Of course we all know who Angelina Jolie is, from her work
in acting to her highly publicized relationship with Brad Pitt. But, according
to recent comments that she made, it looks like she might soon be retiring from
acting and is planning to switch into directing films instead. She made her
official directorial debut back in 2011 with ‘In the Land of Blood and Honey’, a
romance film set during the Bosnian War. However, that film did not get much
attention either critically or commercially. But it’s safe to say that her
newest directorial effort, ‘Unbroken’, is no doubt getting much more attention
than her directorial debut, given the fact that it’s based on a true story. ‘Unbroken’,
based on the book of the same name by Laura Hillenbrand, is the story of Louis
Zamperini, a former Olympic athlete and member of the Air Forces who was
primarily known for his time spent as a prisoner of war in Japan during World
War II after spending more than a month lost at sea when the plane he was on
crashed into the ocean. It’s been made clear that this project means a lot to
Jolie due to the fact that she became good friends with Zamperini, who had been
her neighbor for years up until his death this past July. And as such, ‘Unbroken’
is certainly a well-meaning biopic that aims to do its subject justice. I
wouldn’t necessarily say that it’s a ‘perfect’ film, and that it can also be
very emotionally draining at times, but it’s still a pretty solid biopic highlighting
a story of endurance, resiliency, and the strength of the human spirit.
When he was a young boy whose family had just immigrated to
the United States from Italy, Louis ‘Louie’ Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) constantly
got into trouble with both the law and other kids. One day, when he notices
that Louis can run really fast, his brother Pete (Alex Russell) starts training
him to be a runner, telling him that otherwise he’d end up ‘a bum on the
streets’ the way he was going. Soon, Louis starts to become well-known as an
accomplished distance runner and eventually ends up competing in the 1936
Summer Olympics in Berlin, where he sets a new speed record for a single lap in
the 5000 meter run. Louis then enlists in the Air Forces but while he is on a
search and rescue mission one day, his plane ends up crash landing in the
middle of the ocean when its engines fail, leaving Louis and two other
survivors, Francis ‘Mac’ McNamara (Finn Wittrock) and Russell ‘Phil’ Phillips
(Domhnall Gleeson), stranded at sea. After more than 47 days at sea, they are
finally rescued… but by Japanese forces, who immediately take them prisoner.
Louis ultimately ends up in a prisoner camp in Tokyo run by corporal Mutshiro ‘The
Bird’ Watanabe (Miyavi), who constantly targets Louis due to his status as an
Olympic athlete. Now facing constant abuse from ‘The Bird’, Louis struggles to
survive in the hopes of one day being set free.
‘Unbroken’ is, to put it quite bluntly, a very hard-hitting
film in terms of how emotionally draining it can get at times, specifically
when Louis is in prison in Tokyo and constantly getting abused by ‘The Bird’.
And from what I hear, unlike a lot of biopics that dramatize certain aspects of
this story, apparently this film really didn’t ‘BS’ a lot of the facts so a lot
of this really happened, which is just crazy. At the same time, this story is truly
fascinating in regards to seeing Zamperini endure all of this, from having to
spend more than a month at sea to years facing all sorts of hell from ‘The Bird’
in prison. Jolie’s direction is solid and the film benefits from excellent
cinematography from the great Roger Deakins and a solid score from Alexandre
Desplat. The only major complaint I have about the film is that it kind of
skimps over some of the earlier parts of Zamperini’s life, namely his childhood
and his time as a runner, in favor of his time lost at sea and as a prisoner of
war. Now obviously, all of the war stuff does make up the bulk of the story so
it does actually make sense that the film focuses on that more. Still, the
scenes of Zamperini’s life before the war are fairly brief and are just
flashbacks that occur right at the beginning of the film so it would’ve been
nice to see a bit more of Zamperini’s early life because I bet there was some
legitimately interesting stuff that happened to him then (Disclaimer: I’ve not
read the book).
Obviously the role of Zamperini requires a lot of endurance
and emotional strength given all that he had gone through. And with that said, Jack
O’Connell more than proves that he was absolutely the perfect choice for the
role. While the film probably won’t be getting much awards buzz given its
generally mixed critical reception, O’Connell is easily the best part of the
film, giving a very strong and emotionally powerful performance while also
giving off a very likable and sympathetic persona. That persona is effectively
balanced against Japanese pop star Miyavi’s equally excellent turn as ‘The Bird’
who, quite simply, is quite the scumbag and Miyavi does a really good job at
capturing how much of an a-hole he really was, making that iconic scene from
the trailer where Zamperini lifts a giant piece of wood when ‘The Bird’ threatens
to have him shot one of the most satisfying moments of any film from this past
year. Because they’re the main character in the story, everyone else, including
Wittrock, Gleeson and Garrett Hedlund, the latter of whom plays a fellow
prisoner of Zamperini’s, doesn’t have as much to work with but overall the film
is well-acted from all involved. The whole sequence with Zamperini, Mac, and
Phil on the raft at sea does do a great job of showcasing the fairly strong
camaraderie between O’Connell, Wittrock, and Gleeson.
While ‘Unbroken’ is only Angelina Jolie’s second film as a
director, she definitely shows that she does have potential in directing as
shown in this very well-directed film. True it may be very hard to watch at
times given the brutality that Zamperini had to deal with while as a prisoner
of war in Japan, but at the same time it’s also a fascinating look into the life
of a man who went through hell but managed to get through it all thanks to his
resiliency and perseverance. Admittedly, the movie could’ve benefitted from
spending a little more time focusing on the earlier parts of Zamperini’s life,
namely everything before he joins the Air Forces, but then again the main part
of Zamperini’s story does consist of both his time spent lost at sea for 47
days and then his time (just a little over two years) as a prisoner of war in
Japan so it actually does make sense for the film to maintain the main focus of
the story on those two parts of Zamperini’s life. Regardless, it’s clear that
Jolie’s main intentions to do the life story of a good friend of hers justice
are no doubt present in how this film is made. It’s a very well-made, well-directed,
and well-acted biopic that may be hard hitting at times but will also invoke a
sense of spirit in you while watching it.
Rating: 4/5
