Make no mistake about it, the story which has inspired director Angelina Jolie to bring this film to life is equal parts heartbreaking and genuinely inspiring, digging into the crux of the human spirit – or rather a particular human spirit – and a resilience that seems almost impossible. Unbroken is a biopic about remarkable World War II hero and Olympic athlete Louis Zamperini, how he came into a situation which truly threatened to break his spirit, and how he came out of it. Though heavily dramatised by Jolie, and dragged down a bit by a rocky supporting cast, Unbroken is a worthy biopic which approaches it’s subject with reverence while heralding the rise of Jack O’ Connell – who portrays Zamperini – as a young man more than ready for the big screen.
This isn’t the first time O’Connell has impressed outside of his most well-known role, which would be portraying James Cook on UK TV hit Skins; he worked wonders in underrated thriller Eden Lake as a tougth-as-nails antagonist. In Unbroken, he brings a more restrained, nuanced personality to his character, who we first see in a dire situation as a bombardier who has crashed, along with his team, on an island. A rescue mission gone wrong kills most of his team and Louis must survive at sea with only two other, feeble and dying, companions.
Interlaced with flashbacks which show Louis’ older brother (Alex Russell) having the biggest impact upon his resilient character, we maintain focus on the subject and his unnervingly calm, strong constitution. This is a man who never runs from adversity, thriving when he is knocked down time and time again and always emerging a winner – something one can easily piece together from his equally interesting back story. Unfortunately, the back story would have benefited from more time spent exploring Zamperini’s upbringing and how he has formed this resolve of steel.
It’s at sea where we should be given a closer look at Zamperini, but Jolie doesn’t go any deeper than depicting Zamperini as the calm one of the three, the one who steps up and takes care of his friends. Drifting 2,000 miles in the ocean on a frail life raft while sharks and Japanese fighter jets are constant threats is a situation that seems impossible, right up until the moment you realise that they have – minus one – survived for over 40 days in this predicament, right up until the point Japanese troops find them and stick them in a POW camp.
The depth of horror and brutality that Zamperini is put through is hard to watch at times, given weight with Jolie’s flair behind the camera despite the stretches taken to knock Zamperini down just so he can get back up and O’Connell can scream defiantly.
Japanese musician Takamasa Ishihara portrays the main antagonist to Zamperini, a Corporal known as Bird who quickly develops a singular, menacing obsession with punishing him. Ishihara is little more than a sensationalised caricature here, veering towards the overly sadistic man whose reason for focusing on Zamperini is seemingly because of the strength he is so afraid of. It pains him to see an enemy of Japan with such a strong conviction and so even when Zamperini forgoes a life of relative comfort for patriotism, Bird is relentless in his attempt to destroy Louis spirit.
Religious iconography is thrown into the mix towards the end, Bird forcing Zamperini to maintain a huge plank of wood on his shoulders, to which he discovers that there is no breaking this man. It’s hammy but it’s to the point of dramatic inspiration that is the clear aim for Jolie.
Aside from the subject, Unbroken’s source material is a book by the same name, authored by Laura Hillenbrand. It feels like Jolie has only selected the parts of the book which would mix into an inspirational based-on-a-true-story film without exploring much else than Louis’ triumph of the will. Sentences are strewn together which address the themes of forgiveness and faith that lie within the book, cutting off a film that needed to be much longer in order to fit Zamperini’s story in. There’s still an effective and palpable sense of triumph in Unbroken, and it’s enough to stay with you long after a viewing.
Review Score: THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
Running time: 137 minutes
Unbroken is released in Australian cinemas Thursday 15th January
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