Review: Unbroken. A Great Accomplishment ...ish

Unbroken

Directed by Angelina Jolie. Screenplay by Joel and Ethan Coen, Richard LaGravenese, William Nicholson, based on the book by Laura Hillenbrand.

Cast: Jack O'Connell, Domhnall Gleeson, Miyavi, Garrett Hedlund, Finn Witrock, Jai Courtney, John Magaro, Luke Treadaway, Alex Russell, John D'Leo, Vincenzo Amato, Ross Anderson, Maddalena Ischiale

137 minutes   Rated M

I’m not much fascinated by films about war. That might be my pacifist outlook, hard to relate why a military response is ever necessary, how killing someone else can ever be justified, who makes money from the whole thing, invariably it all ends up being a waste of time and lives when the conflict ends and ‘enemies’ end up living together in peace and usually becoming advocates against war. I underestimated how much war would actually be in ‘Unbroken’, I thought it might be similar to the marvellous ‘The Railway Man’, skimming the surface but no it is ‘action packed’ – i.e. a lot of shootin’ and explosions. 

 “Unbroken,” is a portrait of Louis Zamperini (played splendidly by Jack O’Connell), the Olympic runner-turned-U.S. Air Force bombardier who spent 47 days lost at sea and more than two years as a prisoner of the Japanese military during WWII. The film is very respectful (and respectable) to the story and Jolie realises the extraordinary and dramatic life of an amazing man with great skill, very few risks and enormous heart amidst the harrowing moments. It fails to soar in any way and yet the character driven focus of the film gives its share of highlights.

The film skirts around Louis’ ‘unbroken’ faith in Christ which is baffling. He was born and raised a Catholic and after the war he wrestled with addiction and his marriage nearly ended in divorce. In in 1949 he attended a Los Angeles crusade of Billy Graham. The two would team up together during later crusades.  It could be that too much religion could have been alienating for some of the audience which I would think sad. It is though a pertinent facet of Louis’ amazing life and could have served the story well in how it informed Louis’ tenacity, strength of character and resilience. But as Louis B Mayer once said, “If you want a sermon, go to a church”.

I cringed at the portrayal of the Japanese soldiers in the prison camps. I know their cruelty is legendary but it always seems to be portrayed in the same way and I suspect it’s racist, stereotypical and somewhat inaccurate. Jolie shows us beating after beating, every harangue uttered and a litany of yuck. Thankfully bouts of dysentery and any faecal explosions are played behind the scenes apart from one rather amusing scene where latrines are cleaned and emptied. After reading the wonderful ‘The Narrow Road to the Deep North’ I’d had my fill of anal injury and poo floods.

The role of the Japanese army sergeant Mutsuhiro Watanabe (played by the singer Miyavi), aka 'the bird', is terrifyingly sadistic - obviously in the sexual as well as pathological sense. It is beautifully played by Miyavi with many nuances in his characterisation, long feminine or feline nails, knowing (and longing) glances. There is a connection between him and Louis, are they similar in the end; is one 'free' to live out the other's longed - for life and what is the consequence of that freedom being regained? Also you wonder why the probably affection has to manifest itself in such brutality and on those moments the camera spares us nothing - if it has to see this so will we.

The scenes with Louis' family are really lovely and convinced me I was, in fact, watching a family. Alex Russell as his brother Peter is particularly compelling and Maddalena Ischiale as their mother is a joy.

‘Unbroken’ does go on too much, someone needed to do a finer edit and replace some scenes with a bit more of the humor we hear Louis possessed. One scene in which Louis is punched in the face by every prisoner as punishment for some minor infraction goes on too long and I would have liked to call ‘cut’ on it. Similarly the scenes in the ocean when the three guys were adrift were far too long and a more experienced director would have found ways to condense that without losing the poignancy and drama.

Feature films, even one based on fact, are meant to do one thing above all else – entertain. Some of the criticisms I have seen of the film are about accuracy of Louis’ story (and what has been omitted from Hildebrand’s book). This isn’t a documentary though and a director may take liberties for dramatic effect and to maintain audience interest, even to move the story along to the next pivotal point. In this case, will he survive, how will he survive, even the very simple, what happens to him next?  

I enjoyed this film as much as I will ever enjoy a war film. I felt pride in the way Australian locations were used so well and convincingly to recreate parts of America and the camps in Japan (particularly Cockatoo Island for the last camp).  There have been so many films about the Pacific war that it’s hard to avoid clichés – and this film has its share. Mind you after ‘The Water Diviner’ the benchmark for clichés has risen, did he miss any?

It’s no one else’s fault that I find war movies tedious. I didn’t find this in any way tedious even if it was too lumpy and long in parts, the craft of the scenes and the story itself helped me through that. I am very happy to have been told a compelling, startling and inspirational story of a great, humble, tenacious and wonderful human.

I think you’ll like it…perhaps on DVD.

3 out of 5