Credible Credits
Year: 2014
Director: Angelina Jolie
Starring: Jack O'Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Takamasa Ishihara, and Finn Wittrock
Tagline: Survival. Resilience. Redemption.
Synopsis: The true story of Louis Zamperini: Olympic athlete, WWII bombardier, and prisoner of war.
Tagline: Survival. Resilience. Redemption.
Synopsis: The true story of Louis Zamperini: Olympic athlete, WWII bombardier, and prisoner of war.
Review
I got excited when I first heard about this film. The trailers promised an outstanding, remarkable true story. From what I've heard, the book is terrific. And the story of Louis Zamperini's life is remarkable. But there was nothing outstanding, remarkable, or terrific about this film.
Cinematically, it's not a bad film. It's not a morally bereft film. It wasn't shoddily made. There are no gaping plot holes or failures in logic. The cinematography was actually quite good. And I remember thinking a few times that the musical score was quite pretty. But ultimately, the film felt like a failure.
Honestly, if it weren't based on a true story, this would be a flat out terrible movie. If it weren't true, it would be unbelievable. Part of that is the somewhat confusing portrayal of the villain. And part of that is because the film doesn't delve into the all important why. Why did Zamperini remain unbroken, despite the unrelenting abuse he received? The film failed to answer that. From what we are given, he hung on through sheer grit, strength, and stubbornness. As the film progressed, I actually felt less and less connected to Zamperini. The film becomes simply grueling and unrelenting.
The tagline is "Survival. Resilience. Redemption." Survival? Check. He survives the plane crash, survives being adrift, and survives being a POW. Resilience? Check. He stays as positive as one could possibly expect while adrift at sea. He gets up each time he falls (until no longer physically capable). He refuses to compromise his integrity. He perseveres through unrelenting abuse and ultimately triumphs over his abuser. Redemption? ... Nope.
As portrayed in the film, Zamperini simply managed to not die. Impressive? Certainly. But not necessarily heroic. Survival, in and of itself, isn't heroic. Surviving a horrendous ordeal and coming out a better person, learning to heal, and learning to forgive ... that's heroic. That is Louis Zamperini's story. That is why Louis Zamperini was "unbroken." Yet none of that redemption was portrayed within the film. Instead it was relegated to post film title cards.
Once the title cards appeared, that's when I realized what a complete failure the movie truly was. I cannot think of another movie where the filmmakers so completely missed the point of the story they were trying to tell. The movie (and biography) is titled Unbroken, and yet none of the filmmakers seemed to understand just what that meant. What Zamperini did with his life after he returned home, that was where the story was. I'm sure there were other POWs who also survived, but sadly returned home as broken men.
The film could have shown half the abuse and then spent the rest of the time focusing on how Zamperini adjusted to life back home. He did return broken, with struggles, and nightmares, and PTSD. His finding faith, learning to forgive the Japanese in general and his abusers in particular, and his ability to find healing and redemption should have been the crux of the story, the triumph of the story, not the afterthoughts in title cards.
One final pet peeve. While the film's score was quite nice, the song that played during the credits was not. I'm honestly not sure what it even was. The song was so modern sounding that it felt completely incongruous with what I had just watched. I tuned it out while watching the credits.
Louis Zamperini's life was an incredible story. I'll give the film credit for introducing me to it. But the film didn't do justice to what made his life such an incredible story. I haven't read the book, but I'd recommend the book over the movie.
*** Spoiler Section ***
I'm not even sure this needs to go in the spoiler section, but I'll put it here any way.
If the filmmakers wanted the whole lifting the beam above the head thing to be the triumphant climax of the film (which it is), they really shouldn't have put it on the movie poster. The poster spoils the climax. Having seen the poster, I was basically waiting for that moment. It was inevitable. There's not much feeling of triumph in the inevitable.
Cinematically, it's not a bad film. It's not a morally bereft film. It wasn't shoddily made. There are no gaping plot holes or failures in logic. The cinematography was actually quite good. And I remember thinking a few times that the musical score was quite pretty. But ultimately, the film felt like a failure.
Honestly, if it weren't based on a true story, this would be a flat out terrible movie. If it weren't true, it would be unbelievable. Part of that is the somewhat confusing portrayal of the villain. And part of that is because the film doesn't delve into the all important why. Why did Zamperini remain unbroken, despite the unrelenting abuse he received? The film failed to answer that. From what we are given, he hung on through sheer grit, strength, and stubbornness. As the film progressed, I actually felt less and less connected to Zamperini. The film becomes simply grueling and unrelenting.
The tagline is "Survival. Resilience. Redemption." Survival? Check. He survives the plane crash, survives being adrift, and survives being a POW. Resilience? Check. He stays as positive as one could possibly expect while adrift at sea. He gets up each time he falls (until no longer physically capable). He refuses to compromise his integrity. He perseveres through unrelenting abuse and ultimately triumphs over his abuser. Redemption? ... Nope.
As portrayed in the film, Zamperini simply managed to not die. Impressive? Certainly. But not necessarily heroic. Survival, in and of itself, isn't heroic. Surviving a horrendous ordeal and coming out a better person, learning to heal, and learning to forgive ... that's heroic. That is Louis Zamperini's story. That is why Louis Zamperini was "unbroken." Yet none of that redemption was portrayed within the film. Instead it was relegated to post film title cards.
Once the title cards appeared, that's when I realized what a complete failure the movie truly was. I cannot think of another movie where the filmmakers so completely missed the point of the story they were trying to tell. The movie (and biography) is titled Unbroken, and yet none of the filmmakers seemed to understand just what that meant. What Zamperini did with his life after he returned home, that was where the story was. I'm sure there were other POWs who also survived, but sadly returned home as broken men.
The film could have shown half the abuse and then spent the rest of the time focusing on how Zamperini adjusted to life back home. He did return broken, with struggles, and nightmares, and PTSD. His finding faith, learning to forgive the Japanese in general and his abusers in particular, and his ability to find healing and redemption should have been the crux of the story, the triumph of the story, not the afterthoughts in title cards.
One final pet peeve. While the film's score was quite nice, the song that played during the credits was not. I'm honestly not sure what it even was. The song was so modern sounding that it felt completely incongruous with what I had just watched. I tuned it out while watching the credits.
Louis Zamperini's life was an incredible story. I'll give the film credit for introducing me to it. But the film didn't do justice to what made his life such an incredible story. I haven't read the book, but I'd recommend the book over the movie.
*** Spoiler Section ***
I'm not even sure this needs to go in the spoiler section, but I'll put it here any way.
If the filmmakers wanted the whole lifting the beam above the head thing to be the triumphant climax of the film (which it is), they really shouldn't have put it on the movie poster. The poster spoils the climax. Having seen the poster, I was basically waiting for that moment. It was inevitable. There's not much feeling of triumph in the inevitable.
Quotable Quotes
- "If I can take it, I can make it." -- Zamperini
- "The ground feels weird." -- Phil (after having been adrift at sea for 47 days)
ISFS
Good review. I might just miss the movie and read about his life instead.
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