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CINEMA SEEN - "A Salute From The Soul" By William Margold 11-23-06 Although I was born on Oct. 2, 1943...in a time-warped tangle/twisted transmigration of souls, one of my inner beings died on Iwo Jima in February 1945, and was immediately transmigrated into me. But before you become too puzzled about just what kind of turkey I'm serving up for this emotionally wrenching Thanksgiving Day Cinema Seen column, allow me to explain. At birth, the human body is essentially a box of corn flakes, with all of the flakes, or appropriate number of anatomical parts (depending on your sex) in proper working order. However, at that point, while each person is essentially somewhat equal, GREAT differences take place when an x number of souls, which for the sake of simplicity here, you can think of here as raisins, are dispensed from the soul storage way station by whatever power you will eventually wind up believing in. Roughly 95%(and that's being VERY generous toward the low side) of the existing population invariably winds up with only one soul, and therefore lead remarkably unremarkable lives, leaving little or nothing in their wake. The other 5%(and I suspect I'm on the high side here) are either blessed or burdened (depending on your point of view), with quite a number of wildly diverse as well as intensely forceful raisins (souls), and are therefore deemed or doomed (depending on your point of view) to be legendary characters who can't help but leave their mark(s) on history's timeline. While I'm sure that an entire Philosophy course could be structured around this premise, I am limited by space here to rattle your sensibilities anymore than I already have. Simply accept the fact that I have raisins in me that I haven't even dealt with...yet! Rekindled by director Clint Eastwood's supremely effective study of the battle for Iwo Jima, and the tough tender tale of the gentlemen who found themselves immortalized in the famous flag-raising photograph atop Mount Suribachi---FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (DreamWorks Pictures)---my Marine Corps soul has never burned brighter...or been more restless. And no matter how many tears I spill, I sense that my flame, and my restlessness, will "transmigrate" into eternity. My passion for the Marines was ignited when I read "Battle Cry" by Leon Uris in 1955, strongly identified with the character of Marion Hodgkiss (a shy, aspiring writer), and decided right then and there, that I was going to join the Corps. But in 1960, I was turned down because I had been judged "Incorrigible" by a Juvenile Court in 1956. For the record, I tried to "serve my country" again in 1961, but was rejected by The Navy for the same ridiculous "incorrigible" reason. Throughout my life, Marine Corps veterans have played a major role, from acting as my "on the scene" historical guides through both World Wars and Korea during my years (1960-62) as a caddy at The Riviera Country Club, to many years later, being befriended by a noble Vietnam War veteran named Raymond, who understandably doesn't like to talk about what it was like over there. And, then there is a richly treasured, close to 20 year friendship with a feisty fellow named Bob, who landed on the Hell known as Iwo Jima in February 1945, and as he puts it "somehow survived." But most indelibly, my flesh-and-blood link to the Marine Corps was bestowed upon me in April 1986, when a stunning redhead named Stephanie (who would become known in XXX lore as "Viper") changed my life. Stephanie had been a Marine for six years, but was finally discharged for apparently having too much fun with an assortment of officers, many of whom apparently couldn't wait to tell on each other. So...she wound up in my lap (etc.). And I finally became a Marine...at least by insertion...or something like that. However it was in February 1991, when I received a letter from a Marine fighting in Saudi Arabia who "didn't want to die fighting for freedom over there if I were to come home and not have the freedom to watch adult movies"---that the restless soul of the fellow who died on Iwo Jima sprang into action. I told Viper that she was going to be part of an all-female flag-raising photograph (hopefully pictured somewhere on this page) that would become the iconic image for the Adult Entertainment Industry's war against censorship. And on the Sunday before Memorial Day 1991, Viper, who can be seen straining upward earnestly in the left hand corner, along with (clockwise) Porsche Lynn, Alicyn Sterling, Taylor Wane, Selena Steele and Ashley Nicole, were immortalized by Brad Willis. And over 15 years later, the image is even timely now than it was then. And for anyone interested in learning more about how (and why) it was created, and how to obtain a magnificent, richly emblazoned t-shirt, please take a look at www.bearlydecent.com. I very proudly wore one of the t-shirts both times that I've gone to see Eastwood's "Flags"---and both times the image was treated with the extreme respect that it was designed to garner. And both times, the collar of my t-shirt was drenched with a sincerely expended appreciation of bittersweet tears. And that's exactly how the film (soul-stirringly scored by Eastwood) itself must be treated, as it is a very demanding work, unrelenting in its vision of war, and unnerving in its presentation of the marketing of sacrifice. Based on John Bradley's book about his father John "Doc" Bradley, who was one of the soldiers who raised the flag in the famous shot that was taken by Joe Rosenthal, benefits from sterling performances throughout, with Adam Beach particularly and painfully eloquent as Ira Hayes, the Native American who survived the battle of Iwo Jima, only to eventually lose in the war of life. That Viper (who was "to drive out of history into legend" four days after the shoot), would chose the position in May 1991, that Ira Hayes found himself in that fateful February 1945 image, only further magnifies the sentiment "that there are no accidents" and that "the real heroes were the ones who didn't come home." Indeed (and thankfully)...some souls will never be at peace. end NOTE: Originally published in LA Xpress, November 23, 2006, issue. |