Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Religious Music and Entertainment
‘Unbroken’ inspiring, uneven story of courage

‘Unbroken’ inspiring, uneven story of courage

Last updated on: December 25, 2014 at 7:33 pm by Sister Rose

‘Unbroken’ inspiring, uneven story of courage 2014-12-25T19:33:43-07:00 Sister Rose

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

A crew of young Army Air Force aviators is in the thick of a battle over the Pacific in April 1943. Young Louis “Louie” Zamperini (Jack O’Connell) is a bombardier and the plane takes on heavy fire by the Japanese and some of the men are injured. They barely make it back to base in Hawaii in tact. A month later the crew is given a patched up plane and sent on a search mission. The plane’s engines fail and it crashes into the Pacific Ocean. Only Zamperini, the pilot “Phil” Phillips (Domhnall Gleeson) and “Mac” McNamera (Finn Wittrock) survive.

The men float with the currents for 47 days. They endure weather, suffer from exposure to the sun, shark assaults and an attack by a Japanese plane. They eat by catching fish and albatrosses. Mac dies on their 33rd day at sea. At their lowest point, Louie promises God that if he comes through this, he will do God’s will. The Japanese capture Louie and Mac when they reach the Marshall Islands.

As prisoners of war, the men are held in isolation and tortured. The guard in charge of the prisoners is named Mutsuhiro Watanabe (Takamasa Ishihara.) The men have nicknamed “The Bird” so they can talk about him without fearing reprisal. When The Bird discovers that Louie was an Olympic runner who competed at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, he begins to torment and humiliate Louie in every way he can. Watanabe’s sadistic cruelty is rooted in his disappointment at not being made an officer and Louie is made to pay.

When Watanabe is transferred to another camp, Louie breathes a little easier. But then he and the other prisoners are sent to a work camp now headed by The Bird. He inflicts unrelenting and terrible suffering on Louie who keeps on telling himself something his brother Pete (Alex Russell) would say as he coached Louie when he ran track, “If you can take it, you can make it.”

Louie distracts the other POWs by describing his mother’s Italian cooking and sometimes these brave men talk about faith.

“Unbroken” is based on author Laura Hillenbrand’s compelling 2010 bestseller about the life of Louis Zamperini Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption. The book is a thorough biography that goes well beyond the epic scope of the film. As Luke Zamperini, Louie’s son, told me in an interview, the story would need eight or nine hours to tell Louie’s whole story, rather than the 137 minutes that has made it to theaters for a Christmas day opening.

Angelina Jolie directs “Unbroken” with care, aiming for a PG-13 rating that will allow teens to see the film. This basically means that there is no offensive language and while the beatings are intense and savage, we don’t see any blood flowing (flowing blood merits an “R” rating.) She also gently integrates the faith element, something she promised Louie when the film went into production. Louie was hospitalized in June this year and he saw the film on Jolie’s laptop computer before he died on July 2 at the age of 97. He said that he liked the film – but his son Luke said Louie liked Angelina’s visits even more!

While Zamperini’s story is inspiring, whether you read the book and/or see the film, the movie does suffer from combat fatigue and torture overload. The writing team includes Oscar winners Joel and Ethan Coen (known for “Old Country for Old Men”; “Fargo”), and Oscar nominees Richard Gravenese (“The Horse Whisperer”; “Freedom Writers)” and William Nicholson (“Les Miserables”; “Gladiator”) and I wonder if this is not part of the problem: too many writers, even great writers, spoil the soup. I was rightly horrified by the torture scenes and what Louie and the men suffer. But then all we get at the end are a few paragraphs of text about what happens after the events in the film – a skimpy description what I feel is the most inspiring parts of Louie’s story.

“Unbroken” is a good film and it is inspiring, though uneven. Some may judge it as great but I won’t go that far. The cinematography is exceptional and the acting is believable, as is the historic staging. I would have compressed the combat sequences and even the torture scenes, so that the third act could have covered a few years of Louie’s post-war story. How he lived after the torture of the war, which never defined him, is the part that inspires me, touches my heart, and always moves me deeply.

The film reminds us, too, why torture is inhuman, a good lesson as we discuss our country’s use of torture in recent years.

Adolescent

Adult Faith Formation

Violence

angelina jolie

angelina jolie director

Previous Post

December 15, 2014

'Journey to the Planet Earth: Extreme Realities' premieres on PBS tonight Dec. 15, 2014

Next Post

January 1, 2015 New Year blessings!

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Adolescent Adult Faith Formation Advertising Analysis Animals Pets Animation art Authors Awards best pope pictures Bible BioPic Blogs Book Reviews Books books into film Catechesis Catholic comedy Catholic Social Teaching Catholic Social Teaching (CST) Catholics in Media Christian genre Christmas movies Church and cinema Cognitive science Comedy Comics Commerntary Communication Cooking Courses Critics and Criticism Dance Daughters of St Paul news Devil movies digital games Documentary Drama Economics Ecumenical Education and Technology Education: Access and Empowerment electronic Environment Events Exorcism movies Eye on Entertainment Faith and film Faith formation Fantasy Film Essays Film Festivals Film History Film Retreat Film Reviews Film TV about Ultra Orthodox Jews Food General Grace Historical thriller History Horror How to Images INNdustry with Sister Rose Internet Interviews jesuits Kindness Lectures Lent Life Lists Literature media Media analysis Media Literacy/Media Mindfulness Music Musical National Catholic Reporter New on DVD Non-violence Nonviolence Obituaries On Faith and Media Oscars Ovis et bovis et universe pecore Parenting Pastoral Communication Pastoral communications Pauline Books & Media pax christi PCMS & Online Courses Peace Philosophy Photos Planning for Communication pope francis Popular Culture Radio RCL Benziger reality tv Reflections on life and grace religion Religious Lif Research Resources Retreat Rosary Sacraments Science and faith Social justice Social Media spirituality Spirituality and Media Sports Sr Rose Faith and Media Sr. Rose movies St. Anthony Messenger Stage & Theater stereotypes story Streaming series Survey Television the bible the bible movie The INNdustry with Sr Rose the voice Theater Themes of Catholic Social Teaching theologizing violence Theology theology of violence TV reviews and notes Uncategorized Video Video games Violence VR Games War War films Women World Film Young Adult YouTube

Select a Month September 2025 March 2025 December 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 December 2022 October 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 May 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 December 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 January 2019 December 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Who said, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Peter Thomas Andrew John