Kris Burns

10 September 2015

Unbroken
The film that I chose to review is Unbroken, released in 2014, and
directed by Angelina Jolie. The films main character is Louis Zamparini, a
member of an Italian family that immigrated to Torrance, California. The
time period in this film is during the Second World War, in which Louie is
posted on a war plane as a bombardier. The beginning of the movie is his
flashbacks to his life story. In his youth, he causes trouble in multiple
creatively rebellious ways. His older brother helps influence him to change
his course and focus on running, which later results in Louies participation in
the Olympics. World War II then breaks out and he enlists. Through the
flashbacks we learn of Louis incredible will power and focus, which gives us
insight into how he presses on through the rest of his journey in the war. His
bomber is shot down over the Pacific Ocean and only he and 2 others of his
crew survive. After 47 days surviving on the raft, and after seeing one of his
friends die, they are found by the Japanese Navy, and are then taken to a
prisoner of war camp. Due to his fame as an Olympian and his
unbreakable will, he gets singled out for cruel physical punishment by the
commander of the camp. The movie concludes when the war ends, along
with a short slide show of Louies post-war life until his death in 2014.
Thoroughly critiquing this film is difficult, mainly because of the films
focus on one individual. However, the situations and context of the film is
what is important, and what needs to be noted. From what I have learned
about World War II, and from extra research about it, this film seems to be
impressively accurate with depicting history as it really happened. There are
multiple ways that the director accurately depicted the history, not just of
Louis life, but of the circumstances of where he lived and how he lived in
different parts of the film.
For example, in Louis flashbacks to his pre-war life, which must have
been the late 1920s, there were accurate depictions of religion, life-style,
and events. There is a scene which depicts a Christian sermon, where his
family forces him to attend, hence his rebellious nature in church and also
his fathers stern corrections during the sermon. With the fun and roaring
20s, the lifestyle of going to church would have been one way or the other.
Either your father forces the family to go to church, such as was shown in the
movie, or there would not be a churchgoing attitude at all. Louis never said
he grew up in a Christian family, but he does tell of how he made a promise
to God on his 47 day raft adventure where he floated nearly 2,000 miles
(Andrews, E. 17 Dec. 2014).

Another aspect of accuracy was depicting Louis youth. His

delinquency and rebelliousness were unparalleled in his town. Perhaps
because of his exclusion from his peers because he was Italian, or perhaps
for reasons we dont know, the film depicted his troubled youth very well.
Louis started smoking at 5 years old and started drinking at 8 years old. He
often stole things and was always getting into trouble (Andrews, E. 17 Dec.
2014). Imagine what he could have done with that type of focus if he
invested it in something worthwhile and valuable. We later find out that he
does just that, and it gets him to the Olympics, and surviving terrible and
awful ordeals during years as a prisoner of war.
A much stronger example of historical accuracy, were the 1936
Olympics held in Nazi Germany. The actual movie set looked accurate
(besides the black and white nature of the original photo) to the Olympic
stadium. The director made sure to recognize Jessie Owens, the American
athlete, who made history in those Olympics, the first to be televised, by
winning 4 gold medals. Also, they notably recorded Louis Zamperinis eighth
place finish in the 5,000 meter event (Official Olympic Web Page. N.d.). They
even included Louies record last lap, which was nearly 13 seconds faster
than any other last lap ever. This was so impressive, that Adolf Hitler, who
was present at the games actually wanted to meet him and shake his hand
(Andrews, E. 17 Dec. 2014).
The film also accurately portrayed the wartime events of Louie
Zamperinis life.
Louie was on the United States Army Air Force. The base that he was
on was in Hawaii. The make of the plane used in the movie was an accurate
model of the B24 Liberator bombers used in World War II, along with the
different positions and duties of soldiers on those planes. Louis was the
bombardier on the 372nd bomb squadron (Andrews, E. 17 Dec. 2014). Even
the style of war in the air was accurate. The types of bombs, machine guns,
and maneuvers all resemble the air fighting style of the World War II time
period, which is vital to the film and gaining insight into what type of person
Louis Zamperini was.
His many experiences on the life raft, 47 days worth, are hard to
critique. It is a known fact that he spent 47 days there and that he survived
on rainwater for thirst, and birds and fish for food, but it is on his word that
his other experiences happened. Such as the fly-bys by the Japanese
bomber, where they deflated one of the rafts, catching a shark with his bare
hands and eating it, and losing one of his crew members on day 33. These,
as depicted by the movie, are historically valid according to his own words
and his own story (Andrews, E. 17 Dec. 2014).

The main bulk of the movie happens in the prisoner of war camps on
mainland Japan. With the most screen time and emotional value, the scenes
and situations that the film show are extremely accurate according to Louis
Zamperinis story, and also what we know about the Japanese prisoner of
war camps. The locations were correct as well. Louis and Phil, the surviving
pilot of the crew, were first held on the island of Kwajalein for six weeks. The
next 2 years were spent at either the Omori camp or the Naoetsu camp
(Andrews, E. 17 Dec. 2014). The activities and living conditions were
definitely valid. This is why most of the effort went into that part of the
movie and why it saw the most screen time. Mainly because this is the most
moving part of the whole experience of Louis Zamperini. The troubled
childhood is unnerving, working towards the Olympics is inspiring, and the 47
day life raft survival is arguably the most impressive part. These were all
historically accurate and filmed well, but the prisoner of war camps, with the
adversity and trauma that came from other humans, are particularly
emotionally moving.
The film hardly focuses on Louis post-war life and struggles. That
doesnt make the film historically inaccurate, but it does leave out so many
import parts to Louis Zamperinis story. About how he struggled for years
with post-traumatic stress disorder, became a heavy drinker to escape those
problems, wasnt able to run competitively again, his religious conversion,
his process of forgiving the Bird, and finally his motivation speeches. The
film was focused on his war experience, but there are super notable things
that happened later in his life that are just as amazing as how he remained
unbroken throughout everything he went through.
As I watched this film, there were many connections to things that we
have learned in class. Wars are fascinating things, and each one is unique in
its own way. How would a prisoner of war be treated in the French and Indian
War? What was the level of opposition that the French and Native
Americans had in their minds against the American colonists? It is known
that the Japanese are extremely loyal to their country and are focused on
honor, as is most of Asian culture. There was absolutely no respect for the
enemies on the part of the Japanese, which corresponds to how cruel the
prisoners of war were treated in this film. I dont know much about the living
conditions, treatment, and cruelty of the prisoners of war in the French and
Indian War, but I imagine that the magnitude of suffering was much greater
in World War II, as portrayed in this film.
In class, we have also discussed slavery quite a bit. As I watched
Unbroken, my mind kept going back to how the blacks were used as slaves.
As Louis and his prison-mates get transferred to a coal ship, they even look
like Africans when their clothes and skin become black from working in the

coal all day. There were a lot of interesting parallels into how the Japanese
treated the American prisoners of war, and to how black slaves would have
been treated. There are the differences between the magnitude of torture
and physical cruelty, although inevitably that would have happened to the
African slaves, the similarities in the way that they were perceived and
looked down upon, even the way they were forced to labor was frightening.
Perhaps those Americans that experienced that type of oppression were
humbled by this taste of slavery that they had. I also noticed that there were
no black actors in this movie as soldiers. All of the American soldiers and all
of the prisoners of war that I can remember were Caucasian.
Going along with the theme of the title and what it means to Louis
Zamperini, I thought of examples of unbrokenness that we would have
discussed in class. Did anyone we have talked about have that tenacity for
focus, survival, progress, and will power to win? In what ways were they
unbroken in their experiences? To fully answer these questions, I would
need to more fully study the lives of major players in the American
civilization, but we can imagine Christopher Columbuss attitude toward
finding the New World. It would have been so difficult to sail to who knows
where, not knowing if you will be successful. Columbus journey would have
been a lot more surefire than an uncontrollable raft, but both survived for an
extended amount of time not knowing exactly where they were going. Also,
one wonders how the young George Washington was able to command
troops in the French and Indian War. Hardly a difference in age with Louis
Zamperini, but George Washington would have to have that type of mental
focus and drive to affect all of his physical surroundings in the way that he
did. Was Louis a leader in the war? Not necessarily, although he was singled
out in the prisoner camps, both he and George display this trait of
unbrokenness that helps them to rise up above whatever challenges they
have and vaults them to victory.
In conclusion, I recommend this movie to everyone, mainly adults and
teenagers, because it is historically accurate, inspiring and motivating when
we are shown what a person can be capable of, and to deepen our respect of
the veterans that we are amongst every day. Louis Zamperini was a great
person and a hero, one who himself even went through a personal Great
Awakening and forgave his captors and torturers. Louis Zamperini is an
awesome inspiration and Unbroken, directed by Angelina Jolie, is a great
historical film.

References
Official Olympic Web Page. N.d. http://www.olympic.org/berlin-1936-summerolympics
Andrews, E. December 17, 2014. 8 Things You Didnt Know About Louis Zamperini.
http://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-louiszamperini