In Unbroken, actress-turned-director Angelina Jolie directs the life and story of Olympic runner, and subsequent World War II Lieutenant, Louis Zamperini (Jack O’Connell). Zamperini’s life story has been considered one of the most miraculous and poignant war stories in modern American history. In his youth he evolved from constant delinquency into a fiercely determined and passionate runner. This all led up to his becoming a major American icon due to his immeasurable talent in running. By the time Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Japanese, Zamperini had already been a Marine for some time and served as an airman in the Second World War.

As Zamperini and his crew were flown across the Pacific in a B-24 during the course of a training day, a malfunction in the engine caused them to crash in the Pacific Ocean. Zamperini and two surviving colleagues by the names of Russell Allen Philips (Domhnall Gleeson, About Time, True Grit) and Francis McNamara (Finn Wittrock) were stranded at sea for 47 days, surviving sharks and the blistering temperature while enduring severe dehydration. While McNamara died at sea, the Japanese eventually captured Zamperini and Philips. Thinking they had already endured true hell, life in Japanese captivity for the next four years gave them a whole new meaning of the word. Even though the two survived in the end, Zamperini was the most damaged, according to his horrid accounts at the POW camps.

After being recovered by American forces, for the next several years Zamperini was plagued by the astronomical amount of revilement and sadism he sustained during captivity. Zamperini’s memories tortured him so much that he became dementedly bent on retribution for the crimes committed against him and the other prisoners by some of the more callous Japanese officers in charge of their camps. The worst officer, Mutsuhiro Watanabe a.k.a. the Bird (Takamasa Ishihara), fled after the rescuing of the prisoners, and had since disappeared. Zamperini traveled to Japan to hunt down Watanabe for his heinous acts. In the end, Zamperini was able to come to terms with his horrible experience and forgive his captor. The Bird, in return, when going through cognition on his inexcusable deeds, fulfilled the same. Ultimately, Zamperini’s story reflects on the unexpected potential we as individuals have in forgiving those we resent the most and in realizing the deeper values in the sanctity of our lives.

Directed and depicted with brutal honesty and passion, Jolie is able to better flesh out her directing abilities to an extent with this adaptation of the now modern classic literature, Unbroken, by Laura Hillenbrand. While improving on her skills as director, Jolie is for the most part successful in having the film’s narrative retain enough of Hillenbrand’s emphasis of America’s historical bearings on its countrymen, the disastrous effects war has on the servicemen, both enemies and allies alike, but most importantly on the crucial stories told by such rare individuals like Zamperini.

Even if Jolie lacks consistency in connecting scenes, she still establishes a voice that invokes the spirit of the story with emotional resonance per scene, helped with a more than fitting score by Alexandre Desplat and Roger Deakins’ lush cinematography. Ranging from outstanding production design and scenery to the excellent performances, all are done in equal measure in conveying one man’s will to claim freedom and redemption at the end of the long and poisonously discouraging road of turmoil. This strength in choreography and execution is bolstered by the excellent performances of the POWs, most especially a riveting O’Connell in the very challenging main role. The only gripe I have with this adaptation is the omission of Zamperini’s steps towards redemption in forgiving his captors while finding hope in the arms of Christianity back home. Regardless of this abrupt exclusion of a pertinent aspect of the story, there is a montage presented that is showcased with the same level of beauty and enthralling symbolism as its scenes of Louis and his growth towards living up to the best he could be. I give Unbroken a 9.1. Definitely go see this one! As Roger Ebert once said, “It’s not what a movie is about, it’s how it is about it.”