“Unbroken” is a sincerely inspirational true story that tells the experience of the human body and mind being put to the extremes. It is the story of a man being stranded in the ocean for 47 days, surviving imprisonment with little to no food and water, surviving two airplane crashes, running on the US Olympic team, surviving in anti-immigrant America as an Italian American, killing others to save yourself, watching a friend die, living to tell the tale, all while being unbroken. Jack O’Connell stars in the new blockbuster film “Unbroken” which was in wide release on Christmas Day 2014. The film was produced with relatively new director Angelina Jolie, who gained immense respect for this story after reading the previously published book.
The story of “Unbroken” follows a life that seems impossible to be true. Louis Zamperini was a bombardier on a World War II plane that crashed in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and disappeared on May 1943. After pulling himself and two other crew members out of the ocean onto a life raft, these men would embark on a 47 day struggle resulting in the death of one of the crew members. Sadly this was not the toughest ordeal that Zamperini would have to go through during the next years of his life. On the brink of death, Zamperini was saved by a Japanese war ship, although saved might not be the right word. In these camps the prisoners would be brutally beaten, and many died or sustained permanent injuries. Throughout the movie the main character has several flashbacks to his young life, which was also an endearing and humanizing struggle. Zamperini grew up as a bullied and ostracized Italian American during a time when Fascism in Italy made life difficult for these immigrants. To overcome his childhood delinquency and bad reputation, Zamperini’s older brother encouraged him to channel his energy into running track, which ultimately led him to run track for the US team in the Berlin Olympics. His journey continues from lawless boy to Olympian to WWII pilot to prisoner to American hero in this unbelievable 2 hour and 17 minute film.
Although that is a long movie, viewers remain engaged, and rightfully so. The original book was written by Laura Hillenbrand and hailed as one of the longest running “New York Times” Bestsellers of all time. The book was also the winner of the “Los Angeles Times” Book of the Year Award for Biography. “People” magazine described the book as “STAGGERING … MESMERIZING …”. Hillenbrand herself described the tale by stating, “’Unbroken’ is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.” The movie was nominated for three Oscars, one SAG, and O’Connell won a Hollywood Film Award for his performance. This film is truly riveting and keeps the audience on the edge of their seats. After leaving the theatre I felt truly humbled. Seeing the tragedy, pain, and suffering that one man could endure, I convinced myself that sitting through math class could not be all that bad.
Many felt that the execution of the film fell short, but the overall theme was strong and life changing. Despite several negatives to the film, it still was able to gross $15.59 million its first day being the third biggest grossing film on Christmas Day behind “Les Misérables” and “Sherlock Holmes,” and in the first three days the film made over $31.7 million. This film can still be seen in many theatres and is highly recommended, and if you can’t make it out in time, the book is worth picking up.
