck. 水手们把货物吊到甲板上。

7 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。

8 vertical   

adj.垂直的，顶点的，纵向的；n.垂直物，垂直的位置

参考例句：

• The northern side of the mountain is almost vertical.这座山的北坡几乎是垂直的。
• Vertical air motions are not measured by this system.垂直气流的运动不用这种系统来测量。

9 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

10 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

11 vets   

abbr.veterans （复数）老手，退伍军人；veterinaries （复数）兽医n.兽医( vet的名词复数 )；老兵；退伍军人；兽医诊所v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的第三人称单数 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• I helped train many young vets and veterinary nurses too. 我还帮助培训了许多年青的兽医和护士。 来自互联网
• In fact, we've expanded mental health counseling and services for our vets. 实际上，我们已经扩大了退伍军人的心理健康咨询和服务。 来自互联网

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

14 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

15 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

16 depicting   

描绘，描画( depict的现在分词 )； 描述

参考例句：

• a painting depicting the Virgin and Child 一幅描绘童贞马利亚和圣子耶稣的画
• The movie depicting the battles and bloodshed is bound to strike home. 这部描写战斗和流血牺牲的影片一定会取得预期效果。

17 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？