12
FEB. 28, 2015
Review
A spirit “Unbroken”
By: McKensi Uecker
“A lifetime of glory is worth a
moment of pain.” This quote from
the movie Unbroken captures
the essence of Louis Zamperini,
played by Jack O’Connell, and
how he prevailed through all of
the struggles and hardships he
faced. This cinematic masterpiece
was released December 25, 2014,
and is directed by famous actress
Angelina Jolie. Unbroken is based
on the true and heroic story of
Louis “Louie” Zamperini, and
is adapted from the nonfiction
book Unbroken: A World War II
Story of Survival, Resilience, and
Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
which was released November 16,
2010.
Theft, alcohol and crime polluted
Louie’s childhood in the beginning
of this thrilling tale. It was certain
the scrawny outcast would never
amount to anything until his older
brother, Pete (Alex Russell), steps in
and forces Louie to train and try out
for the local track team, in his home
town of Torrance, California. After
immediate success with running,
Louie becomes known statewide as
‘The Torrance Tornado,’ sweeping
through high school track meets,
setting records and bringing home
the gold. Soon Louie qualifies for
the 1936 Summer Olympic games in
Berlin, Germany. Despite being one
of the youngest athletes to compete
in the games and it being his first
Olympics, he does extremely well.
He earns an eighth place medal and
sets a record by running the final
lap in the 500 meter race in 56
seconds.
Flash forward and Louie is sitting
in a plane with the rest of the crew,
soaring over the Pacific, looking for
a plane that went down. Two of the
four engines fail and they crash into
the ocean. Louis manages to free
himself and boards one of the two
rafts with Mac, a crewman, played
by Finn Wittrock, and Phil, the pilot
and close friend of Louie, played
by Domhnall Gleeson. Sharks,
enemies, storms and starvation
plague the three until on the 33rd
day Mac passes away. Louie and
Phil survive two more weeks until
they are captured by the Japanese
on the 47th day of being stranded
in the ocean.
Louie and Phil are loaded onto
separate trucks and are forced into
Image courtesy of hdpiccs.com
different war camps. When Louie
arrives in the camp, the Japanese
corporal,
Mutsuhiro
“Bird”
Watanabe, played by Takamasa
Ishihara, viciously attacks him every
opportunity he gets. Watanabe
relentlessly assaulted him nearly
every day because when told to “stay
down” Louie gets up. Louie’s never
failing spirit and Olympian status
also contributes to the constant
abuse. After two years, Watanabe
gets a promotion, leaving Louie
behind. But all too soon the camp
is damaged in a bombing, and the
prisoners are forced to relocate to
the camp Watanabe was promoted
to; much to Louie’s dismay he
continues to be tormented. The
prisoners are forced to haul coal
every single day, but one afternoon
Louie sprains his ankle, making
work agonizing. Watanabe pulls
him out of line and forces him to lift
an enormous piece of wood over
his head. This is a daunting task,
the wood is extremely heavy and
Louie is starving and injured. But
Louie succeeds, lifting the wood
over his head, enraging Watanabe.
A few days after that the war ends,
and the prisoners are released and
brought back to home soil.
At the end of the film there is
a slideshow telling viewers what
happened to the people after they
were brought home. Louis got
married and had two kids. Phil,
surviving the war, went home and
got married. Watanabe went into
hiding to avoid prosecution. In
1998 Louis ran a leg of the Olympic
torch relay for the Olympic games
in Nagano, Japan. The closing titles
show that Louis Zamperini passed
away on July 2, 2014. He was 97.
This was a really enjoyable
movie, it had a powerful message
of bravery, patriotism and survival.
Jack O’Connell portrays the
extraordinary life of Louie in a real
way; he doesn’t mask how painful
living through the war would
have been. The casting in the film
was phenomenal; the actors did a
great job filling in the shoes of the
people’s lives they represented.
The directing was superb. Jolie
manages to project the power
of hope throughout many of the
prison camp scenes; match that
with a suspenseful soundtrack, and
you have one of the greatest films
of the year. This exhilarating film
really captured the attention of
the audience, throwing them into
the pain and hardship that Louie
felt. This would be a great film for
anyone who enjoys movies of war,
or movies that inspire.
Sandy Creek - McKensi Uecker