‘Unbroken’ Gives the Inspiration Every Person Needs
Every single time I have had the pleasure of watching Unbroken, it has brought me to tears. The director, Angelina Jolie, has taken the story of Louis Zamperini (previously told in the book “Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption” by Laura Hillenbrand) and created a powerful work of art. The human spirit is exceptional, and this movie provokes that knowledge into anyone who is lucky enough to watch it. It gives watchers a sense that they too, are possibly unbreakable; and that feeling can be carried far away and into a viewer’s life.
The man the movie is based on, Louis Zamperini, was an Olympic track runner, before he was enlisted into the army in 1941. He was a part of the crew on a B-24 plane that crashed into the ocean, where he and two others drifted aimlessly on a raft for 47 days. After that ordeal, he and the other man who survived the raft were then captured by the Japanese, and Zamperini then suffered around 2 years of torture at the hands of a malicious guard named Watanabe, nicknamed ‘The Bird’, until World War II was ended.
His story is unbelievable. His resilience is unfathomable. But his life legacy is incredible.
For the first half of the movie, scenes switch from the early life of Louis, to his later experiences during the beginning of the war. The cinematography caters to an audience that can appreciate every aspect of Louis’ life. By switching between elated and bright times during the Olympics, to dreary and horrific sites during the war, it allows the viewers to let their emotions run wild; something that often happened to Zamperini during many of his ordeals. I was mesmerized by the magnitude of these events, and that resulted in a captivation that literally kept me (and many others who have watched the film alongside me) at the edge of my seat.
Throughout the movie, alongside Zamperini, there are many other characters that the audience encounters, both in positive and detrimental manners. One of those characters, Mutsuhiro ‘The Bird’ Watanabe, who in real life was among the top 40 most wanted war criminals in Japan at the time, tortured Louis for an extended period of time. The actor who plays him, Miyavi (who in real life is actually a Japanese singer-songwriter), made his American movie debut in Unbroken. Playing an extremely despicable person meant that his job in particular was very difficult. But he was able to pull off a remarkable performance, maintaining a stone-cold persona for the duration of the film. Miyavi stated in an interview that during one particularily intense scene, he actually vomited at the actions that the actors were all playing out. He was able to portray a person who hated enemies of Japan more than anything else in the world, and that’s exactly how Watanabe was known be. In fact, later, when the real Zamperini returned to Japan to forgive everyone who had harmed him during the war, Watanabe was the only person who refused to meet with him. The dedication this one actor put into the movie is breathtaking, and with as ruthless of a character/person Watanabe was, Miyavi was exemplary.
So, if you’re a movie goer that enjoys a tear-jerker, or a work of art that will leave a lasting impression on your spirit, then Unbroken is the exact film that you need in your life right now. I connected to it on a more personal level, as my own great-grandfather served in World War II in the type of plane that Louis served in. I was able to associate the story with my own life, and I believe that there are many more people in the world that this applies to. Watching this movie isn’t just an activity to pass time; it is an entralling experience that everyone must endure. As Louis Zamperini once said, “However dark the night, however dim our hopes, the light will always follow darkness.”
